The Book of Revelation for Christians
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About this ebook
This book will give Christians and non-Christians a keen insight into every aspect of how Revelation will affect their lives. This book will tell you what the author thinks and feels will take place in the end times. The Book of Revelation is not only about judgements, but it is also about the blessings people will receive in the end days and beyond.
Curt C. Goetz
Curt C. Goetz became a Born Again Christian on Dec. 24,1978 and continues to study the Bible daily. His special interest is how the Book of Revelation will play out in the future. He enjoys sharing his viewpoint with other Christians and helping them to grow spiritually.
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The Book of Revelation for Christians - Curt C. Goetz
Copyright © 2020 Curt C. Goetz.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means,
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except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher
make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book
and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.
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NKJV: Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright ©
1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
NASB: Scripture 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
NLT: Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy
Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-6642-0113-2 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-0114-9 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-0112-5 (e)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020914834
WestBow Press rev. date: 08/20/2020
SCRIPTURE QUOTATIONS
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, The New Kings James Version, Copyright 1992, by Thomas Nelson Publishers, Inc., Nashville
Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from The Holy Bible, The New American Standard Bible, Copyright 2003, by Lockman Foundation Publications, Inc., Anaheim, California, 92816
Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from The Holy Bible, The New Living Translation, Copyright 1996, 2004, 2015, by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois 60188
Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, The New International Version, Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, by Biblica, Inc.
Scripture quotations marked NABRE are taken from The Holy Bible, The New American Bible, Revised Edition, Copyright 2012, by Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, Our Sunday Visitor, Inc., Huntington, Indiana 46750
CREDITS
First of all, I’d like to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for saving me by shedding His blood for the remission of my sins. Without Him I would never have been able to or wanted to write this book. Secondly, I’d like to thank my wife Judith for her love, encouragement, help and for always standing by my side in everything that I do. Lastly, I’d like to thank Westbow Press for making this book a reality.
CONTENTS
Before We Get Started
Methods of Interpretation
Preterist (Past)
Historicist
Idealist
Futurist
Pre-Millennialism
Rapture
Numbers in Revelation
Chapter 1
The Revelation: 1—2
Blessed—3
The Message to the Seven Churches
The Vision on Patmos
Facts About John
In the Spirit and the Voice: 10—12
The Description of the Savior: 13—18
Write it Down: 19
The Seven Stars: 20
Chapter 2
Dispensationlist’s
The Order of the Letters
The Message to Ephesus: 1—7
The Message to Symrna: 8—11
The Message to Pergamum: 12—17
The Message to Thyatira: 18—29
Chapter 3
The Message to Sardis: 1—6
The Message to Philadelphia: 7—13
The Message to Laodicea: 14—22
Chapter 4
The Rapture and the Throne: 1—3
The 24 and the 24: 4
The Spirits of God: 5
The Four living Creatures: 6—7
Holy, Holy, Holy
: 8—11
Chapter 5
The Scroll of Seven Seals: 1—2
No One is Worthy: 3—4
FINALLY!!!!!!!
: 5
The Slain Lamb: 6—8
The New Song: 9—10
Heaven Exalts the Lamb: 11—14
Chapter 6
Timing of the Judgements
The Four Horsemen—The Four Come and Sees
Seal 1: The White Horse: Peace: 1—2
Seal 2: The Red Horse: War: 3—4
Seal 3: The Black Horse: Famine: 5—6
Seal 4: The Pale Horse: Death: 7—8
Seal 5: The Martyred Souls: 9—11
Seal 6: Intense Fear: 12—17
Chapter 7
The Four Corners: 1—3
The Sealed Israelites: 4—8
The Saved Multitude: 9—17
Will We Have a Body in Heaven?
