Revelation
Introduction: Taking on Revelation
If you have your Bible, turn to the book of Revelation. One of the biggest issues with this book is that most people call it the book of “Revelations”—with an “s”—and there’s only one. It’s just Revelation. John got one shot, and that’s it. But we’re going to look at the book of Revelation together and talk through it.
People were asking me as this message was approaching, “How are you going to teach Revelation in one setting?” I said, “I have no idea.” Honestly, I don’t have a clue. The first thing that came to my mind was that it’s like eating an elephant—as if any of us have ever eaten an elephant! You know the saying: you just eat an elephant one bite at a time. Yeah, and then you get sick because you have so much left, and you have to go at it again and again and again.
So we’re going to do the best we can to give you an overview of a book that has caused incredible concern, and made people billions of dollars writing speculative books with shock value and conspiracy theories about what is to come. If you look at past history, how many times have people thought, “Oh, this is the Antichrist, so we should put on bathrobes and go live on a hill somewhere”? There are all kinds of wild ideas out there.
In many ways, the art of preaching and teaching is helping a text take flight. You want to begin a journey together where you see things, cover ground, and enjoy the ride. The problem is there is so much weight here. This book is so bulbous with information that I am having to jettison cargo just to get the plane off the ground. What we have to do today is figure out not just what to say, but what not to say. For those of you who have studied this book, we could probably drop anchor, hang out here until Jesus returns, and still be blown away by the minutiae of the text. But in a thirty-plus minute message, we need to start at a higher level.
If you’re looking for a theme for the book of Revelation, it isn’t “freak out, lose your mind, and buy stockpiles of rice like it’s Y2K.” The theme of the book of Revelation is that He will reign forever. From beginning to end, this book has a laser-like focus on the person and work of Jesus Christ.
The Alpha and the Omega
This is the only book in the Bible that comes attached with a specific promise of blessing.
Revelation 1:3 (NASB)
Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.
Blessed is the one who reads it, who hears it, and who keeps what is written in it, for the time is near. Now, it was written around AD 95. Most people think, “Well, ‘near’ or ‘coming soon’ was two thousand years ago!” But the biblical concept means that when it happens, it will unfold quickly. It doesn’t mean it had to happen tomorrow; it means when the trigger is pulled, it will come with rapidity and speed.
The author of the book is given to us right at the start.
Revelation 1:1 (NASB)
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated [it] by His angel to His bond-servant John,
Jesus is the author. It is delivered by an angelic FedEx delivery person, given specifically to the apostle John. It was written in AD 95 while John was exiled on the island of Patmos. He was brought back to Ephesus after Emperor Domitian died in AD 96, so we know the timeframe.
The focal point of this book is the one who calls Himself the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
Revelation 1:8 (NASB)
‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’
Revelation 22:13 (NASB)
‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.’
This book is not about John. This book is about someone from eternity past—the Alpha—and someone who will reign forever—the Omega. The beginning and the end is Jesus, our King.
The book of Revelation punctuates the entire biblical narrative. If you were to rip most individual books out of the Bible, we wouldn’t lose the overarching story, because Scripture is an integrated message system. If you pull out Romans, you can still discover the life of faith in other epistles. But if you pull the book of Revelation, you are left wondering how the story ends.
All the way through the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, there are open storylines hanging out there, not yet tied up. It drives Type-A personalities nuts! You read Genesis 3:15, where God promises that one day a descendant will crush the serpent’s head, but after Malachi, the Old Testament fades to black for four hundred years and you still haven’t seen the final crushing blow.
Genesis 3:15 (NASB)
And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.’
You read Genesis 49 and see that a Davidic King will come from the tribe of Judah to reign, but again, history goes silent. Then Jesus comes, and instead of taking the earthly throne, He dies. The disciples were beside themselves: “Wait a minute! You’re the Messiah. The Messiah is supposed to establish His throne and reign. What is this death thing?”
They didn’t fully understand that there is a first coming and a second coming. Revelation highlights that second coming of Jesus and finishes the story.
The Timeline of Daniel and the Church Age
One of the greatest Old Testament prophecies waiting to be fulfilled is found in Daniel 9.
Daniel 9:24-27 (NASB)
’Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy [place]. ’So you are to know and discern [that] from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince [there will be] seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. ’Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end [will come] with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. ‘And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations [will come] one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.’
