Revelation – The Purpose of the Book
In this study from the book of Revelation, I am not going to take the normal approach of looking at the prophetic predictions of this book as a means of predicting what God will do and how He will do it. Instead, we are going to look at the spiritual applications that fill this book and look at God’s predictions as a means of assurance. Because most people look only at the prediction of future events, the greater benefits are often overlooked. Prophecy in the Bible does not always mean predictions. Prophecy means to proclaim the purposes of God through divine inspiration. Sometimes the purposes of God are veiled in mystery and other times, God’s purposes are proclaimed clearly without speculation. Prophecy was never intended to be a tool for predicting God’s actions. When God foretells future events, it is usually impossible to predict how these events will be fulfilled with any real certainty. When people try to predict God, they are almost always wrong. Prophecy (or the proclaimed truth) for our individual lives are clearly revealed in the word of God. The purpose of truth as it applies to individuals was intended to be precise and understood so that we can live our lives in fellowship with God as He intended. Lifestyle prophecy is not shrouded in mystery but can be understood by anyone who is in Christ because the Holy Spirit teaches us what the world can’t understand (1 Corinthians 2:14).
The prophecy of God’s plan for the world is shrouded in mystery and can’t be accurately unfolded beforehand. Those who try to predict God fall into error for several reasons. First and foremost, God never intended to be predicted and man was never given the power to know the mind of God. The main reason for the prediction of future events is to give us hope and reveal to us that when these things happen, we can draw confidence knowing God is in control. Without this foreknowledge, the trying times prophesied would dishearten believers because on the surface it would appear that God is not on the scene. If He hadn’t foretold the things that will happen, we would have no way of knowing that these fit within His design. When the world is in chaos and trying desperately to regain control, we can rest assured that God is very much in control. Even when we don’t like the world events unfolding before us, we can take comfort in Jesus’ encouragement from John 16:4, “But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them”.
Why is prophecy important to the Christian?
Can we know which events will be used to fulfill scripture before it happens?
What image of prophecy do we project to the world when we predict the order of Biblical events and are wrong?
Another error of predicting God is that it draws attention away from what is truly important – the message of the gospel. The gospel is not only salvation in Christ, but also a lifestyle in Christ. It is easy to get sidetracked by future events and lose sight of our calling to know God, glorify Him and fulfill the great commission to preach the gospel and make disciples of all nations. It is too easy to get so infatuated with the future that we neglect our present call to reach the world. That calling will not end until He returns. Acts 1 illustrates this well:
10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel,
11 who also said, "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."
The same question holds true today. Why are we gazing into the heavens? He is going to return as He said and we have a command to accomplish His will before He returns. There is no reward in trying to figure out when He is coming or when prophecy will be fulfilled. Our call is to reach the lost with the good news of the gospel. When we see events unfolding, we can use world events with prophecy to show the world the truth of scripture. When predictors of God are wrong, the world gets deceived into believing the prophecies are wrong and have no credibility.
Finally, those who think they have God mapped out completely miss what God is actually doing. Prophecy is foretold in such a way that it is impossible to self-fulfill. One of the reasons the spiritual leaders of Jesus’ day missed Him is because they had the coming Messiah figured out and boxed into a neat package. When Jesus did not fit into the box, they didn’t recognize the plan of God and rejected Him.
Are we true to scripture when we put God or His plan into a box?
If God doesn’t do as we have determined He should, could we miss what He is revealing?
What did the Pharisees expect Messiah to be? Why was it different than what Jesus was?
The scholars and the people of Jesus’ day were looking for a world conqueror that would lead Israel out of Roman bondage and restore them to their glory promised to them when the Messiah will set up His kingdom. What they failed to see was that the plan revealed in prophecy would be fulfilled first by His sacrifice for sins and in God’s time the kingdom would come afterward. The Old Testament foretold this but it wasn’t fully understood until Jesus revealed His plan. The 330 fulfilled prophecies concerning Jesus’ first coming was a separate event from the Second Coming and the eternal earthly kingdom to be established. Jesus made this clear when He began His 3-½ year ministry. Look at Luke 4:
17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
18 "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD."
20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.
21 And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
The passage Jesus read from is found in Isaiah 61. Jesus read only verse 1 and part of verse 2. Jesus stopped after reading the prediction of proclaiming the acceptance of God. His first coming built the bridge that gives us acceptance with God through faith in Christ. The vengeance of the Lord has not been fulfilled, nor has the promise of comfort and Israel’s restoration to glory. Most of Isaiah’s prophecies are to be fulfilled after the cross as well as most of the prophecies foretelling of Israel’s restoration throughout the prophetic books of the Old Testaments. They missed God’s plan because they had it all figured out and would not be swayed.