Chapter 8
The Seventh Seal: Trumpets: 1—2
Another Angel: 3—5
The Angels Prepare to Blow: 6
Trumpet 1: Judgement Upon the Land: 7
Trumpet 2: Judgement Upon the Sea: 8—9
Trumpet 3: Judgement Upon Fresh Water: 10—11
Trumpet 4: Judgement Upon Light: 12
Woe, Woe, Woe: 13
Chapter 9
Trumpet 5: Woe 1: Judgement Upon People: 1—2
Demonic Locust: 3
Harm the Grass: 4
Not Given Authority: 5—6
The Appearance: 7—10
Who is the King: 11—12
Trumpet 6: Woe 2: Four Angels: 13—15
How Many: 16
Their Description: 17—19
Did Not Repent: 20—21
Chapter 10
Another Mighty Angel: 1—2
Seven Thunders: 3—4
No More Delay: 5—7
The Little Book: 8—11
Chapter 11
The Temple: 1—2
The Two Witnesses: 3—10
Hold on to Your Hat: 11—12
The Party is Over: 13
The Third Woe: 14
God Will Reign: 15—18
The Temple: 19
Chapter 12
The Woman: Israel: 1—2
The Red Dragon: Satan: 3—4
The Male Child: The Lord Jesus Christ: 5—6
The Angel: Michael: 7—9
The Hymn of Celebration: 10—11
Woe to the Earth: 12
The Woman is Helped: 13—17
Chapter 13
The Beast from the Sea: Antichrist: 1
The Description of the Beast: 2
Mortally Wounded: 3
Who is Like the Beast: 4
Blasphemy: 5-6
War with the Saints: 7-10
The Beast from the Earth: False Prophet: 11—12
Great Signs: 13-15
He Causes All: 16-17
666: 18
Chapter 14
The 144,000 on Mount Zion: 1
The New Song: 2—3
Virgins: 4—5
The Angel with the Gospel: 6—7
Doom for the Worshipers of the Beast: 9—11
Patience: 12
Blessed: 13
The Reaping of the Earth’s Harvest: 14—20
Chapter 15
A Heavenly Scene: 1—2
The Song of the Lord: 3—4
The Tabernacle of the Testimony is Open: 5—7
The Temple: 8
Chapter 16
The Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath: 1
Bowl # One: 2
Bowl # Two: 3
Bowl # Three: 4—7
Bowl # Four: 8—9
Bowl # Five: 10—11
Bowl # Six: 12
Armageddon: 13—16
Bowl # Seven: 17—21
Chapter 17
Babylon the Great Harlot: 1—6
The Beast: 7—13
The Victory of the Lamb: 14—18
Chapter 18
Babylon the Great has Fallen: 1—3
Come Out of Her: 4—5
Double Portion: 6—8
The Wailing for Babylon: 9—10
The Merchandise: 11—19
Rejoice: 20
Millstone: 21
Anymore: 22—24
Chapter 19
The Four Alleluia’s: 1—6
The Marriage and Supper of the Lamb: 7—9
The Wrongful Worship: 10
Our King is Coming: 11—16
The Birds of Christ: 17—21
Chapter 20
The Angel and the Pit: 1—3
The Beheaded and the Resurrection: 4—6
Gog and Magog: 7—10
Judgement of the Unholy: 11—15
Chapter 21
The New Heaven and New Earth: 1
The Tabernacle: 2—3
No More Tears: 4
It Is Done: 5—7
The Second Death: 8
The New Jerusalem: 9—11
The Wall: 12—13
Foundations: 14
Time to Measure: 15
The City: 16
The Wall: 17
The Construction: 18
The Foundations: 19—20
The Gates: 21
The Temple: 22
God is Light: 23
The Nations: 24—27
Chapter 22
The River and the Tree of Life: 1—2
No Curse: 3—5
Shortly: 6—7
Woops, Not Again: 8—9
Do Not Seal: 10—11
Rewards: 12—13
In and Out: 14—15
I, Jesus: 16
The Final Call: 17
The Final Warning: 18—19
The Final Words: 20—21
The Plan of Salvation
Endnotes
BEFORE WE GET
STARTED
Before we get started, there are a few things to consider. When interpreting the Book of Revelation, or any other book in God’s Word for that matter, we should use The Golden Rule of Interpretation
, which says: When the plain sense of scripture, makes common sense, seek no other sense; therefore, take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, literal meaning unless the facts of the immediate text, studied, in the light of related passages and axiomatic and fundamental truths, clearly indicate otherwise
(Dr. David L. Cooper). In other words, take the Word of God at face value. It is never a good idea to make God’s Word say what you want it to say. Use the words, sentences, and paragraphs the same way you would normally use them, unless they clearly mean otherwise. Ask the Holy Spirit (our Helper) to help you understand what the bible has to say.
