The Book of Revelation Study of Events
Wow, it is exciting to be a Christian, wouldn’t you say? Jesus has given us so much. Revelation proves to Christians who we really are, our power and authority, and where we are headed. In the book of Revelation, we learn about the end of the world events that are soon to come. We learn only a glimpse, like John the Revelator said. This message is a small byte of our future and what to expect as Christians. It is not all evil, doom, apocalyptic, something to be afraid of and to avoid. Rather, there is good, it has a victorious outcome, it gives us something to have hope in, and to embrace. We receive a blessing by reading and studying Revelation. We can’t even wrap our minds around all what God has prepared for us. We can’t even fathom what it will be like. But one thing we know, we will live eternally with God Our Father, and Jesus Christ Our Lord and Savior forever. We will reign, rule, have dominion and power over all creation. We will have the same hierarchy and royalty as Jesus. We will always live in communion with Jesus and God Our Father just like we do now but without a sin-sick world. We will return to Garden of Eden-Like living, just like it was in the beginning but on a new earth, with a new heaven, and a new Jerusalem. This is what is the whole purpose for this study for the Christian, we get to spend eternity with Jesus with honors we don’t deserve.
In chapter four of Revelation, let’s start with The Rapture.
The Rapture is for the Church. God will move us out of the way so His wrath can begin on the earth for those that reject and refuse Jesus. God has not appointed us to suffer His wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9), as to why He will Rapture us up in the clouds before the tribulation period. Not only will Jesus call us up out of the way, but our bodies will be transformed at this time. That means, we will receive glorified heavenly bodies that will last for eternity (Philippians 3:21). They won’t age, waste, and decay like the fleshly bodies we have now. So, “The Clouds” are a form of transportation between the spiritual world and the natural. For example, at Jesus’ Transfiguration, God the Father’s voice was heard in a cloud (Luke 9:34-35). Another example is, Elijah went up to Heaven in a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11). What is a whirlwind, a cloud. Also, the two witnesses (Enoch and Elijah) will be raptured up into heaven in a cloud in Revelation 11:12. Even Jesus was caught up, and a cloud received and carried Him away after He finished eating and speaking with His disciples just before they went to the “upper room” to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:9-11). So, don’t be afraid to be on God’s mode of transportation to Heaven, it’s safe and secure. If Jesus rides on it, then we can.
Jesus talked to us, “always be ready, alert, stay awake, I am coming back soon!” That is why the devil is always at work putting The Church to sleep (Revelation 3:1-6). He won’t send us signs, He just said be ready. The signs are for the world and the Jewish nation. When it’s time, He will have His archangel blow a loud horn (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). Jesus will call us up with His powerful loud voice, Come up Here! (Revelation 4:1) Make sure you are spiritually tuned in to hear it! Jesus told us He is coming back soon to get us.
After the Rapture, soon The Marriage with the Lamb (Revelation 19:7) and the Marriage Supper (Revelation 19:9) will follow.
Only the Christians, The Church will go into covenant and marry Jesus. The Jews will not marry Jesus nor God the Father; however, they are in the family and will be at the Marriage Supper. They are God’s people. There is no other group or race of people that will marry Jesus, only The Church, the Christians. Others will be invited but cannot marry Jesus. The others will partake in the Marriage Supper but will not marry Jesus. They were not the chosen race, nation, or group. Only The Church; the Christians were. Only The Church will have the same rights and inherit what Jesus has. We, The Church, will go where Jesus goes. We will be in covenant with Jesus, reign over every world, rule over all creation, have dominion and power, are royalty, be crowned, receive rewards, sit on thrones at the right hand of The Father, are the heirs of everything Jesus receives, and live with Him forever. No one else has those rights. No one period! Not Adam, not Isaiah, not Moses, not anyone that makes it out of tribulation, nor anyone from The Millennial Reign, nope, sorry! Only us, The Church! We were the chosen helpmate created for Him by Him (Colossians 1:16) from the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:20; Jeremiah1:5). There is still time to be the bride in this marriage, you, or anyone you know, that hasn’t accepted Him as Lord and Savior yet there is still time to accept Him. Come, Jesus says! Everyone, Come! The greatest invitation ever. I don’t care who you are, Come! All who are reading this. Be a part of the eternal glory that He made just for you. Don’t miss out. He invites everyone. Sadly, not everyone will accept.
