Revelation: God’S Last Love Letter

By Kenneth E. Nissen

Revelation is addressed to the churches in chapter one and for the churches in the last chapter. One would expect Gods last love letter to be a favorite book among Christians, but it isnt. It isnt because it isnt understood.

This book has been highly received by numerous evangelical leaders and is used as the textbook on Revelation in Bible colleges as far away as Africa and India.

From the first, I was taken with the desire of Ken to help people see that the book of Revelation was written primarily to help people in their walk with God in the midst of troubled times, and not as a text to figure out the sequence of the end times. This was also the first time I had seen the theme of overcoming given as the main thrust of Revelation. So, I had to read his manuscript to see if in fact he had come upon something I had missed. I am convinced that he has. I have found his book to be extremely helpful to see the desire of God to have his children to be overcomers, and the resources available to us to do just that as the end approaches. And the book is more than that, for it does not side-step the questions that are raised as one reads the book of Revelation. Stephen R. Bradley, Director of Field Education, Columbia Bible College. Columbia, South Carolina

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Apr 16, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490833743

Kenneth E. Nissen

Kenneth E. Nissen earned a BA degree in biblical education from Columbia Bible College and an MEd from the University of South Carolina. He has had past experience as a teacher, counselor, and administrator. He is married with four children, nine grandchildren, and one great-grand child. Ken and his wife, Margaret, reside in Irmo, South Carolina. Ken has also written a book entitled Trust and Obey.

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Copyright © 2014 Kenneth E. Nissen.

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Unless otherwise noted, scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™ All rights reserved.

Author Credits: This book has been highly received by numerous Evangelical leaders and used as the text book on Revelation in Bible colleges as far away as Africa and India.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-3375-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-3374-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014906751

WestBow Press rev. date: 04/14/2014

Contents

1. THE MESSAGE OF REVELATION

A. God Sends a Letter

B. What Is The Revelation?

C. In Search of the Message

D. The Message

2. THE LANGUAGE OF REVELATION

A. Revelation Is Different

B. Revelation Is Given As Visions

C. Analyzing Visions

D. How to Understand and Interpret Visions Summary

E. Why God Used Symbolic Language

F. Avoiding Errors of Misinterpretation

G. Identification of Some Implied Comparisons in Revelation

3. THE PLAN OF REVELATION

Section I. The Prologue

Section II. Visions of the Son of Man and His Letters to His 7 Churches

Section III. Visions of the End Times

Section IV. Visions of The King and His Kingdom

Section V: Epilogue

4. THE TIME FRAME

A. Time Frame of the Seven Churches

B. Time Element of Chapters 4-19

C. Time Element of Chapters 20 and 21

D. Meaning of The Time Is Near and Shortly

E. Time of Christ’s Return for His Servants

5. OVERCOMING TO THE 7 CHURCHES

A. What was Overcoming to the Seven Churches?

B. The Family Image

6. WHY OVERCOME? GOD’S INCENTIVES

A. Four Reasons Why One Should Overcome

B. How the Incentives are shown in Revelation

7. HOW TO OVERCOME

A. God’s Servants Overcome by the Blood

B. God’s Servants Overcome by Obedience

C. God’s Servants Overcome by Being Ready

D. God’s Servants Overcome by a Faithful Testimony

8. OVERCOMING IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

A. Salvation Is Conditional:

B. Grace and Overcoming

C. Scriptures on Overcoming in the New Testament

D. Why a Time of Testing?

9. STUDIES REGARDING THE LAMPSTANDS

A. The Servant of God

B. The Two Witnesses

C. The 144,000

D. Praise and Worship by God’s Beloved

E. Come Out Of Babylon

F. Time, Times, and Half a Time

G. The Seven Beatitudes

10. STUDIES ON THE DRAGON, THE BEASTS, BABYLON, AND THE PLAGUES

A. Satan, the Great Dragon

B. The Dragon and the Woman (Chapter 12)

C. The Beast Out of the Sea

D. The Beast Out of the Earth

E. 666 – The Mark of the Beast

F. Babylon The Harlot (Secular society – Satan’s city)

G. The Plagues: (Seven Seals, Seven Trumpets, Seven Bowls, Fall of Babylon)

11. THE VICTORIOUS LAMB

A. JESUS CHRIST IN REVELATION

B. Jesus Christ in Revelation– Names and Titles (NIV)

C. Jesus as God in Revelation

D. Jesus is coming again

E. 1000 Years of Messiah’s Rule on Earth

F. The Book of Life

12. THE THRONE

A. God, the Father, in Revelation

B. The Family of God

C. The Twenty-Four Elders

D. The New Jerusalem

REVELATION TEXT (NASB Outlined, Paragraphed, and Captioned)