John 14:26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in My name, He
will teach you all things, and bring to your
remembrance all things that I said to you."
2 Timothy 2:15 "Be diligent to present yourself
approved of God, a worker who does not need to be
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
There is something else to consider when studying Revelation. Not all of Revelation is written chronologically. The Seal, Trumpet, and Bowl judgements are chronological, but there are other portions that are not.
Methods of Interpretation
There are four basic methods that have been used over the years for interpreting the Book of Revelation: Preterist, Historicist, Idealist, and Futurist. I will use scripture to explain why I do not believe in the Preterist, Historicist, and Idealist points of view.
Preterist (Past): Those who use this method believe that John was only writing the Book of Revelation to the original audience during the 1st century.
Preterist believe that everything or almost everything was fulfilled in 70AD with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Roman Empire.
Preterist believe that the Book of Revelation was written about 68AD instead of what Futurist’ believe, that it was written in 96AD.
1. They believe that the Roman Emperors Nero or Domitian was the antichrist.
2. They believe that it is possible that there is no conscious afterlife.
3. They believe that the New Jerusalem already exists right now.
4. They believe that the Book of Revelation is a symbolic picture of the first century.
5. They believe that Jesus’ second coming already occurred back in 70 A. D.
Revelation 1:7 "Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and
every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him…"
Acts 1:11 "…Men of Galilee, why do you stand
gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was
taken up from you into heaven, will so come in
like manner as you saw Him go into heaven."
Nothing in history has recorded that everybody on the planet saw Jesus come back on the clouds in 70AD or any other time. It has not happened yet but, it will happen sometime in the future.
Historicist: With using this method, all things in history are recorded in the Book of Revelation. One historicist could say that the second Seal judgement (Rev.6:3-4), the man on the red horse was Hitler, and another historicist could say that it was not Hitler, that it is someone else (Nero). This method is not popular today.
The Historical point of view identifies all the different symbols with different historical people and events.
They believe that most of the Book of Revelation has already been fulfilled in our day.
The problem is, you must juggle and revise the Book of Revelation as new people and events come on the world scene.
Idealist: Everything in The Book of Revelation is to be interpreted figuratively, symbolically or allegorically. They believe that all of Revelation refers ‘only’ to a spiritual conflict between good and evil, God verse Satan.
By using this method, they believe that nothing in Revelation from chapter 4 to chapter 22, is to be taken literally, in the future or otherwise. They that use this method do not interpret the Book of Revelation the same way they do the rest of the bible.
Revelation 1:1 "The Revelation of Jesus Christ,
which God gave Him to show to His servants-
things which must shortly take place..."
This sounds literal to me. Idealist hold to the A-Millennialist point of view, which means: no millennium (1000 years). In other words: no physical, literal reign of Christ on earth for 1000 years.
The biggest problem I have with this method, is that, you can make Revelation say, whatever you want it say, since nothing is literal.
Futurist: Of all the four methods for interpreting Revelation, the futurist method is the most literal. God does want us to understand Revelation. The futurist method makes it much easier to understand Revelation then the other methods, because futurist use The Golden Rule of Interpretation
that we talked about earlier. Futurist believe that we should use the grammar in Revelation the same way we normally use grammar in our daily lives.
Futurist’s interpret Revelation the same way they interpret the rest of the Bible. Revelation contains real events, that will really happen sometime in the future. Futurist’s do not deny that there is some figurative language and symbols in Revelation. Jesus Himself used parables. The Futurist method is very popular today.
Pre-Millennialism: All Futurist are Pre-Millennialists. Pre-Millennialism basically means that our Lord’s second coming will happen at the end a seven-year tribulation period, and just before He sets up His literal millennial (1000 year) reign on earth. During His reign on earth, He will be, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords (Rev. 19:16). During His reign, it will just like it was in the Garden of Eden.
Genesis 2:15 "Then the Lord GOD took the man and
put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it."
Yes, there will be work to do during the millennium, but it will not be a burden, it will bring pleasure. There also will be no harm to man from animals, and all animals will be plant eaters (herbivore).