Daniel prophesies that from the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Messiah the Prince comes, there will be sixty-nine “weeks” of years—that is, 483 prophetic years. If you do the math, that calculates to exactly 173,880 days. Don’t ask me why I have that number memorized, but I do!
Artaxerxes issued that decree in the month of Nisan in Nehemiah 2. If you count out 173,880 days, it lands to the exact day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey on Palm Sunday. Prophecy fulfilled. Check.
Nehemiah 2:1-8 (NASB)
And it came about in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, that wine [was] before him, and I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. So the king said to me, ‘Why is your face sad though you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of heart.’ Then I was very much afraid. I said to the king, ‘Let the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?’ Then the king said to me, ‘What would you request?’ So I prayed to the God of heaven. I said to the king, ‘If it please the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.’ Then the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, ‘How long will your journey be, and when will you return?’ So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time. And I said to the king, ‘If it please the king, let letters be given me for the governors [of the provinces] beyond the River, that they may allow me to pass through until I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress which is by the temple, for the wall of the city and for the house to which I will go.’ And the king granted [them] to me because the good hand of my God [was] on me.
Daniel 9:26 (NASB)
’Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end [will come] with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.
Daniel tells us that after the sixty-nine weeks, Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, which happened at the cross. But there is a final seventieth week—a seven-year period—that remains. Between the sixty-ninth week and the seventieth week, there is a prophetic gap. Daniel tells us that a ruler will come who will make a firm covenant for one week (seven years), setting off a seven-year countdown. That hasn’t happened yet.
That gap we are currently living in is called the Church Age. That’s us right now. The book of Revelation focuses primarily on that final seven-year period known as the Tribulation.
How We Read the Book
The outline of Revelation is given in chapter 1, verse 19:
Revelation 1:19 (NASB)
’Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things.
John is told to write:
- The things you have seen (Chapter 1)
- The things that are (Chapters 2 and 3—the Church Age)
- The things that are to take place after this (Chapters 4 through 22)
Much of the confusion around Revelation comes down to your hermeneutic—how you interpret the text. There are two primary schools of thought that I believe cause immense confusion.
First is the Preterist view, which suggests that these events were fulfilled in the first century, or that they are mostly symbolic and not meant to be literally fulfilled. They treat it like J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings—great literature with spiritual lessons, but not actual prophecy.
Second is the Historicist view, which tries to map Revelation onto continuous church history: “This seal happened in the Middle Ages, this trumpet happened during the Reformation,” and so on.
The fatal flaw with both views is that you have to allegorize the text. You have to say, “I know it says this, but it doesn’t really mean that; it means something metaphorical.” The danger with allegory is simple: Who gets to decide what is allegorical and what isn’t? If you spiritualize Revelation, why not spiritualize Romans 3:23 when it says all have sinned? Does Jesus really mean He is the only way, or is that a metaphor too?
Romans 3:23 (NASB)
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
John 14:6 (NASB)
Jesus said to him, ’I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
Once you start allegorizing without textual warrant, you can’t stop, and the Bible turns into a comic book with no prophetic authority.
The proper way to approach Revelation is the Futurist view. It takes the text plainly: chapters 4 through 22 describe events that have not yet occurred. Chapters 4 through 18 focus specifically on that future seven-year Tribulation period.
Notice John’s language. He uses the phrase “I saw” roughly thirty-five times, and the word “like” or “as” sixty-three times. Why? Because he was receiving real-time visions from Jesus through an angel. He was seeing technology, warfare, and cosmic judgments he had no first-century vocabulary for, so he was describing them the best he could: “I saw something like a dragon… something like a beast.”
Chapter 1 reveals the resurrected Christ. Chapters 2 and 3 contain direct letters from Jesus to seven historical churches in Asia Minor: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. They had real commendations and severe rebukes.
Then, in chapter 4, everything shifts.
The Rapture and the Restrainer
Before we dive into the Tribulation, we have to address an essential theological question: Does the Church endure this seven-year period of God’s wrath, or are we caught up to be with Him before it begins?
The Bible describes an event called the Rapture, from the Latin word meaning “to catch away.”
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 (NASB)
For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of [the] archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
Paul writes about this again in 1 Corinthians:
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 (NASB)
Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
I believe the Scriptures teach that this catching away happens before the Tribulation begins.