Since the beginning of time people said the message of the coming Messiah was foolish and even claimed to be the Messiah. When Jesus was here, He was rejected and killed. Nowadays, people still reject Him. People also have faith in Him then fall away and turn to other gods. That will continue to happen until He comes back again as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, The Second Coming (Revelation 19:11-16). This is an apostasy. It means you become saved and believe in Jesus and have faith in God the Father, then do a 180 degree turn away from the faith and have faith in something else and deny Him. All who reject, deny, apostate, backslide, war against, and are enemies with Jesus on earth who miss The Rapture will go through the tribulation period. His own chosen people, the Jews, who reject Jesus will experience this wrath (Ezekiel 39:21-24). Those who are already dead prior to the rapture that rejected Jesus, are in hell (Hades) waiting on The Final Judgement (Revelation 20:5). As for us, if we die before the Rapture, we will be in heaven waiting for our Bridegroom and our day of Marriage. God has not appointed us to experience His wrath, so tribulation isn’t for us. A friend once told me God told them they were chosen to stay and help during tribulation. Sad, God didn’t say that! See how people don’t know the Word of God and have a relationship to hear God’s voice clearly. It is so crucial. Tribulation is not for the Church. That is why the Church will be raptured up in the clouds. Tribulation is only for those who refuse and reject His Son.
I want to tell you about what I call a Big Worship Party (Revelation 19:1-4).
It will take place during Tribulation before The Marriage of The Lamb. All of heaven will rejoice and worship Jesus for a great victory. We will watch one of our greatest enemies be defeated in one hour, Babylon the Great (Revelation 18:1-24). This enemy is just one of Satan’s command centers of evil that has greatly oppressed The Church. So much evil is birthed, organized, reproduced, and sent out from here to steal, kill, and destroy Christians. An enemy assigned to destroy you possibly could have been dispatched from here. There are many such command centers, however, they are all defeated already. This is the time when you will see your enemy destroyed. Jesus is the Destroyer, and they will see you live in the house of the Lord forever (Psalm 23:5-6). This worship session to sing and glorify Jesus, it is going to mean something personal to each one of us! Victory for Jesus! Look what He has done. Jesus conquered but made us more than conquerors just because of His love for us (Romans 8:37-38). We are going to retire from this present world as a conqueror. Whew, that’s huge. This big praise session where all the Saints will gather to worship and express our gratitude to Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is one of the reasons why I believe the Holy Spirit impressed Apostle Paul to write in 1 Corinthians 15:57, “but thanks be to God who gives us the victory (as conquerors) through our Lord Jesus Christ.” We have this victory now, here on this earth. We have power over the enemy, and nothing can harm us (Luke 10:19), even though there is a great enemy that tries. You might say your situation devastated you. Yes, they do, but God says He does not let it destroy you. He won’t let you go to hell over it. You are an overcomer. You outlast and overcome the opposition. You might fall down but He causes you to get back up. The even bigger picture is, the devil is trying to get you to turn your back on God so you will go to hell with him, but God said no way, that’s not happening, you are My child, you have eternal life with Me forever! That is what the bible means when it says you have the victory over your enemy already and it can’t harm you. Our struggle is not with people, but with the enemy tempting and deceiving people to choose its will instead of God’s will. Our enemy is not a person (a physical opponent) but against rulers, powers, against the world forces of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly supernatural places (Ephesians 6:12). These fallen angels, defeated devils, demons, principalities, and/or evil forces are assigned to you (Ephesians 2:2) to get you to turn your back on God (apostate), steal from you, kill your faith, and destroy you (John 10:10). But you already have the victory over all of them. Are you getting empowered? Do you know who you are? Are you starting to understand just who you are in Christ, now, here on this earth? You are powerful! Never again let what is coming against you stop you.
When our big worship party has taking place, the Marriage to the Lamb is complete, the Marriage Supper is over, the Tribulation and the Great Tribulation are up, it will be time for us to accompany Jesus, The Christ, The Lamb, The I Am, Emmanuel, Faithful and True, The Word of God, Morning Star, to show the world He is the Messiah. The King of the Jews. This is the Second Coming of Christ. Where He comes back to the earth on a white horse as King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16).