Isaiah 11:6-9 "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The
calf and the young lion and the fatling (baby lamb: kid)
together; And a little child shall lead them. The cow
and the bear shall graze; Their young ones shall lie
together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The
nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, And the
weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They
shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For
the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord…"
Rapture: The word Rapture is not in the bible, but it is implied. The word rapture means ‘caught up’ or ‘snatched up’. There are five Rapture views, Pre-Trib., Mid-Trib., Post-Trib., Pre-Wrath, and Partial Rapture. All five views make some good points. Of the five, we are only going to cover the Pre-Tribulation point of view.
By using the Pre-Tribulation Rapture view, the church (all believers in Christ) will be exempt from the seven- year Tribulation period. All believers will be taken up to heaven to be with the Lord before the seven-year tribulation starts. Here is some scripture that Pre-Tribers use for their point of view.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 "For the Lord Himself will
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of
an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the
dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive
and remain shall be caught up together with them
in the clouds (Acts 1:9-11) to meet the Lord in the
air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord."
Revelation 4:1 "After these things I looked, and
behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the
first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking
with me, saying, "Come up here, and I show you
things which must take place after this."
Chapters 1, 2, and 3 talks about seven churches. From chapter 4 to 22:16, the church is not talked about, so the ‘church’ (pre-tribulation believers) must be in heaven before His second coming and before the tribulation starts.
Revelation 3:10 "Because you have kept My
command to persevere, I also will keep you from
the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole
world, to test those who dwell on the earth."
Here John is talking about the tribulation (the hour of trial
). Sense we do not know the day or hour
that He will come (Matt. 24:36), we are to live holy lives while we are waiting for Him to take us home.
1 Thessalonians 1:10 "and to wait for His Son
from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even
Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come"
Titus 2:13 "looking for the blessed hope and glorious
appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,"
NUMBERS in REVELATION
Of all the numbers used in Revelation, the number 7 is used the most. The word seven or seventh is used at least fifty-six times. The number seven means complete.
*Signature of the Sevens* (Edward Hindson) (1.)
1. Seven Churches (1:4-20; 2-3)
2. Seven Spirits (1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6)
3. Seven Lampstands (1:12-20; 2:1)
4. Seven Stars (1:16-20; 2:1; 3:1)
5. Seven Lamps of Fire (4:5)
6. Seven Seals (5:1-5)
7. Seven Horns (5:6)
8. Seven Eyes (5:6)
9. Seven Angels (8:2-6)
10. Seven Trumpets (8:2-6)
11. Seven Peals of Thunder (10:3-4)
12. Seven Thousand People (11:13)
13. Seven Heads (12:3; 13:1; 17:3-9)
14. Seven Diadems (12:3)
15. Seven Angels (15:1-8; 21:9)
16. Seven Plagues (15:1-8; 21:9)
17. Seven Bowls (15:7; 17:1; 21:9)
18. Seven Mountains (17:9)
19. Seven Kings (17:10-11)
20. Seven Beatitudes (1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14)
21. Seven I ams
of Christ (1:8, 17, 18; 2:23; 21:6; 22:13, 16)
THE REVELATION
OF JESUS CHRIST
CHAPTER 1
The Revelation
Verse 1. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His servants-things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John,
Revelation means to unveil
, to expose the subject of the revelation. It’s just like you would unveil a new car at an auto show.
The book of Revelation is ‘about’ Jesus Christ. God (the Father) gave the revelation to Jesus Christ, who gave it to His angel, who gave it to the apostle John, who passed on to God’s servants.
Servants: God wants His servants (born-again believers) to know what will happen in the future and to know how to live day by day.
All Christians are to be servants. Not only should we ‘serve’ our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but we should also ‘serve’ and help those all around us, and to share the gospel (good news) with friends, family, neighbors, or anyone else in need of salvation, just as the apostle John did throughout his life. We are not to serve for a pat on the back, but out of the true motive, LOVE. Not for our glory, but for God’s Glory.
The more we serve, the more populated heaven will be, and that’s a good thing.
If we are to be servants of God, we need to know how to serve. This is where reading your bible is important. Reading the bible teaches us how to be a servant of God.
