Revelation: Putting the Cookies on the Bottom Shelf

By Dr DR. R. GARY ASHLEY

Every book of the Bible is of major importance. However, there are two books that stand out from the rest. These books are Genesis and Revelation. Genesis is the Bible's introduction, and Revelation is the Bible's conclusion. Genesis tells us how all things began. Revelation tells us how all things will end. The person who does not have an overall grasp of these two books will fall short of understanding the Bible as a whole. Revelation: Putting the Cookies on the Bottom Shelf was written to make the book of Revelation understandable.

My "serious" journey in Revelation began over a decade ago. I read the Revelation in my morning devotion and started on my daily routine. It suddenly donned on me that I had little to no understanding of what I had just read. I had preached on passages from the book, and I had taken an exegetical class in seminary on the topic, but I only was fooling myself if I thought I grasped the meaning of the book.

I made a commitment to God that day. I told him, with the help of the Holy Spirit, I would study until I understood the Revelation from the correct biblical perspective and was true to the author's original intent. I took the next year to study the book from every prospective I could find. At the conclusion of my study, I was confident I had arrived at an accurate interpretation. I used the next year to preach verse by verse through the book.

I made another commitment to God to compile my research in the form of a book. I wanted the Christian community at large to benefit from my research. Revelation was not written for the biblical scholar; it was written for the average man in the pew.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Sep 13, 2023
• ISBN: 9798889431121

Book preview

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Revelation

Putting the Cookies on the Bottom Shelf

DR. R. GARY ASHLEY

ISBN 979-8-88943-111-4 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88943-785-7 (hardcover)

ISBN 979-8-88943-112-1 (digital)

Copyright © 2023 by Dr. R. Gary Ashley

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

FOREWORD

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Prologue

Scene 1

The Church in the World

Scene 2

Sufferings for the Church

Scene 3

Warnings for the World

Scene 4

The Spiritual Conflict

Scene 5

The End Has Come

Scene 6

Babylon the Whore

Scene 7

The Drama behind History

Scene 8

The New Heavens and Earth

Epilogue

Conclusion

Appendix

About the Author

To

my wife,

Anna Elizabeth Ashley;

our children,

Amy and Matthew Carter,

Misty and Ragan Kerr,

Joshua and Angela Ashley;

our grandchildren,

Riley Elizabeth Kerr,

Griffin Stewart Carter,

Madison Claire Ashley,

Olivia Ann Ashley.

FOREWORD

Reading the Bible involves more than a legalistic routine or a religious marathon. It is a spiritual discipline where one reads what God said long ago and where one reads what God is saying in today's world. Gary Ashley, one of my former seminary students, developed disciplines for reading the Scripture. He has adopted the habit of reading a book of the Bible every day for many years. Gary discovered years ago also the discipline of seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit on the Bible passages he was reading. He realized the One who inspired people to write Scripture also inspires every Bible reader. He does exegetical study with his reading, but he listens and seeks the Spirit's guidance about the passage.

Gary's habit of reading the Bible with the Spirit's guidance has led him to renewal in his personal walk with the Lord and in his teaching and preaching. The Spirit's help with understanding the Scripture has given him a new enthusiasm for the Word as well as new insight about the Word.

In the process of Gary's reading the Bible, one day the Book of Revelation came to his attention. He had studied that Bible book in the seminary, and he had read numerous commentaries about the book. But these disciplines did not give him an understanding of Revelation. He continued to read, re-read and re-read Revelation. But the meaning of the book did not come clear to him, so he asked for the Spirit to illumine to him the meaning of the chapters and verses. He took an entire year for study of Revelation. He preached every Sunday from that book. His personal study for the preparation of his sermons led him to seek what the Revelation meant when it was written and what it means now to people living in the twenty-first century.

Gary, thankfully, has gone one step further in his association with Revelation. At the request of people who heard his sermons, he thought about publishing his thoughts. In his writing as with his sermons, he had the same goal of expressing his thoughts in a way that the ordinary person can understand. Numerous people will read Gary's published work and receive enlightenment of the Word. Readers will catch the spirit of a man who has been in God's book and has saturated himself with Revelation as well as many other books of the Bible.

Ashley's book does not conform to other works on Revelation. He has his own unique insights. His arrangement of Revelation is different from every book I have read. He divides Revelation into eight scenes with each scene having seven aspects. Most commentaries treat Revelation with chapters and verses. Gary thinks the book was composed in a narrative to get its message across. The book has been structured with the eight scenes which make it easy to follow. Gary's title for the book is Putting the Cookies on the Bottom Shelf. This means the author writes in a way the average person can understand. Readers get the benefit of a person who has studied Revelation academically and who has digested the book spiritually.

You will find in Putting the Cookies on the Bottom Shelf written in a simple style, an organization easy to follow, application for personal distresses and insight into current world events. The book will enlighten your understanding of Revelation and will apply biblical truths to life situations. Many have been blessed with the spoken word of Gary Ashley and now with the publication of this book many others will be blessed with his written word.

Harold T. Bryson

Acknowledgments

My wife, Anna Elizabeth Ashley, deserves recognition for this commentary. Without her support and encouragement over the last fifty-plus years, this commentary never would have been written. Great will be her rewards in heaven.

From an academic perspective, there were many of my educators who need to be acknowledged. Beginning with the teaches who taught me to read and write to the professors who taught me at the end of my formal education, I owe a debt of great gratitude!