Daniel 9:27 states that the Tribulation officially begins when the Antichrist signs a seven-year treaty. For three and a half years, there is a false peace. But at the midway point, the Antichrist walks into the rebuilt temple, desecrates it, declares himself to be God, and all hell breaks loose for the final three and a half years—a period Jesus called the Great Tribulation.
Daniel 9:27 (NASB)
‘And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations [will come] one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.’
Paul describes this figure in 2 Thessalonians:
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 (NASB)
Let no one in any way deceive you, for [it will not come] unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 (NASB)
And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains [will do so] until he is taken out of the way.
Something is currently restraining the Antichrist. What is it? Some say human government, but government often fosters lawlessness. Some say the Church, but we can barely organize a potluck, let alone restrain global evil! The Restrainer is the Holy Spirit indwelling the body of Christ. When the Restrainer is removed—when the Church is caught up—evil will surge unchecked.
Why do we hold to a pre-tribulational Rapture?
First, I went to a seminary that made me pay a lot of money to believe it!
Second, and more importantly, it makes plain sense of the text without theological gymnastics.
Third, God makes a clear distinction between the Church and Israel. The Church does not replace Israel. Romans 9 through 11 makes it clear that God is not finished with ethnic Israel.
Romans 11:1-2 (NASB)
I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in [the passage about] Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?
The Tribulation is described in Jeremiah 30 as “the time of Jacob’s trouble.” It has a distinctly Jewish focus, which is why God seals 144,000 Jewish evangelists during that time.
Jeremiah 30:7 (NASB)
’Alas! for that day is great, There is none like it; And it is the time of Jacob’s distress, But he will be saved from it.
Furthermore, there must be a gap between the catching away of believers and the Second Coming so that we can appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ—the Bema—to give an account of our service and receive our rewards before returning with Him.
2 Corinthians 5:10 (NASB)
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
Finally, the Tribulation is explicitly the pouring out of God’s wrath. Jesus absorbed the full wrath of God on the cross for those who believe. It makes no theological sense for Christ’s Bride to endure the punitive wrath of God from which He already saved her. We are out of here.
The Lamb Who Is Worthy
Look at chapter 4, verse 1:
Revelation 4:1 (NASB)
After these things I looked, and behold, a door [standing] open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like [the sound] of a trumpet speaking with me, said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.’
John is caught up into heaven, and in chapter 5, a cosmic drama unfolds. A scroll is held in the hand of God, sealed with seven seals, representing the title deed to the earth and the rollout of God’s final redemption.
Revelation 5:3-4 (NASB)
And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it. Then I [began] to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it;
John begins to weep bitterly because no one is worthy to break the seals. But then an elder speaks:
Revelation 5:5 (NASB)
and one of the elders said to me, ‘Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.’
We love to talk about Jesus as the humble carpenter, the suffering servant, the one who died and rose again—and He is! But when the time comes for history to culminate, the Lamb takes the scroll because He alone is worthy.
The Seals, the Trumpets, and the 144,000
In chapter 6, the Lamb begins opening the seals. As each seal is broken, catastrophic judgments strike the earth: the four horsemen of the apocalypse bringing conquest, war, famine, and death; widespread martyrdom; and cosmic disturbances.
Revelation 6:1-8 (NASB)
Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, ‘Come.’ I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, ‘Come.’ And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that [men] would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him. When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, ‘Come.’ I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard [something] like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, ‘A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine.’ When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, ‘Come.’ I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.
There are three cycles of judgments in Revelation: seven Seals, seven Trumpets, and seven Bowls. What makes them fascinating is their nested structure—like Russian Matryoshka dolls, where you open one doll and find another inside. The seventh Seal is the seven Trumpets. The seventh Trumpet is the seven Bowls.
When the seventh seal is opened in chapter 8, the judgment is so terrifying that heaven falls dead silent.
Revelation 8:1 (NASB)
When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
Have you ever experienced a tragedy so deep that any spoken words felt trite? That is heaven’s reaction. It is so severe that no one says a word for thirty minutes.
Before the trumpet judgments unleash, God introduces us to 144,000 individuals in chapter 7.
