|
|
|
Revealing Revelation
Revelation. Immediately, the name of the last book the Bible sparks
incredible controversy. The Modern Church is focused in on the End
Times. But what are the end times? How are they supported by scripture?
Is Revelation something of the future, or of the past? How can
Revelation be interpreted? With this article (and many following), I
hope to take you, the reader, through a look at history and the end
times which has never been heard before by most. I hope to show you how
to interprete this book called "The Revelation of Jesus Christ."
What could be the most important determining factor about Revelation is
who it is speaking to: The Modern Church of 2003 or the Early Church of
the 1st century, or in fact, both and all.
Who is
Revelation speaking to?
It is of vital importance to notice that the first six verses of
Revelation are an introduction to the seven churches in the 1st
century. It is the "To," "From," and "About" section that identifies
the writer (John) and to whom it is directly being written (the early
Church). Almost every book of the New Testement and many of the Old
begin this way. For example, the first two verses of Jude are the
introduction to that book. Others include:
Romans
1: 1-7
1st
Corinthians 1:1-3
2nd
Corinthians 1:1-2
Galatians
1:1-5
Ephesians
1:1-2
Philippians
1:1-2
Colossians
1:1-2
1st
Thessalonians 1:1
2nd
Thessalonians 1:1-2
1st
Timothy 1:1-2
2nd
Timothy 1:1-2
Titus
1:1-4
Philemon
1:1-3
Hebrews
1:1-4
James
1:1
1st
Peter 1:1-2
2nd
Peter 1:1-4
1st
John 1:1-5
2nd
John 1-2
3rd
John 1:1
Jude
1-3
This is clearly evident from a simple, superficial reading of the above
listed book, chapter, and verses.
Now that we have established the direct
audience of Revelation through comparing scripture and a reading of the
above list, we can now look at the passage of Revelation 1:1-6 with a
proper understanding.
"A Revelation of Jesus Christ,
which God gave to Him to declare to His servents things which must
shortly come to pass. And He signified it by sending His angel to His
servent John, who bore record of the Word of God and of the testimony
of Jesus Christ and of all things that he saw. Blessed is the one who
reads and hears the words of this prophesy, and the ones keeping the
things written in it for the time is near. John to the seven chruches
which are in asia. Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was
and who is coming; and from the seven spirits which are before His
throne; even from Jesus Christ the faithful Witness, the First-born
from the dead and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loved
us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and made us kings and
priests to God and His Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and
ever. Amen."
Reading this introduction to Revelation in the light of it's direct
refering to the 1st Century Chruch reveals a new concept for the "End
Times." (I will discuss how it indirectly relates to this present age
of 2003 and on later, rest assured).
We can now break it down for closer analysis.
"A Revelation of Jesus Christ,
which God gave to Him to declare to His servents things which must
shortly come to pass."
The key noteworthy phrase here is "shortly come to pass."
The word for shortly is tacov
which is translated in the Bible as "shortly" 4 times, "quickly" 2
times and "speedily" 1 time. The word for 'come to pass' is ginomai and is used as "be" 255
times, "come to pass" 82 times, "be made" 69 times, "come" 52 times,
"become" 47, "God forbid" + negative "may" 15 times, "arise" 13 times,
"have" 5 times, "be fulfilled" 3 times, "be married to" 3 times, "be
preferred" 3 times, not tr 14 times, misc 4 times, and vr done 2 times.
This clearly shows that the proper meaning of ginomai is "be" or "come to pass".
We have so far established through examination of the rest of the
Scriptures that the beginning of Revelation, the first 6 verses, is the
introduction by John to the seven churches who will be receiving the
letter and is not a part of the actual prophesy, that John wrote those
words originally to the Early Church, and that the phrase "shortly come
to pass" means what it says when
refering to the Early Church.. He is not talking to us, here in
2003. At least not directly.
From all of this one can easily conclude that Revelation is not (in
most of its parts) directly refering to us, but to the Early Churches
of the time. This brings up a new question:
When and how
was it fulfilled?
Most consider Christ's return to be sometime in the future, that He has
yet to return and set up his earthly 1000 year reign. This, if one is
to examine history, is found to not be the case.
I am very much aware of the fact that most christians balk at the idea
of Jesus's return having already occured. What they have missed is that
Revelation is not refering to some distant future--it is a metaphorical
description of several things all at once:
1) The destruction and slaughter of Israel in A.D. 70 by the Romans
(this is the fulfillment of the actual prophesy, though Revelation can
too be applied as an educational tool to instruct in the rising and
falling of nations)
2) The history of the world after entering the Post-Israel age
3) The outline for the rise and fall of every nation and country
4) A limited few future events (nothing similar the the pleasant
fiction of the commonly understood "End Times" theories)
At this point, it is likely that the reader is growing concerned at the
strange insanity being spewed at you. It defies all understandings
which you have been taught, does it not?
If you will bear with me, we shall cover all of these things in detail
and deal too with the "Rapture," the "Antichrist," and other modern
ideas. We're going to cover as much as possible.
How should
Scripture be interpreted?
What could possibly be the most important thing to realize about
interpreting Scripture is to understand that it was written to the
people of the time first and foremost.
Therefore all scripture must be interpreted through what we know of the
times in which it was written first, and the modern day and church
second.
Secondly, all scripture verses must be looked at within the context of
chapter and book before being yanked out at random. To do otherwise is
to do what is known as "quoting out of context." This is when you take
a brief quotation from a book or article without looking at the context
in which it comes from. In other words, yes, the author said the words
which are quoted, but in no way meant
them to mean what one is making them say when seperated from the text.
This is a major problem with the End Times "schedual" which the church
now subscribes. In order to create their series of events, they take
random verses or passages out of context and then assemble these verses
together in the order they wish them to be.
These things are the blatantly obvious stuff.
Now that we have the foundation set, we can continue on to the
specifics: the Rapture, the Anti-Christ, the 7 and 1/2 years of
tribulation, the Man of Lawlessness, the Whore--MYSTERY BABYLON, the
Beast, the Dragon, the 144,000 converts, the Abomination of Desolation,
the Great Multitude, the New Jerusalem and New Temple, and the New
Heavens and New Earth, as well as the 1,000 years of Christ's kingdom ,
and the time when Satan is "released from his prison and will go out to
decieve the nations" (Rev
20:7-8), among others.
Proceed to Next Page: "End Times Obsession"
|