Everyone on the earth will now know who the Big Boss is. And guess who’s following Him on white horses dressed in fine linen, dazzling white, pure, and clean, us, the Church. The unblemished, blameless, faultless, and Redeemed before the presence of His glory (Jude 1:24), The Saints. We just married Him. We go everywhere He goes now, nobody else will have that privilege. All Jesus has to do is speak a word and millions and billions will die, it will happen that fast. All the wicked will die; however, many will literally (with their eyeballs) see Jesus and live. Some will be elected to be saved out of tribulation and be called the Tribulation Saints (Revelation 7:1-8). People who turn to the faith during tribulation will not die by Jesus’ sword. Many will escape the sword and make it through to the Millennial Reign in their fleshly bodies, marry and have children. They will live if they are not murdered or martyred first by the opposition and their armies.
After all the wicked are killed, and the birds gorge and feast on all their dead flesh, the beast and the false prophet will be hurled into the lake of fire, the second death. Who are the beast and the false prophet you might ask? The beast is the Anti-Christ, who will be the world political leader during the Tribulation period, just like in the days of the Roman Empire. The false prophet will be a religious leader who will follow and instruct all people to follow the world political leader. After that, any nation, or people that wage war against Jesus that are left alive are going to be struck dead by the sword of Jesus’ mouth, His word. Then the birds will eat them. Their souls will be waiting in Hades for The Final Judgement, which will happen after The Millennial Reign.
First, Satan will be thrown into and bound in the Abyss (Revelation 20:1-2), then The Millennial Reign will begin (Revelation 20:4). We will reign and sit on thrones with Jesus for 1,000 years. We will reign over all creation. This will include the people not from the Church Age, angels, fallen angels, and all who rejected Jesus in hell, the dead. Concerning the people on the earth, they will be expected to live the entire 1,000 years just like Noah lived 950 years (Genesis 9:29). If they don’t, they will be considered under the curse.
After the Millennial Reign is up, Satan will be released for The Final Rebellion on earth (Revelation 20:7). The living people will have a free will to accept or reject Jesus and God as their Father through deception. Those who fall away and do not accept Jesus will war against Jesus, His people, and Jerusalem. They will lose this war and will lose quickly. They will head to judgement along with the dead. The people that accept Jesus during the Final Rebellion period will have eternal life, but will not have the same rights, rulership, dominion, and power that we have with Jesus. Do you see how blessed we are to be called, Christians? What a privilege, what an honor to be chosen for such a role with Jesus!
Next, is the Final Judgement (Revelation 20:11-13). Jesus rides in to earth powerfully on a great white horse. John explicitly writes in detail how Jesus looks in His war gear. How He is dressed for judgement. Oh, what a sight that will be! Everybody dead is for sure trembling, to the bone Ezekiel says, with the utmost fear and saying, uh oh, doomsday is here. We will be there on white horses following behind Jesus. Let me be clear. Jesus is the Judge, and we are judges with Him. At this point, we have already sat down on the thrones with Him at the start of the Millennial Reign! We are not being judged here. The dead people are being judged. “The Dead” are all the people that refused and rejected Jesus. They waited in hell for this. Once Jesus and we judge them, they will be thrown into the lake of fire along with Death and Hades (Revelation 20:14). Again, let’s cancel all rumors, false doctrines, and lies. We are the judges, the rulers, the priests, heirs, co-heirs with Jesus, the ones married to Jesus, royalty, the children of God, family, chosen from the foundation of the world, saved, inherit everything Jesus owns, and more. Once we leave this life here on earth, we cannot lose our souls (1 Corinthians 3:14-15). We cannot go to hell after we have already entered heaven. The only thing we can lose is a reward. All the devil wants to do is put Christians into fear with lies. Jesus is coming with rewards for us (Matthew 10:40-42). What will be judged is our heart. What kind of heart did (or do) we have, to receive rewards. Our true intention will be judged not our souls when we did something for Jesus while on earth. This judgement of rewards for the Saints will happen way before the Marriage of the Lamb.