ENDNOTES

Artist: MIRIAM PARRISH: Miriam is a young aspiring artist and a published poet from rural Virginia. Besides art, she enjoys writing, reading, and raising a flock of chickens. She has been drawing since she could hold a pencil.

Chapter 1. The Message of Revelation

(Scripture is shown in italics)

T hose who have traveled from Genesis to Revelation have had a journey of sixty-five Books that span some four thousand years. They have read true-to-life action packed adventure stories about love and hate, drought and flood, feast and famine, war and peace, life and death, and miracles and murders. But one theme was consistent and constant throughout every page; the bottom line was this: who will serve the Lord?

God repeatedly demonstrated His deep concern to win some loyal followers. He consistently proved faithful and dependable to those who chose Him. People, however, did not generally respond to God’s advances. They seemed to prefer idols, pleasure, selfishness, and pride rather than submission to God; they did not really believe that God was the perfect Provider. Those who did believe God and followed His ways shine as brilliant stars in a dark sky of wickedness. Those who did not serve Him often learned of His jealous wrath and righteous justice.

How does Revelation help man in this spiritual struggle for faith? We would expect God’s last Book to be practical – and it is. We would expect it to be the pinnacle, the climax, the exciting conclusion to the long journey – and it is. John was told not to seal up this Book because it is for this time and this people. Therefore, one would expect that Revelation would be a favorite book of Christians – but it isn’t. It isn’t because it isn’t understood.

(The complete text of Revelation with outline is given at the back of the book!)

A. God Sends a Letter

The New Testament is comprised primarily of letters, and Revelation may be the last to be written (about AD90). In the prologue and epilogue of Revelation a definite letter style is used. The source, or author, of the letter is given, as well as a greeting, the recipient, a type of signature and a sealing. The source of the letter is God the Father: The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave Him (1:1). Then God identifies Himself in verse 4 as, Him who is and who was and who is to come.

The letter is also from the Holy Spirit, the seven Spirits, and from the Son, the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. The letter, a revelation, is given to Jesus Christ; therefore, it is His revelation and His to give to God’s servants via angels. The letter, or revelation, was given to Christ’s servant, John, who was instructed to write down all that he saw and heard (1:19). John states that in this letter he is the witness to, the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw (1:2).

This letter is unusual for the New Testament because it is a letter from God, directly from God, in the manner of Old Testament prophetic books. This letter is intended for God’s bond-servants: "Which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants" (1:1). It is addressed to the seven churches in Asia Minor. There were other churches, but these were used as symbolic of all the churches. That there be no mistake regarding for whom the letter is intended, it is restated that the letter is designed for the churches (22:16). Furthermore, in each letter to the individual seven churches (Rev. 2 and 3), the message is personalized: "He who has an ear…;" and then made universal to all churches, What the Spirit says to the churches.

Lastly, the letter is signed and sealed. Since the letter originated from God, He stamped His seal upon it: ‘I AM the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty’ (1:8). This seal identifies the sender, establishes His authority, and places the contents to be as reliable as He is. Similarly, in the epilogue, Jesus Himself speaks in order to further authenticate the letter, and He uses a similar seal used by God, I AM the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end (22:13).

B. What Is The Revelation?

Revelation literally means the unveiling: like an Eastern woman dropping her veil so that her face can be seen; like opening a box that all may see the contents inside; like drawing back the curtains that the play may begin. In Revelation God is dropping the veil, opening the box, drawing the curtain: that His servants may see, that they may know. Revelation 1:1 reads, The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave Him to show … the things which must shortly take place (1:1). The "things (the contents, the events) or what takes place in Revelation, will take place shortly" or is near at hand (1:3). [See p. 45 The Time Frame] Jesus said that John would be shown things that are (present) and things to take place (future) (1:19).