Shortly: Shortly can have two meanings. It can mean that it will happen very soon, shortly ‘after the revelation was written’ or it can mean: ‘quickly once it starts’.
The judgements of Revelation have never been recorded in history to have happened, so shortly
in this case must mean ‘quickly once it starts’.
There is something else to think about, ‘shortly’ in God’s eyes, is different from how we view ‘shortly’, because God is eternal.
Verse 1 reinforces the ‘futurist’ point of view because, these things
have not yet occurred.
Signified: Jesus communicated the revelation through His angel to John.
There have been very few people over years who deny that it is John the Apostle who wrote the book.
Verse 2. who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw.
John was commissioned by God and had the responsivity to write down everything he heard and saw through the divinely inspired vision. John is told to not leave out anything he saw.
John was to write down everything in the revelation he received, but he did not write down everything about Christ’s life on earth.
John 21:24-25 "This is the disciple who is testifying to
these things and wrote these things, and we know that
his testimony is true. And there are also many other
things which Jesus did, which if they were written in
detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not
contain the books that would be written." (NASB)
Blessed
Verse 3. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.
Blessed: The book of Revelation is a source of happiness for all believers.
Reads: We are expected to read God’s Word. Special attention is given to those who read this prophecy
.
Hear: We should hear God’s Word with one’s own heart and respond to what we hear.
Prophecy: The Book of Revelation is about events that have not yet happened.
Keep: Requires obedient action, to obey the instructions in God’s Revelation.
The Time is Near: We should live our lives expecting Jesus to come at any time. We should live a faithful life pleasing to the Almighty, but not just because we do not know when our Lord is coming, but most importantly, because of our love toward our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Timothy 4:6-8 "As for me, my life has already been
poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death
is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the
race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize
awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord,
the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his (His)
return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who
eagerly look forward to his (His) appearing." (NLT)
Blessed: The word ‘Blessed’ occurs seven times in Revelation (1:3; 14:3; 16:5; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7; 22:14).
Reading any of the books of the bible will bring a blessing, but Revelation is the only book in the bible that promises a special blessing to those who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it;
The Message to the Seven Churches
Verse 4. John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne,
The Order of the Revelation: The Revelation came from God (the Father), who gave it to His Son Jesus, who gave it to an unnamed angel, who gave it to John, who gave it to the seven house churches in Asia.
Seven Churches: These churches were in Asia Minor of what is now Western Turkey. These were not the only churches in Asia Minor, but these seven churches were hand-picked by the Lord for reasons we will find out later.
Grace and Peace: This was the normal greeting of the epistles.
Is, Was, and is to Come: This is an expression of the eternity of God, the self-existent One. God exists right now (is). God always did exist (was). God will always exist (to come).
Most believe that this is a reference to God the Father in this verse.
Seven Spirits: To make it clear, there are not seven Holy Spirits. This is referring to the seven aspects, natures or attributes of the Holy Spirit taken from Isaiah 11:2.
1. The Spirit of the Lord.
2. The Spirit of Wisdom.
3. The Spirit of Understanding.
4. The Spirit of Counsel.
5. The Spirit of Might.
6. The Spirit of Knowledge.
7. The Spirit of the Fear of the Lord.
Isaiah 11:2 "The Spirit of the Lord will rest on
him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of
the knowledge and fear of the Lord—" (NIV)
Verse 5. and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,
The Faithful Witness: While Jesus was on earth, He was faithful and truthful in all things, just as we should be. He was faithful to the Father even unto death. The Father witnessed of His (Jesus’) Kingship.
John 18:37 Therefore Pilate said to Him,
So You
are a king? Jesus answered,
You say correctly that
I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this
I have come into the world, to testify to the truth.
Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." (NASB)
We are also commissioned to be truthful witnesses to a dying world.
Mark 16:15 And He said to them,
Go into all the
world and preach the gospel to all creation." (NASB)
First Born of the Dead: When Jesus raised Lazarus from
the dead (John 11:1-44), he died again. When Jesus was raised
from the dead, He never died again. This is how Jesus can be
called the first born of the dead
. Jesus triumphed over death.
This gives us hope beyond the grave. Just as Christ was raised
incorruptible, we also will be raised incorruptible. Hallelujah!!!
