Transcribing Revelation: With Twenty-Four Weeks of Daily Devotional

By Dolly Grout

Transcribing Revelation is a book about the last book of the Bible, the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Christ has given us a message on what is to come and what to expect in the last days before his second coming. Transcribing Revelation is a step-by-step descriptive representation of the book of Revelation. It follows the Bible closely in all its intricacy and complexity, made easy to understand.

This book also includes twenty-four weeks of daily devotional, weekly journaling of your walk with Jesus Christ, daily prayers, and daily questions that will help you reflect in your soul. If you are serious about your faith, if you are tired about your life, if you are searching for an answer, then I urge you to read this book, and let God fill your life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Aug 4, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490846170

Dolly Grout

I’ve known Christ since I was young, but only understood his will for me in my recent years. I have traveled far and wide, published a book, and completed one associate’s degree and two bachelor’s degrees thinking it might help me, when all I needed was to listen to God’s voice.

Book preview

Copyright © 2014 Dolly Grout .

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1 [phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4908-4616-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-4617-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014913642

WestBow Press rev. date: 08/01/2014

Contents

Foreword

I

Understanding the Past

II

The Signs of the End of Ages

III

The Seven Churches of the Revelation

IV

Worthy is the Lamb

V

The two witnesses

VI

The Beast out of the sea (Revelation 13)

VII

The Rapture

VIII

The Woman on the Beast.

IX

Hallelujah

X

The New Jerusalem

XI

The River of Life

XII

Summary

Week 1

• A New Beginning

• Feeding Your Soul

• Divine Helper

• Hearing from God

• Love That Never Fails

• Change

• Day of Rest

Week 2

• Lean on me

• Faith

• Healing Power

• Prayers

• Praises

• The Lord is my Strength

• Beware of the Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

Week 3

• Friendship

• The Calling

• Wisdom

• Burden by Guilt

• The Fruit of the Spirit

• The Holy Spirit

• Eternity

Week 4

• The Mark of Jesus Christ

• Forgiveness

• Body of Christ

• Discipleship

• Taking Up Your Cross

• Saved By His Grace

• A Thankful Heart

Week 5

• Hope

• Peace

• The Armor of God

• Time

• Rock bottom

• Self Control

• Put God First

Week 6

• Religion

• Trials

• Inner Beauty

• Patience

• Addiction

• Light of the world

• Treasure Hunt

Week 7

• Obedient

• Eternity in Heaven

• When you feel Discourage

• The Upper Story

• Prayer warriors

• Farming

• Be Careful Little Mouth

Week 8

• Talent

• Revival

• Action

• Vision

• One tree many branches

• Life’s Puzzle

• Give to Get

Week 9

• The Storm

• The Greatest

• Blackmail

• Cast out your fear

• Perfect

• The Transformation

• Running away

Week 10

• Friendnemy

• Blessed Assurance

• My name is

• Time is ticking

• Diversion

• Hardboiled egg and tea

• Indulgence

Week 11

• Self worth

• Money

• Opportunity

• Molding

• Sabbath

• Marriage

• Endurance

Week 12

• Twister

• Washing my hands

• Worries

• Humility

• Turn to God

• False Prophets

Week 13

• Pick and Choose

• Tolerance versus intolerance

• Sign of time

• The Church

• Walking in the path of righteousness

• Fire

• Provision

Week 14

• River of Life

• The day of Elijah

• The Eye of the needle

• Offering

• Shield of Faith

• Prophets of Ages

• Living in the real world

Week 15

• Distraction

• Speak out

• Connection

• Dealing with sins in the church

• Rise of the Devil

• Promiscuous

• Freedom

Week 16

• Seeking

• Believe

• It’s tough to be a Christian

• Keeping the faith

• Waiting on Jesus

• United we stand

• Fear not

Week 17

• Knowledge

• Opportunity

• Rest

• Borrowed Time

• Unconditional Love

• Looking for an Answer

• Love Conquers all

Week 18

• Judgment and Forgiveness

• Whose side is God?