There are three men who had the greatest impact in the writing of this commentary. Clarence B. Bass in his work titled Backgrounds to Dispensationalism changed my entire approach to the Revelation. From him I learned that the concept of a rapture, a seven-year tribulation, and a thousand-year millennial reign of Jesus on earth were never a part of accepted biblical theology until the late 1800s. This method of interpretation was devised by a man named J. N. Darby. If Darby was correct, the church misinterpreted the Revelation for best part of two thousand years. As a result of Bass's work, I had to disregard my long-held beliefs concerning dispensationalism.

Next, Michael Wilcock opened a whole new approach to the Revelation for me in his work The Message of Revelation. Wilcock enabled me to see the Revelation as a play with eight scenes with seven aspects each. The scenes change as Apostle John is given a new vantage point. This commentary leans heavily on Wilcock's framework.

Finally, Dr. John R. W. Stott has had a great influence on my life and thinking. Not only the content of his works but the methodology of his approach to exegesis and God's Word. I possess and have read all of Stott's published works, and I have adopted his thought processes into my study and appreciation of God's Word.

Revelation:

Putting the Cookies on the Bottom Shelf!

Introduction

My Journey

I have had the habit of reading a book of the Bible every day for many years. One day in 2012, I read the Revelation in my morning devotion. When I finished my reading and began to go about my day, I realized I had little understanding of what I had just read. I had preached from passages in the book, read the book, and had taken an exegetical class in seminary on the subject; but I had little understanding of its meaning or how it should be interpreted. I asked the Holy Spirit that day to guide me in unlocking the meaning of the Revelation. I took one year to study the book from every perspective I could discover. Next, I took a year to preach through the book. Without being dogmatic, I am confident my understanding of the Revelation is consistent with Apostle John's original intent.

The Origin of the Revelation

According to the book's prologue in verses 1–3, the Revelation came to man in a process. It originated with God. It was given to Jesus, and he gave it to an angel who presented it to John. John recorded the Revelation in writing and sent it to the seven churches. The Holy Spirit inspired the writing of the letter and its inclusion in the canon of Scripture. The final link in God's chain of communication takes place when the Revelation is preached and taught in the world throughout the church age.

The Three Time Frames of Revelation

Jesus made the following statement to John, Write down what you have seen, both the things that are happening now and the things that will happen. This statement reveals the three time frames of Revelation. The things John had seen were historical events or the things from the past. The things happening now are current events or the things happening in the present time. The things that will happen are future events. The student would be wise to bear these three time frames in mind as he interprets the book.

The Historical Context of the Revelation

The original recipients of John's letter were suffering greatly for their faith in Jesus Christ. They were learning that what Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:12 was true: Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. This persecution ranged from the inability to make a living, to having their possessions confiscated, to being killed for their faith. This letter was to remind these suffering Christians that they would emerge victors in the end as Daniel emerged unscathed from the lion's den, and as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego emerged unsinged from the fiery furnace. John admonished his readers many times and, in many ways, to endure persecution patiently and remain faithful.

Contemporary Context of the Revelation

It has been said, Some things change, and some things stay the same! In the spiritual realm, things stay the same. From Genesis chapter 3 to the end of the Bible, the conflict in the spiritual realm between the forces of good and evil rage against one another. However, in the physical realm, the actors on the stage of history are continuously changing. Generations come and go, but the conflict is still the same, and the spiritual truths of Revelation are applicable for any stage of history. The historical Christian and the contemporary Christian benefit equally from knowledge of and obedience to the Revelation.

No Dispensationalism, No Rapture, No Seven-Year Tribulation and No Millennial Reign

I was reared in a church and a home that taught four major things about the Book of Revelation. First, there was the belief God treated man differently within different time periods called dispensations. Second, God would extract the church out of the world in an event called the rapture, leaving only non-Christians on earth. Third, after the rapture, there would be seven years of suffering on earth called the tribulation. Fourth, the tribulation would be followed by the millennial reign of Jesus where he would establish the kingdom of God on earth.

This interpretation of Revelation was introduced by a man named J. N. Darby in the late 1800s. If Darby was correct in his interpretation, the Church of Jesus Christ misinterpreted the Revelation from Jesus's day to the teachings of Darby. Many of Darby's teachings were outlandish. There are several examples to be considered. Darby taught that Jesus would set up a kingdom on earth after the seven-year tribulation. During that time, the sacrificial system of the Old Testament would be reestablished, and people would be saved by keeping the Law of Moses, not by God's grace. Next, Darby taught that the church was an afterthought of God. When the nation of Israel rejected Jesus as its Messiah, God decided to create the Church. Darby also believed Christians would be second-class citizens in the final heaven. Their positions would be inferior to the Jewish people (please see appendix).

The teachings of Jesus on events leading up to the end of time are another reason for rejecting the teachings of Darby. These teachings of Jesus are recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13:1–37, and Luke 21:5–46. If anyone understood the last-day events, it would have been Jesus. He said nothing about a rapture, a seven-year tribulation, a thousand-millennial reign on earth, or anything else to support Darby's interpretation. In fact, there is no other passage in the Bible that provides credibility to Darby's theological position. After a thorough analysis of Darby's work on Revelation, I must totally reject his conclusions and method of interpretation.

Why is this important? If a person accepts Darby's approach to the Revelation, he will miss God's intended message to the church. If Darby is correct, the church is extracted (raptured) from the earth early in the Revelation, and most of the book reveals events that will happen in the future. The Revelation was given to Christians to encourage them as they made their journeys through the church age.

The Target Audience

This commentary was not written for the biblical scholar! It was written for the person in the pew who would like to have a general understanding of the Revelation. I wrote this commentary with children in mind. I want a fourteen-year-old child to be