1 Corinthians 15:50, 52 "I declare to you, brothers and
sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom
of God…
in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the
last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will
be raised imperishable, and we will be changed." (NIV)
Ruler Over the Kings of the Earth: Jesus is in control of the earth as KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS
(19:16). He reigns over every power of the earth. He is the Rightful KING, LORD, and RULER over all His creation. Does it not make sense that, the Creator has power over the created?
To Him who Loved Us and Washed Us from our Sins in His Own Blood: Christ loved us so much that, He offered Himself (one time) on the cross. He sacrificed Himself (one time) for the forgiveness of our sins. Jesus never has to be sacrificed again. Amen! (Ro. 6:10; Heb. 7:27; 9:12, 26, 28; 10:10, 12, 14, 18; 1 Peter 3:18).
Hebrews 9:28 "so Christ also, having been offered
once to bear the sins of many…" (NASB)
Hebrews 9:22 "…without shedding of blood
there is no forgiveness (of sin)." (NASB)
Verse 6. and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Kings: During the one-thousand-year reign of Christ on earth, we will reign with Christ as kings over the nations (20:3, 6).
Priests: All believers are priests of God. We are to minister and offer ourselves to God and serve all those around us just as the priests of old did.
You and me at the new birth, became a royal priesthood. As a priest, God should always receive the glory that He deserves as we serve Him.
1 Peter 2:9-10 "But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal
PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR
God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the
excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into
His marvelous light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE,
but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD…" (NASB)
Verse 7. 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 because of Him. Even so, Amen.
Coming with Clouds: All those on earth will look up and see a mammoth cloud coming down from heaven. As they keep their eyes on the cloud, it keeps getting bigger and bigger. Before you know it, the blue sky is covered and all they can see is this cloud and HE
.
Daniel 7:13 "I kept looking in the night visions,
And behold, with the clouds of heaven One
like a Son of Man was coming…" (NASB)
Matthew 24:30 "And then the sign of the Son of
Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes
of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON
OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE
SKY with power and great glory." (NASB)
Jesus ascended from earth to heaven in a cloud, and He will descend from heaven to the earth in a cloud.
Acts 1:9-11 "After saying this, he was taken up into
a cloud while they were watching, and they could no
longer see him. As they strained to see him rising
into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood
among them. Men of Galilee,
they said, "why are
you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been
taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return
from heaven in the same way you saw him go!" (NLT)
Every Eye Will See Him: Jesus is everywhere, always, but we cannot see Him. During the last days, all of those on earth will see Him as He descends on this cloud. And every eye
means those on earth, the angels, those in the grave, demons, even Satan will see Him, ‘every single eye’.
Pierced Him: Just after Jesus died on the cross, a Roman soldier pierced Him in His side with a spear, to make sure that Jesus was dead.
John 19:34 "But one of the soldiers pierced
His side with a spear…" (NASB)
those who pierced Him
John 19:34 says that ‘a’ Roman soldier pierced our Lord, so who are those
? ‘Those include the Romans soldiers, the Jews who had the Savior of the world put to death, and the Gentiles. Also, all
those" include, all who have sinned throughout the ages. All sinners played a part in this event, yes, you and me.
Mourn: All those who will not receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will mourn. Everyone from every nation will mourn as they see the Lamb of God coming down from heaven on the clouds.
When our Lord comes down from heaven on His pillowy cloud, it will be too late for the tribes of the earth to receive Christ, but it is not too late now for those who have not yet received Christ as their Savior.
Romans 10:9 "If you declare with your mouth,
Jesus is Lord,
and believe in your heart that God
raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (NIV)
Verse 8. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End
, says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
Beginning and End: If you have a bible that has the words of Jesus printed red, you will see that this is Jesus talking. In the Greek alphabet, Alpha is the first letter, and Omega is the last letter. All things started with Jesus, and all things will end with Jesus.
Is, Was, is to Come: In verse four, Him who is and who was and who is to come
refers to God the Father. In verse eight, who is and who was and who is to come
refers to Jesus, the Lamb of God.
Because the Father and Jesus share the same title, this makes Jesus equal with the Father, and the Father equal with Jesus, the Almighty.
Using our alphabet, Jesus is A, and Z, and