The majority of Revelation concerns the last days. The main event of all the things of events is the return of Christ. The King will take His rightful throne, the enemy will be deposed, wrongs will be made right, God’s promises will be fulfilled, His justice will be done on earth, the sinful world will be judged, His people will be rewarded, and His plan will come to completion. It is all awaiting the momentous event: the return of Christ in power and glory! In the prologue and epilogue only this event is highlighted. In the prologue we read: Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. Even so Amen (1:7). Then in the epilogue Jesus Himself says three times that He will return (22:7, 12, 20). All of history will be culminated; all of creation awaits the return of the Son of God to planet earth!

C. In Search of the Message

In the prologue and epilogue we have been given the source of the letter, the owner, the recipients, the messenger, the witness (the human scribe), the greetings, the subject, and the signing or sealing of the letter. One element is missing: what is the message, the purpose, of the letter? Verse 3 reads: Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it.¹ God promises that those who read and heed the things written in Revelation will be under His blessing. There are the things of events to Revelation, and there are also things to heed, a message.

And the epilogue repeats this: Blessed is he who heeds the word of the prophecy of this book (22:7). There is a word of prophecy [message from God] to the letter! What is the prophecy that is to be obeyed? This has not been spelled out in the prologue nor in the epilogue, so we must look inside the letter for the answer. Each of the three main sections of Revelation will now be examined to find the things to heed. Then the results of the three sections will be combined to ascertain that which must be obeyed in the Book: the message one must heed to be under God’s blessing.

Part 1. The Seven Churches: In the first major section of Revelation (chapters 1-3) the holy, risen Son of God is seen as the One who has overcome death and the grave. From this backdrop He writes letters to His churches. The Holy One tells His churches what He sees regarding their spiritual condition. From this He either encourages His servants to persevere in their faith, love, and truth or He rebukes them and commands them to repent. To everyone in every church He has the same basic message. He is exhorting His people to faithfulness. His blessings and rewards are to those who love and obey Him. In Revelation it is called overcoming. To the seven churches He said:

1.   To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God (2:7).

2.   He who overcomes, shall not be hurt by the second death (2:11).

3.   He who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone (2:17).

4.   He who overcomes I will give authority over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron…and I will give him the morning star (2:28).

5.   He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father (3:5).

6.   He who overcomes I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore, and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God… (3:12).

7.   He who overcomes I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne (3:21).

The purpose of this first section is to get a new glimpse of the risen Lord: to get new insight regarding His righteous standards, and to keep His servants faithful to the end. Seven times and to everyone in every church God states this same word. How does He do this? He shows the living Lord in a dramatic fashion that: He is the One who is in charge of life and death. He makes His standard clear, and He promises eternal life and rewards for those who choose to serve Him.

Part 2. The Triumphant Lamb and the End Times: The large middle section of Revelation deals with the coming difficult end times on earth. One study indicates that over 75% of all of the large middle section (4-19a) of Revelation deals with the issue of conflict and evil: warning against evil is 10%, martyrs from evil’s persecution is 5%, evil described and permitted to act is 22%, and God’s wrath on evil is 38%. ²

The following are verses dealing with Satan’s great tribulation meted out on God’s servants:

6:11 They were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, should be completed also.

11:7 And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them.

12:17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

13:1 If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.

13:7 And it was given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them.

14:12 Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

18:24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth.

In contrast to Satan’s persecution, there are verses in which God’s servants are comforted with promises that they will be protected from His wrath, and still other verses in which they are shown already in heaven as heroes because they were triumphant during the persecution:

7:3 Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads.

7:14 These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason, they are before the throne of God.

11:11 And after the three and a half days the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were beholding them.

11:12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, Come up here. And they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beheld them.

12:11 And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death.

15:2 And I saw, as it were, a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had come off victorious from the beast and from his image and from the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God.

17:14 These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.

The vast majority of the text is concerned with the looming wrath of God upon sinful planet earth as, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! (18:2). God is foretelling His coming wrath thus giving forewarning not to align with the dragon and his kingdom.

As in the first section, there are verses that speak of the victorious Christ, and verses that speak of rewards to those who are faithful:

7:9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands.

11:18 And the nations were enraged, and Thy wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged and the time to give their reward to Thy bond-servants the prophets and to the saints and to those who fear Thy name

16:15 Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his garments, lest he walk about naked and men see his shame.