• Your other god

• I AM WHO I AM

• Sink Hole, Christ, and Faith

• Carved to adorn and support

• Alive but dead

Week 19

• Satisfaction Guaranteed

• Church and Money

• High Expectations

• Friend

• Temptation

• Mission Field

• Ask God

Week 20

• Pride

• Chain Reaction

• Disgust

• Different view of God

• Expect the unexpected

• Unqualified

• Giving

Week 21

• War

• Sacrifice

• Timing

• Lost

• Never too late

• Promise

• Idol

• The gift

• Choices

• Spiritual Renewal

• Hindrance

• Guiding Light

• Total Access

• Entitlement

Week 23

• Marriage Vow

• He is more

• Super Bowl Sunday

• Thorn

• Living free in the prison cell

• Cheerleader Shortage

• Fools

• Revelation

• Dead man’s treasure

• How far have you fallen?

• Unveil

• Easter Sunday

• Lies

• Prophesy

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc.

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

Scripture taken from The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. The Living Bible, TLB, and the The Living Bible logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers.

Scripture taken from the Common English Bible®, CEB® Copyright © 2010, 2011 by Common English Bible.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. The CEB and Common English Bible trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Common English Bible. Use of either trademark requires the permission of Common English Bible.

All Scripture quotations in this publications are from The Message. Copyright © by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Transcribing Revelation

By Dolly Grout

Foreword

The Book of Revelation has always been a mystery. Many bible scholars have been baffled by its cryptic word John used to describe the future. There are many people who have tried to decipher it, and I’m no exception.

First let me start with the author of the revelation, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Christ had sent his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw. John writes and describes to the best of his knowledge everything he witnessed.

John the disciple of Christ is now an old man, being exiled in the island of Patmos. John the son of Zebedee, along with his brother James, and Peter are among one of the chosen inner circle, the closest Disciples of Christ. John was the only one among the 12 disciples who attended the Crucifixion and the first one to become aware of the Resurrection. John had been tortured and poisoned, but had survived the ordeal. It is recorded that John made a sign of the cross in the poisonous cup, and Satan flew away from it.

The Lord Jesus Christ has a purpose for John. John the beloved must write the Revelation of Jesus Christ. The book of Revelation gives hope and encouragement to the Christians around the world. Christians need to know that God is in control, whatever happens on earth. Christ is the Lord and ruler over everyone and everything.

I

Understanding the Past

The writer of the Revelation lived his life in the time where people walked with Christ. This was the time when Christianity first started. Christ walked among us, He had taught us, and He had performed miracles, and healed his people.

John lived a much simpler life, where people traveled by foot, or by donkey. The only weapons in his time is sword, spear, or arrow; very primitive compare to today’s nuclear bomb. Words traveled fast in those days, and they relied on each other. Today, we don’t have to travel by foot or by donkey; most of us own one or two vehicle. We rely on our computer, or cell phone. Unlike us, John didn’t own the Bible; he was one of the writers of the Bible.

John walked with Christ side by side, face to face, in flesh, and was one of Christ Disciples. He is John the beloved, author of the book of John, and also wrote one of the four Gospels of Christ. John was lucky enough to see the future.

How can you describe the future, if you are John? John is to testifies everything he saw, that is the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ (Revelation 1:2 NIV). How can you describe a computer if you are John? How can you describe today’s weapon (canon, riffle, atomic bomb), when you live in the world that still uses sword?

John had to write what he witnessed, I could only imagine, how hard it would had to describe it in writing. John sees everything more than what we see today, with God opening his eyes, John could see not only the earthly realm, but also the spiritual realm. As you can see, the book of the Revelation is one that takes understanding.

John’s style of writing is cryptic and focuses on spiritual detail, the Gospel according to John starts with: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1 NIV). John sees beyond the physical state, he saw Christ from the very beginning as the Word. Thus Christ exists from the very beginning.