Revelation 7:4 (NASB)
And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
Cults love to claim that the 144,000 are the only people going to heaven, treating it like a spiritual leaderboard. But look at the text: they are 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel. In chapter 14, John adds that they are celibate Jewish men who have kept themselves pure and speak no lies.
Revelation 14:4 (NASB)
These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste. These [are] the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb.
If you take this as the entire population of heaven, Peter is out because he was married. Mary is out because she is a woman. Billy Graham is out because he wasn’t Jewish. You and I are definitely out!
The 144,000 are not the only ones in heaven; they are 144,000 Jewish “Billy Grahams,” sealed and protected by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the gospel across the earth during the Tribulation.
In chapters 8 and 9, the Trumpet judgments sound: a third of the earth’s vegetation is burned, a third of the sea turns to blood, fresh water is poisoned, the sun and moon are darkened, and a fallen angelic being unlocks the abyss to release demonic torment upon the earth.
Revelation 9:1-3 (NASB)
Then the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit was given to him. He opened the bottomless pit, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
This connects back to Genesis 6, Jude 6, and 2 Peter 2, where rebellious angels were bound in chains awaiting judgment. In Revelation 9, they are unleashed.
Jude 1:6 (NASB)
And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day,
2 Peter 2:4 (NASB)
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment;
The Unrepentant Heart and the Bowls of Wrath
You would think that after a third of mankind is wiped out, the world would drop to its knees and cry out for mercy. But look at how humanity responds:
Revelation 9:20-21 (NASB)
The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.
Earlier, in chapter 6, kings and slaves alike hid in caves and pleaded with the mountains:
Revelation 6:16-17 (NASB)
and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’
Notice that phrase: “the wrath of the Lamb.” What is your picture of Jesus? A soft, passive figure? That was the Lamb going to the slaughter at the cross. At His return, He is the Lion executing divine justice.
Yet even facing His wrath, humanity refuses to repent. They double down on murder, sorcery, immorality, and idolatry.
In chapter 11, God sends two powerful witnesses to prophesy in Jerusalem for 1,260 days (forty-two months, or three and a half years).
Revelation 11:3 (NASB)
‘And I will grant [authority] to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.’
In chapters 12 and 13, Satan’s fury reaches its peak. He empowers the Antichrist (the Beast) and the False Prophet. The Antichrist leads a global confederacy, deceives the nations through false miracles, enforces his mark, and blasphemes the true God.
Revelation 13:1-8 (NASB)
And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns [were] ten diadems, and on his heads [were] blasphemous names. And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like [those] of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. [I saw] one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed [and followed] after the beast; they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?’ There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, [that is], those who dwell in heaven. It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, [everyone] whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.
Then come the final Bowl judgments in chapter 16: agonizing sores, oceans turned completely to blood, scorching heat, total darkness, and the drying of the Euphrates River to prepare the armies of the world to march into the Jezreel Valley—Armageddon.
Revelation 16:12-16 (NASB)
The sixth [angel] poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates; and its water was dried up, so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east. And I saw [coming] out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty. (‘Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.’) And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.
The seventh angel pours out his bowl, and a voice from the throne declares, “It is done!”
Revelation 16:17 (NASB)
Then the seventh [angel] poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, ‘It is done.’
At the cross, Jesus said, “It is finished,” referring to the work of redemption. Here, He declares that the day of wrath is complete.
An unprecedented earthquake shatters cities, islands flee, and one-hundred-pound hailstones crash down from heaven.
Revelation 16:18-21 (NASB)
And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake [was it, and] so mighty. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe.
Down in Texas, when a golf-ball-sized hailstone falls, people panic. Imagine a one-hundred-pound block of ice dropping on you! And what does humanity do? They curse God because the plague is so severe.
I have friends who say, “I’ll just wait it out. If Jesus comes back and proves Himself, I’ll believe then.” Listen, billions of people will be dead before chapter 16 closes. I wouldn’t take you to Las Vegas if you like those kinds of odds! Hardened hearts only grow harder under judgment.
The Return of the King
Chapters 17 and 18 depict the total collapse of Babylon—the world’s corrupt political, economic, and religious systems. Then, in chapter 19, heaven erupts in worship.
Revelation 19:1-2 (NASB)
After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, ‘Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER.’
