“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand” Revelation 1:1-3.

In the past week, I had an exchange with a Christian mover and shaker on the Book of Revelation. I did so because a little earlier he posted an article he wrote (see here) exhorting readers to study the Book, suggesting how they might go about such a study and inviting comments. While there was a lot we agreed on, including the need to avoid doing what has often been done by people who commentate on the Book that then results in a flawed exegesis and not one based on evidence, difficult of course given the metaphorical language that is often used in the Book, but in the end it was evident we saw things quite differently. Nothing new in that of course, for this Book, as much as, if not more than, any book of the Bible, has given rise to wide variety of interpretations, even among the wise and godly.

My recent “last hurrah” project has been writing “Priests of the Bible”, which I hope will be available to the public May/June. This will be a sequel and complementary to my earlier book “Prophets of the Bible”. Along with themes covered in my blogs in recent years and my activities as a Watchman on the Wall looking at current craziness unveiling before our very eyes, along with much we don’t see in the world (heaven and earth), wondering where the balance lies between a present and coming Great Reset, Great Awakening and Great Deception (see here for my latest thoughts on the subject) and who to believe given that the Unholy Trinity (media, politicians, societal leaders) often lie to us, I find having an understanding of the Book of Revelation helpful when it comes to formulating my response.

1. Preterism versus Futurism.
2. Cessationism versus Continuationism.
3. Supersessionism versus Dispensationalism.
4. Calvinism versus Arminianism.
5. Anti-Zionist and Anti-Semitism.
6. Reformed and not Reformed.
7. A-, Post- or Pre-Millennialism.
8. Israel and Palestine.
9. Evangelical, Liberal and Catholic.
10. Tackling (or not) “social injustice”.    

My “Priests of the Bible” includes two chapters where the Book of Revelation has a bearing on the subject matter: “Chapter 47: Bible Prophecy and Current Events” (see here)” and “Chapter 52: Israel – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (see here)”. In the latter, I considered the above ten issues where the good and the great hold differing views and I suggested where one stood on these subjects had a bearing on how we viewed the current and future Israel situation. I could just as easily now say that the same consideration could apply to how we approach and interpret the Book of Revelation, even if we are good Bereans who search the scriptures daily in order to have a right understanding.  

In my Bible Prophecy chapter, besides reflecting on all sorts of goings on in the world right now that have significant impact on all of us and where some sort of response is called for, I consider what the Bible has to say on the subject and especially the prophetic scriptures, including Revelation. I identify, for example, three topics covered in the Book that relate to what is happening in this generation that our forefathers could not have seen, purely as a result of them only observing the events of their day and not being in a position to even imagine how things would be today.

1. The Mark of the Beast: it is easy to see how modern technology and digital currency linked to people surveillance and social credit scores could bring this about. This also relates to the notion of a one world government (now being vigorously pushed), here ruled over by the Antichrist.
2. The Mystery of Babylon: the rise of powerful global entities like the WHO, big multi-national corporations, e.g. Big Pharma, and banking cartels dealing in fiat currency, controlling the money supply, all with greater powers than the world’s elected governments, becoming increasingly apparent.
3. The Final Battle: this precedes the coming again of our Lord. With events happening in Ukraine and Israel, for example, it is easy to see how the world could be heading in this direction.

More could be said, including Jesus’ own words in Matthew 24 concerning end times, including a great deception coming over the world, taking in even the Church. My own interest was raised as a young Christian coming under the influence of the Plymouth Brethren, which took a particular interest in end times happenings, such that one respected church historian, David Bebbington, referred to them as an “Adventist Sect”. In my “Priests” book, I included a chapter titled “The Brethren and the Last Things”, which was a paper I presented at a historian’s conference where I spoke on what the PBs of my youth believed on “last things”. Two subjects that were pertinent were the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 and the Common Market (later renamed European Union).

Two things I should add is that my thinking has developed over the years including questioning my early PB influenced axioms as much as anyone else’s, and why I welcomed my disagreeing friend’s challenge to back up why I believed with evidence as I did. For example, I do not subscribe to the notion of the Church being raptured before the opening of the seals in Revelation 6 and am more inclined to them being united with Christ upon His return in Revelation 19. Also, I welcome the approach of studying the Book through a Jewish lens and in particular recognising much of it can only be thoroughly understood as a result of knowing and understanding the Old Testament, e.g. the Book of Daniel.

I could continue by giving a detailed exegesis on my understanding of the more contentious parts of the Book of Revelation, which is pretty much all of it after chapter 3, but I won’t other than suggest check out the above references. When it comes to subjects like “What is the end times tribulation?” (see here) and “What is the abomination of desolation?” (see here), I have often found the resource Got Questions (see here) remarkably helpful. While my friend will have a significantly different take compared to the views Got Questions and I have come up with, I welcome him encouraging the Christian public to study the Book of Revelation for themselves and to receive the blessing that is promised at the end of the Book, which was in the first instance a letter written by “John to the seven churches which are in Asia” (1:4).  

We began with John’s quote from the beginning of the Book of Revelation and it seems appropriate that we end with a quote from the end of the Book, along with its message of warning and hope: “And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen” Revelation 22:19-21.