The earth was an empty waste and darkness was over the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was moving over the top of the waters (Genesis 1:2 NLV). (Hence it was the Spirit of God that moves over the top of the water, indicating that there were two personas; God and His Spirit).

I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty. (Revelation 1:8 NIV). This indicates that Jesus Christ our Lord has existed from the very beginning and will continue to exist to the very end.

The Chosen One

John the beloved Disciple of Jesus Christ was chosen by God to write the Book of Revelation. Jesus answered, If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me. Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? (John 21:22-23 NIV).

John was exiled in the Island of Patmos because the Romans didn’t know what to do with him. He was plunged into hot boiling oil and survived without any injuries, witness by a coliseum full of audiences, which turned them into an instants believer of Christ (see writing of Tertullian). He survived torture and poisoning, and the only Disciple to reach a ripe old age, clearly God has preserved John physically, mentally, and spiritually. John was in good hands.

Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away (Matthew 24:34-35 NIV). John is the only person of that generation who survived and witnessed the second coming of Christ. (Hence not all people of that generation died)

Conclusion

There is no doubt that John was the writer of both the Gospel of John and the Revelation base on the style of writing, God’s protection of John, and what Jesus said to Peter (see John 21:22-23 NIV).

II

The Signs of the End of Ages

In the book of Matthew chapter 24, the signs of the end of age were describe.

Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.

9 "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:4-14 NIV)

This can be divided into 7 signs

1.  The rise of the false prophet and false Christ - do not be deceived.

2.  Wars and rumors of wars - do not be troubled.

3.  Famine, earthquake in numerous places - this is the beginning of birth pains.

4.  The killing of the Saints - God people will be killed and hated by many.

5.  Hatred against each other - love will get cold, people get offended easily.

6.  The Gospel will be preached to all nations.

7.  Tribulation.

This warning of the end of age has been written in the three Gospel, and can be found in Matthew chapter 24: 4-30, Mark chapter 13: 5-31, Luke chapter 21: 8-31 and would be greatly expanded in the book of Revelation.

29 "Immediately after the distress of those days

"‘the sun will be darkened,

and the moon will not give its light;

the stars will fall from the sky,

and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

30 "Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. (Matthew 24:29-30 NIV)

This verse describes what will happen during tribulation; this will get expanded in the book of Revelation. The book of Daniel 12: 1-3 has a brief description of the end of times. Again this is written in the Gospel, and can be found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

Jesus has given us the sign of the end of age, and also the warnings on what to expect. He later reinforces this warning by giving John the Revelation.

Conclusion

The sign of the end of age is not hidden from us, it is written in Matthew, Luke, and Mark. The only reason John did not wrote these in his Gospel, because he wrote the expanded version of these in the book of Revelation. The sign of the end of age is about Christ second coming.

But the Jews were upset. They asked, What credentials can you present to justify this? Jesus answered, Tear down this Temple and in three days I’ll put it back together (John 2:19 MSG). Like the Jews of the old way who missed the transcription, they read the word too literally and missed the true meaning of the resurrection. Jesus Christ through His Love offered us a brand new Life, a new Hope, and Peace of mind. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

Again the end of times was also revealed to Daniel, and Joel. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. (Joel 2:31 NIV)

The exact time and day of his coming is hidden from us, but like Jesus said, "Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near" (Matthew 24:32 NIV). Christ has given us signs and ample of time. The time of his coming is not as important as the preparation; do not wait for the sun to turn to darkness, or the moon to turn to blood before you seek Christ. If they said, The Lord’s second coming has already been here, then ask yourself this question, has the sun lost it brightness, did the moon turn to blood already, how did you missed this?

III

The Seven Churches of the Revelation

John was to write what he witnessed and to send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea (see Revelation 1: 10-11 NIV). These seven churches are the churches John helped to establish, which is now located in western Turkey. Each of these churches represents a