“We began this chapter with a list of seven questions that are basic to an understanding of God’s plan (and hence are basic to an understanding of the details of prophecy that are found in Revelation). To close this chapter we will ask the same seven questions and this time give concise answers to cement our understanding and memory before we proceed to the principal topic.

1. Why did God create the earth and mankind?

He created because love is one of His primary attributes, and true love must give. Therefore, he formed the earth “to be inhabited” (Isa 45:18) by a perfect race of people who will love and serve Him freely and to whom He will freely give blessings and life. This creation is “not in vain.” (Isa 45:17, 18; Psa 104:5)

2. What is God doing in the earth today?

 He is doing several things so that His purpose as stated above is being accomplished — so that His word will “not return unto Him void but it shall accomplish that which He pleases, and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto He sent it.” (Isa 55:11) The Lord is presently permitting evil to have full sway upon the earth so that man will be able to fully see (experience) its baneful results. (Eccl 1:13; 3:10) With this experience behind him in the Kingdom he will learn the opposite, he will lean righteousness and its rewards, and thus he will be in a better position to make a free and intelligent choice between the two having experienced both. But God is doing more than this presently. He is choosing “a people for His name” (Acts 15:14), which we will discuss in a coming question.

3. What is the Gospel?

As we have just seen, the Gospel is God’s good news to man that His original plan has not failed — that man will be made alive and receive God’s blessings eternally on a perfected earth. This is all to be done by a promised “seed.”

4. and 5. What is the Church? And what is the ultimate purpose for the Church?

The true Church of the Bible is that promised seed just mentioned, and its ultimate purpose is, by God’s grace, to participate in God’s own work of accomplishing His original design for the earth and its inhabitants. One of the main things that God is doing in the earth today is choosing that Church – one member here, one there. As Acts 15:14 declares, God, having found too few Jews faithful at the first advent to constitute this Church, he is now “visiting the Gentiles” — not to bless or save them now, but to take out from their midst “a people for His name.” This “people for His name” are those who are being called by God to sacrifice and suffer with Christ.

The Greek word for “Church” (ekklesia) literally means “a calling out.” These called-out ones are the true Church. They will receive the first or heavenly resurrection (IF proven faithful until death, Rev 2:10). Then they will be “priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with Him a thousand years.” (Rev 20:6) They will reign to bless all the nations of the earth. What a prospect!

This is the very reason that James says God is taking a people for His name: that “after this, after he has gathered the Church… the residue of men might seek after the Lord.” (Acts 15:13-18)

6. Are all outside the Church forever lost?

Of course not! The absurdity of this position should now be clear to us all. The whole purpose of the Church is to bless all those who are outside of the Church. God is not dealing with the world in general now. He is merely choosing out from amongst them those who will become members of the Church. After the Church is completely chosen and she becomes the bride of Christ at his second advent, then “the Spirit (of Christ) and the bride (the Church complete will) say, Come; and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” (Rev 22:17)

7. What about the Jew?

Although Israel (as a nation) has lost the exclusive opportunity of becoming THE Church (Rom 11:25), Israel, too, shall be saved (Rom 11:26), for it is through the natural seed of Abraham, the Jew, that God promises to give His New Covenant to all mankind (Jer 31:31-34; Isa 60:5).

Israel is now reestablished as a nation. God put her there. She will be the nation from whom the blessings will flow to all the world, for it is written, “Many nations shall come and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob, and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths, for the law shall go forth of Zion (the spiritual phase of the kingdom), and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (the earthly phase of the kingdom).” (Micah 4:2-4)

Likewise it is said, “Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to pray before the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, ‘In those days it shall come to pass that ten men shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, we will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you’.” (Zech 8:22, 23)

It is not the purpose of this study to give an in-depth or detailed interpretation of Revelation (We’ll save that for later). Instead, this study is designed simply to provide an outline that is generally accepted as sound by serious, enlightened students of the Bible. It also will provide the tools and processes which, if applied, will help to understand the meaning of this wonderful prophecy.

Do Not Add or Take Away

Rev 22:18, 19 is a warning: “If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book, and if any shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life…”

Some, unfortunately, have been so frightened by this as to miss the point. No sincere Christian would want to add or subtract anything from God’s Word. Time, however, has done that very thing. Now that we live at a time when many older manuscripts and fragments of the Bible have been found, we are learning that most translations have been flawed by omissions and/or additions to what was originally written. Some words or sections of Revelation are SPURIOUS — fraudulent. They have somehow been allowed to creep into the Bible over the centuries. However in some cases extra words should be added. We base these statements on the best available scholarship being done on older manuscripts. Rather than adding to or subtracting from the Bible, it is our endeavor to point out and correct the additions and subtractions which have already been made.

It is also of value to know that the early Bibles did not have chapters, verses, punctuation, or even spaces between ‘Words! It is easy to understand why translators must struggle so.

Five Basic Methods in Good Bible Study

Revelation, – like the rest of the Bible, is best understood when five methods of investigation are kept in mind. (There are of course other important elements in good Bible study, but these five are of fundamental importance.)

1. TOPICAL STUDY

Studying one topic, or even one word, to find its consistent meaning will help the reader to avoid jumping to conclusions which the writer did not intend. For instance, a study of “immortality” in all the New Testament books will reap far greater rewards than the study of Ephesians as a unit. An exhaustive concordance (such as Strong’s) is invaluable in this kind of study. Revelation should, thus, not only be studied by chapter, but also by subject. For instance, a study of the phrase “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues” will reveal a great deal throughout Revelation.

2. SYMBOLISM STUDY

When topical study is used, it is possible that seeming contradictions will arise. This frequently is because a word can be used both symbolically and literally. (The Bible usually explains the symbol when we search.) For instance, it is possible to find texts which indicate the destruction of the earth (e.g., 2 Pet 3:10). It also is possible to find texts which state or imply the opposite (e. g., Matt 5:5; 6:10; Eccl 1:4). Once we learn that EARTH sometimes symbolizes the current social order, the difficulty disappears and we have a reliable symbol to use in prophetic interpretation. The planet will remain; the social order (which is corrupt) will be destroyed and replaced with a perfect one. Revelation is a book of symbols (Rev 1:1).

3. STUDY USING TYPES AND SHADOWS

Closely related to symbols are types and shadows; these are events which have occurred but which are prophetic of more significant events later. For instance, Paul, by saying in 1 Cor 5:7, “Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us,” opens up an entire new world of investigation. He is clearly telling us that the Passover experiences of Israel TYPED or FORESHADOWED something else. The deliverance of Israel pictures the deliverance of the whole world. Thus John the Revelator calls Jesus a “lamb” and James calls the church “firstborns.” Both terms come from the type of the Passover recorded back in Exodus.

4. CONTEXTUAL STUDY

All serious writing is related to what has come before and to what follows after. Too many sensationalists make claims based on Bible passages which, when examined, are being used totally out of harmony with the passage from which they were lifted. This has given rise to the saying that the Bible is an old fiddle on which any tune can be played. When properly examined, the Bible can be used to play only one harmonious tune.

Context also includes considerations such as, (1) who is being addressed? (2) About whom are they speaking? (3) Which salvation is being mentioned? (4) Is there any peculiarity of the history of the time which affects this passage? This will all be of great import in the study of Revelation. Verses from Revelation must be studied in context and in the context of the history of the last two thousand years.

We will take a look at our fifth method of study in our next post.