If fulfilled prophecy was impossible to map out beforehand, is there any reason to think we can successfully map out God’s plan today?
What is critical to understand is that God reveals only what instructs us, encourages us and builds our faith. God does not reveal what will sidetrack us from His plan. I believe there are three types of revelations of prophecy. There are clearly foretold events, clouded events and personal application prophecies that instruct the hearer. Let’s take a deeper look at these there areas of prophecy. An example of a clear event would be the Bible’s prediction that Cyrus would defeat Babylon 70 years after Israel was taken captive. We covered this earlier in this study when we looked at ‘How Prophecy is Fulfilled’. This prediction was given to Israel before they were taken captive by Babylon. God had just pronounced judgement on Israel and declared that they were going to be conquered by Babylon and taken captive to be slaves in the Babylonian Empire. It would be impossible to cling to the hope when their nation was taken away and the nation seemed as though it would cease to exist. To give Israel hope and to prepare the way for their freedom, God foretold with exact detail how they would return from captivity by the hand of Cyrus. For a specific purpose, God gives exact details in a prophecy. This prophecy was to be fulfilled by divine guidance and also by direct instruction.
Earlier we also studied an example of clouded events foretold in the Bible. When God predicted the fall of Tyre, it was foretold in such a way that it was crystal clear after the fact but impossible to see clearly beforehand. Though certain aspects of Jesus first coming was crystal clear, the entire plan was not understood until after He came and revealed it to us.
Why did God give such a specific prediction to Israel as they were about to be carried away as slaves?
Did God’s people have to figure this out or did God spell it out for His people?
What is a reason behind specific prophecies such as Cyrus’ decree to set Israel free?
What is the purpose behind the future predictions that are less clear in the New Testament?
Let’s take a closer look at individual instructions in prophecy. World events are a sign to the believer. Jesus gave an apocalyptic list of events that will be in the end times and concluded by saying, “So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near -- at the doors”. The prophecy of future events serves a purpose for the believer to be encouraged and to be focused on our purpose as called men and women of God. Prophecy keeps us from being caught unaware. Prophecy reminds us to watch. Jesus also promised that He would reward those who are found watching when He returns. Through prophecy, God also instructs us not to be afraid. Jesus said that when you see these things happening, look up because your redemption draws near. So we see that prophecy becomes a tool God has given us to keep us focused on His plan. Only those who are neglecting God’s purposes will be caught unaware. Our goal is to be found watching and doing. If you are not doing God’s purpose, you will soon fall away and will not be watching. If you are doing what God has instructed, you will be watching also. Both work hand-in-hand. The Bible ties both of these together.
The foundation of the purpose of prophecy is built on Revelation 1:3, “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.” In the rush to search for answers to the future, almost all studies of Revelation overlook the key instruction this book has given us. The whole purpose of the book of Revelation is to reveal the coming glory of Jesus Christ and that we read or hear this prophecy (God’s purposes) and to keep the things that are written (God’s purposes as applied to our lives). The focus of this study will be to search out this book and hear what God is telling us to do and to keep them so that we can inherit the blessing promised by God in Revelation 1:3. The key to finding God’s blessing is to find God’s will and purpose for us. Claiming God’s promises without keeping God’s commands is meaningless. God’s promises are claimed by obedience. Only in God’s will can we have the flow of blessings God longs to pour out on us. Sometimes God blesses with material wealth, but always with spiritual riches. The true wealth and the greater blessing is spiritual riches. Only when we are fulfilling our spiritual calling can we have the peace of God that surpasses all understanding. When troubles should drive us to be into turmoil, God’s peace carries us. When events put the world in chaos, the Christian stands upon the unmovable Rock of Jesus Christ. The world can’t understand this and those who never walk with God will not experience this peace during the hard times of life.
How do we watch as the Bible instructs us to do?
Why does the book of Revelation tell us that we will be blessed if we keep the things written in it?
In what way is prophecy a tool given to us by God?