The New Heaven, New Earth, and The New Jerusalem are next in the end of the world schedule of events in Revelation 21. They will come down from God the Father. This is the time when all things are made new. Everything associated with the former earth like sickness, sin, death, and sorrow will pass away. It won’t exist. It will be wiped away. This is the time of The Completion of Christ, where Jesus said “It is done! He is the first and the last, beginning and the end, the Alpha, and the Omega,” (Revelation 21:6; Isaiah 41:4; Isaiah 44:6). What Jesus promised to do for us will be completed at this time. It is like in the same manner when Jesus said, “It is finished,” while on the cross (John 19:30), He completed what The Father sent Him there to do, redeem mankind back to God. He made all things new, mankind (2 Corinthians 5:17). You and me, He made new. The day you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior you became a new creature. Your past was wiped away. Your sins are continuously forgiven. Everything in your life was made new. You had a fresh start with God. You were saved from hell and received eternal life. Wow, stop and pause right here and think about that for a moment. You are new, the greatest miracle in the universe!
Let’s look at some other examples Jesus made new. Jesus is the author of our faith. It is awesome now, but when Jesus finishes our faith, we will be complete, rewarded, crowned, without spot or wrinkle, wearing dazzling white robes (symbolizes rank and hierarchy) (Hebrews 12:2). He will do what He said and make all things new. Secondly, the old atonement for sin was good that started with Aaron (Leviticus 16:1-34), but Jesus did away with that and was the final atonement for sin when He died once for all at the cross. Next, the Law of Moses was a good guide, but Jesus ended the Law (Romans 10:4). He brought in the two greatest commandments of love that overrode the ten commandments (Matthew 22:37-39). We may very well live by this law that Jesus gave during The Millennial Reign and in the New Heaven and New Earth. This Heaven and Earth we live in now is good, but Jesus will end it because it has sin in it. The New Heaven and New Earth will be pure without sin and death. The point is, Jesus came to make everything new and better. It all started with Him and will end with Him. He completes everything. We receive all the benefits of everything He does, now and forever. We didn’t have to do anything but receive it and walk into it. It is so exciting and so honorable to be a Christian.
We will all live in The New Heaven, The New Earth, and New Jerusalem. That will include every fleshly body still living on the earth and everyone in glorified heavenly bodies from the beginning to the end of time. However, we, the Christians will reign and rule over all creation in this new world (Hebrews 2:5-9). Over every non-Christian person (whether in heaven or the lake), angelic being (whether in heaven or the lake), and animal. God has set you over the work of His hands. Wow. Are you starting to realize who you are in Christ? He is so mindful of you. He had you in mind when He had the New World in mind.
How will God physically do this? Will it happen like it did in Genesis chapter one? Other than by Him speaking His Word, the bible does not say. All we know is, we are headed to all things new and its already done with an exclamation point by Jesus Himself! Hallelujah!
Right now, sin separates the lower heavens and earth from God the Father. Now, the new heaven, earth, and beloved city (Jerusalem) can unite as one with the Father and the Son because there will be no more sin (Matthew 6:10). God the Father can now live with His people, and His people can live with Him forever as prophesied in Ezekiel 37:27.
The last chapter of Revelation is what I describe as “Returning to Garden of Eden-Like Living.”
There are two parts to this I would like to describe, the physical and spiritual. Have you ever heard someone say, “we will walk on streets of gold one day?” Well, here it is. This is where it says in the bible where we will.
The physical is beautifully described in Revelation 22:1-5. The pure River of Life that is crystal clear will run down Broadway Street (Main Street). We know there will be Two Trees of Life that will yield twelve different kinds of fruit for us to eat every single month. These trees must be huge because there will be trillions of people in heaven. We know everything we need will be provided for. We know we already have a place to live. Right now, Jesus is preparing mansions for us to live in. He said in John 14:2, “In my Father’s house are many dwelling places (mansions). If it were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you.” My next point is the wild animals will live in peace with each other and with us. They won’t eat or fight us; they will eat vegetation. The wolf will dwell next to the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and steer together. The cow and the bear will graze together. The lion shall eat straw like the ox. A baby will safely play over the hole of a cobra and not be hurt (Isaiah 11:6-8). There will no longer be predator and prey, nor evil or harm (Isaiah 65:25). It will all be different and peaceful. In my opinion, if there is anything heavenly you can dream up, it’s probably there.
As far as the city of Jerusalem is concerned, there is some reference to how it will look In Revelation chapter 21. It says the city is made of pure gold, so pure it will look transparent like glass. It will be garnished with precious stones, jasper, sapphire, onyx, emerald, amethyst, rubies, and more. We will be there. Our Jewish friends will be there. God’s throne will be there, Jesus’ throne will be there. For God’s and Jesus’ glory will be so bright there will not be any need for the sun or the moon. They will be the light. No more nighttime, light bulbs, or odd weather seasons.