17:14 These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him {are the} called and chosen and faithful.

To summarize: This large middle section is concerned with the end times. Satan persecutes God’s servants, God protects and rewards His faithful servants, and God pours out His wrath upon the sinful world.

Part 3. The King and His Kingdom: In the last major section of Revelation (chapters 19b-22), the Son of God returns, raises His servants, defeats Satan and establishes His kingdom. Those who had been faithful during the Great Tribulation are singled out as representative and heroes of the first resurrection:

20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshipped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

The text moves through the transition from this world into the New Jerusalem. Then, in the second paragraph (21:3-8), God the Father declares that His home will be in the New Jerusalem, He will take good care of His children, and it is the overcomers who will be His children with Him there: He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son (21:7).

This section shows the climax and conclusion of the entire plan of God. Jesus, the Messiah, returns to earth to raise and reward His own, to judge the wicked earth, and to establish God’s kingdom. God, the Father, makes His home with His children forever for those who wanted Him, chose Him, and believed Him.

D. The Message

When considering the main themes and the emphasis of the three sections, we deduce the following main points: Christ, the Holy One, is in charge of history and when He returns in glory for His servants He will also judge the sinful world, and establish His kingdom. God’s servants will be persecuted greatly during the end times, but they will have great rewards in heaven. God’s servants are instructed that they are to live for the eternal home, and Revelation gives great incentives for doing so.

There is considerable emphasis placed on the end times in both the Old and the New Testaments for this will be the climax and conclusion of the struggle of the ages. Satan is given much authority in those days, and his persecution will reach a greater scale than ever before. The pressures on God’s servants world-wide will be beyond that of any previous time. The testing will be of such a nature that Paul called it the apostasy, the falling away from the faith (2 Thess.2:3), and the Lord Jesus said, Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations on account of My name. And at that time many will fall away and will deliver up one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many. And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved (Matt.24:9-13).

Revelation deals with this time and speaks much about the conditions as: Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has {only} a short time…And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus… And it was given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them; and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him…If anyone {is destined} for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.… (Rev.12:12, 17; 13:7, 10).

Will those in the churches hold steadfast for Him even when the enemy blasts at them with all his fury? Most will not; it is called the great falling away. God has sent a letter to help His servants through it. The letter is called: Revelation.

Why is there such a strong emphasis in Revelation and in many other Scriptures on the last days? Because all of history is moving toward those last days. The gospel will go into all the world, and Satan will be fighting to defeat the gospel with his powerful and deceitful attack. The fate of billions of people on earth will be at stake when each makes his final choice. It is the big battle. And it will be a dark day for God’s saints. Satan will seemingly and outwardly win the battle, but, They overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death (12:11).

God seemingly lost round one to His archenemy when Adam chose to follow the enemy rather than God. Because of unbelief and pride, man failed the test and disobeyed God. God has seemingly lost many such battles through the ages. The darkest hour was when the Son of God was hanging dead on a Roman cross. Not many chose the Son of God, and He looked like anything but a champion on that dark day. The wisdom, power, and love of God looked like foolishness.

But He arose from the tomb, and God turned even the darkest hour into victory, even to victory over sin and death for all mankind. God had made a way back to fellowship with Himself. Perfect Adam did not believe God, but chose the evil one. Corrupt man is now asked to believe God with the forces of an evil environment pulling against him. Can the love of God reach down that far and pull up fallen man to a level of obedience, purity, and love to God? To the glory of God, can His love pull rebels to a level of devotion beyond the enemy’s power to dissuade under the most severe circumstances?

Since that dark day on Mt. Calvary many men have already proved, by their commitment to the Lordship of Christ and by their service to Him, that the love of God was not in vain. For some, like the martyrs of the faith, circumstances cannot be more severe. But we are told that there will be a time when testing will be severe world-wide. The last days will be a time when God’s soldiers will be put to the test on the greatest scale. What a privilege to fight for the King of kings against His archenemy in the big battle! What honor it brings to God when His servants remain faithful against all that the enemy can muster! The Son came to gain a bride and died to win her love. Because of His love and His faithfulness to her she responded to Him; she was faithful to Him – many even to death. The Book of books is about the King of kings and His bride, and this is the greatest love story of all time –