The over arching theme of the book of Revelation is the return of Jesus Christ in all of His glory. His first visitation was as a servant and redeemer. He humbled Himself and set aside His right of equality with God during His ministry here (Philippians 2:5-11). This is where we get the name for this book; it is the Revelation of Jesus Christ. He has already been revealed to those who receive Him as savior, but not to the world. When He is revealed in all His glory, “every eye shall see Him” and recognize Him. Willingly or unwillingly, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. This book was written for those of us who already know He is Lord. It was written to the church that was heavily persecuted. The coming revelation of Jesus Christ gave hope to believers who were being massacred by Rome. During our trials the enemies of God may seem so powerful, but at the time Jesus reveals Himself in all His glory, every eye will see Him and the mighty will be brought low. The primary principle that this book is founded on is understanding and submitting to Jesus Christ as He truly is. We saw earlier that Jesus fulfilled His earthly purpose by dying on the cross to redeem us from sin. The latter part of Jesus’ purpose has yet to be fulfilled but will be done when He returns. Look at Revelation 1:
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,
6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
I’ll repeat this because it is important. Whenever you study this book, keep in mind this is written to the persecuted church. The church is the body of Christ – those who have surrendered to His Lordship and trusted in His completed work on the cross. Only those who have been washed in His blood are a part of His church. To be washed in His blood simply means that you have laid your life down and received the new life He has given you by His payment for your sins in your place. The Bible says that God will avenge and punish every single sin – even the sins of those who are forgiven. Jesus’ payment was the avenging of sin for anyone who will surrender to Jesus Christ. Those who have trusted Him as Savior and Lord have the promise of verse 6. He has made us kings and priests to God. This is the encouragement to those who were suffering and in danger of dying for their testimony in Christ.
Even today, many Christians in hostile countries suffer and die for their faith every day. There have been more martyrs for Christ in the last 50 years than in the last 2000 years combined. But because Jesus has been raised from the dead, we have hope in His resurrection. Because Jesus conquered death, we know we have life in Him. Because He shed His blood for our sins, we know we have been cleansed from our sins. Because He is ruler over the kings of the earth, we who are His will one day reign with Him. Because of this, we can be confident in our sufferings. Instead of fearing death and dreading suffering for Christ, we can be confident in our inheritance and rejoice through our tribulations. If this world was our hope, we would be miserable and each persecution would only add to that misery. However, our hope is in Christ and as Peter put it, “rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ”, 1 Peter 1:13. Ironically, it is not those who suffer for Christ that lose hope, but it is those who put their focus on this world that lose hope.
In what way does prophecy give hope to those who suffer?
Does persecution destroy hope, or living for this life?
Our hope is on His coming. He is the ruler over the kings of the earth, but He will not claim His throne until the time appointed. Verse 7 tells us that “He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, and they also who pierced Him. All the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen”. The word ‘amen’ means a firm truth, bound by an oath, or so it will be fulfilled. It will come to pass because God will perform His word. The kings of the earth are unaware that they are being used to piece together the purposes of God and are going to fulfill God’s prophecy to the letter. When the end comes, they will see Him and rebel because their hope was in this world and in themselves. They did not believe He would return to execute justice. Jesus represents everything that the world hates. They have not subjected themselves to Christ, but instead trust in personal wisdom instead of the wisdom of God. There will be no skeptics when Jesus reveals Himself. The rebellion will be over. We will confess Him as Lord in victory, but the enemies of the Cross will confess Him in defeat and judgment.
As Jesus is revealed in this book of prophecy, we see that His deity is no longer hidden. At the first coming, Jesus was indeed born of a virgin, but that was not His beginning. The prophecy of the coming Christ was made clear in Isaiah 9:6,
For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
What does it mean, “a Child is born…a Son is given”?
The child was born, but the Son was given. Jesus was from everlasting to everlasting – from eternity past to eternity future. In other words, He had no beginning and will have no end. Jesus made this clear in John 17:
3 "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
4 "I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.
5 "And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
The enemies of Jesus hated Him because he equated Himself with God. Jesus’ enemies today do the same. The first point made in this prophecy is to understand who Jesus is. Those who reject Jesus as He is, are the enemies of God. Today many people claim to love God and reject Christ. Some claim to accept Christ but redefine Him according to their own ideas instead of what He has revealed to us in scripture. Both are enemies of God. Jesus made it clear that to have eternal life we must know the only true God and Jesus Christ. These two can’t be separated. To reject Christ is to reject God. To claim to accept Christ and never know Him is still a rejection of God. People get confused because Jesus shows that there is a distinction between the Father and the Son, but different roles do not mean inequality. Jesus claimed to be equal with God and those who reject who Jesus was, also reject eternal life offered through faith in Christ. All of scripture points to who Jesus was and we must submit to Jesus or we are in rebellion against God.
What does Jesus mean that we must know the only true God and Jesus in order to have eternal life?
If someone denies the virgin birth, the resurrection or the deity of Christ, do they know Him?
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