To sum up the physical nature of the new world where we will live; we cannot even imagine all He has instore for us. “Things never discovered or heard of before, things beyond our ability to imagine, these are the many things God has in store for those who love Him,” (2 Corinthians 2:9 TPT). The word of God says it the best.
The spiritual aspect of returning to Garden of Eden-Like Living is all about communion with Jesus. It is all about Him and us. Living with Him for eternity. That is what this bible is all about from start to finish. Accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior and living with Him for eternity. This is the most important paragraph to remember from this study. What we will see in the physical is irrelevant to what we will receive in the spiritual. This is what I choose to be the whole purpose for this study, we get to spend eternity with Jesus with honors we don’t deserve.
The two trees and the river of water of life symbolize Him. When you see them, it will remind you of Him. Maybe in the same way He told us to remember Him and take communion at church. He is the eternal life-giver. He is the Water of Life. It flows from Him and the Father. Jesus says in John 4:14, “If Anyone drinks the living water I give them, they will never be thirsty again. For when you drink the water I give you, it becomes a gushing fountain of the Holy Spirit, flooding you with endless life!” Did you know we have this River of Water of Life flowing in us right now? Yes, it’s true. If you are a born again Christian and baptized with the Holy Spirit, then you have it. If not, just simply say with faith,
“Father, pour Your Holy Spirit into me. I receive this baptism right now by faith, I welcome you. I love you. And it is so, in Jesus Name.”
What is it, you might ask? It is the anointing of the Holy Spirit John says in 1 John 2:20. The Rivers of Life will bubble over inside of you, flowing with life. Your spiritual eyes become opened, truth is discerned from falsehood, knowledge becomes known to you, mysteries of God’s word are revealed, there’s unexplained joy of the Lord, and your destiny is fulfilled now and in the eternal world. It’s more than a feeling; it’s this eternal life that we possess that’s always in communication and communion with Jesus. People all of a sudden experience miracles. That’s what this is. All of a sudden, a person experiences happiness when they have been sad and can’t explain it. All of a sudden someone is healed when they’ve been sick. All of a sudden you hear God’s voice and receive a word from Him that solves your situation. Suddenly someone has peace in their life when they have been tormented for years. This is the flow of the River of Water of Life that bubbles up inside of a person, the anointing that overflows in abundance, the pouring out of the Holy Spirit in our time of need here in this life now (John 10:10). This is the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
In the next world, we won’t have any needs or be sick. What more could we need? He has it all. He is the water and the trees. They represent life. Eternal Life. Very simple. Now we know there is comfort, peace, and more just in knowing we have access to Jesus forever.
This study is all about Jesus and us, The Church, His Bride. Stay encouraged, Jesus prayed for you. Yes, you, His bride, His covenant partner, His companion, His chosen, His elect, the ones He wants to be with eternally. Here is His prayer, John 17 The Passion Translation:
“Father, I have manifested who You really are, and I have revealed You to the men and women that You gave to Me. They were Yours, and You gave them to Me… Keep them in Your name so that they will be united as one, even as We are one. While I was with these that You have given Me, I was guarding them and keeping them in Your name. Not one of them is lost… For they no longer belong to this world any more than I do… I pray for them to become one with Us… Father, I ask that you allow everyone that you have given to me to be with Me where I am! For Your love will now live in them, even as I live in them!”
I would like to encourage you to read the entire prayer Jesus prayed for you in John 17 as I summarized. Here are a few points Jesus declares about you and the future.
· We are chosen because He revealed Himself to us, He doesn’t do that with everyone.
· God The Father gave us to Him for a companion, a bride, to live with Him eternally forever.
· He is letting us know we will unite as one, like people are in marriage.
· He is currently guarding and keeping us with His name.
· He announces here we will go wherever He goes once we are in heaven with Him. As in we will go with Him to The Final Judgement.
· He and the Father live in us and we in them for eternity!
I hope you enjoyed this study. I would like to encourage you to continue your Revelation for the Christian bible study with the companion I wrote. It has some comprehension questions for reflection and an attached glossary. You will find it so interestingly informative. It takes you throughout the whole bible. I really hope you share this with anyone and everyone. This is for the world to know. Proudly wear your title, Christian! Jesus said it the best, Come, you are all invited. I am coming soon.
May God continue to bless you and keep you.