Revelation 19:7-9 (NASB)
‘Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.’ It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright [and] clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, ’Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’’ And he said to me, ‘These are true words of God.’
Those who survived the Tribulation and placed their faith in Christ—the Tribulation saints—are welcomed into the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
Then John witnesses the greatest event in human history:
Revelation 19:11-16 (NASB)
And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it [is] called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes [are] a flame of fire, and on His head [are] many diadems; and He has a name written [on Him] which no one knows except Himself. [He is] clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white [and] clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, ‘KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.’
We often talk about the “Triumphal Entry” when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey with a burlap bag for a saddle. That wasn’t the real triumphal entry—this is the Triumphal Entry!
Look at the armies following Him, clothed in fine linen, white and pure, riding on white horses. You never see angels riding horses in Scripture, but you do see the saints. That army is you and me! We were raptured before the Tribulation, stood before the Bema seat, and now we ride in behind our King.
Notice something crucial: we carry no weapons, wear no armor, and swing no swords. We don’t lift a finger. The battle belongs entirely to Him. One King against all the gathered armies of the earth.
From His mouth comes a sharp, two-edged sword—a rhomphaia, like a massive battle blade. His word alone slays the opposition.
Revelation 19:19-20 (NASB)
And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.
The Beast and the False Prophet are seized and thrown alive into the Lake of Fire. The rebellious armies are destroyed, and the carnage is complete.
The Millennial Reign and the Great White Throne
Chapter 20 ushers in the Millennial Kingdom—the literal one-thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ on earth from the throne of David in Jerusalem.
Revelation 20:1-3 (NASB)
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut [it] and sealed [it] over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.
Satan is bound and thrown into the abyss for a thousand years. Is the kingdom of God here now? In one sense, yes—spiritually, “already.” But physically, “not yet.” One day Jesus will physically rule this planet.
After the thousand years, Satan is released for a short time to test the hearts of those born during the Millennium.
Revelation 20:7-9 (NASB)
When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.
Even after living under the perfect, visible, righteous rule of King Jesus for a thousand years, masses of people will still choose to rebel the moment they are given the chance. Fire comes down from heaven and consumes them, and the devil is thrown into the Lake of Fire forever.
Then comes the most sobering courtroom scene in the universe:
Revelation 20:11-15 (NASB)
Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one [of them] according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
The Great White Throne Judgment is not for believers; our sins were judged at the cross. This judgment is for the unredeemed of all ages. Books are opened detailing every thought, word, and deed, and the Book of Life is opened. Anyone whose name is not found in the Book of Life is cast into the Lake of Fire.
How does your name get written in the Book of Life? It is written by the Author of Life when you surrender your life to Jesus Christ.
Living in Light of the End
In chapter 21, God creates a new heaven and a new earth.
Revelation 21:5 (NASB)
And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ And He said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true.’
All pain, sorrow, death, and tears are wiped away.
In chapter 22, the closing invitation of Scripture rings out:
Revelation 22:17 (NASB)
The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.
Revelation 22:20-21 (NASB)
He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.
And John closes with, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”
The beauty of the book of Revelation is that we know how the story ends. It began with, “In the beginning, God,” and it ends with the King reigning forever. We are on the winning side if our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Every single knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord—some in worship, and some in judgment. Why wouldn’t you surrender to the King while the door of grace stands wide open?
John gives a severe warning at the end of the book:
Revelation 22:18-19 (NASB)
I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.
You don’t need to add to this book. You don’t need additional prophecies, new revelations, or golden plates dug up in the mountains. We have the complete, inspired revelation of God right here. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the Savior who died and the King who reigns.
If you know how the story ends, how should you live today?
It is like watching the recording of a football game when you already know your team won. Why would you pace the floor, chew your fingernails, and panic when your team goes down by 14 points at halftime? You already know the final score!
Stop living in fear of this world. Our team wins. The King is on His throne, and He will reign forever. Live like you belong to the winning team.
Let’s pray together.
Father, what an incredible book. Thank You for the revelation of Jesus Christ—not only as the Lamb who was slain for our sins, but as the conquering King who will execute justice and reign forever. We thank You that Jesus took the full cup of Your wrath upon Himself on the cross so that we could be forgiven, clothed in righteousness, and welcomed into Your kingdom.
For anyone reading or hearing this who has not yet bent their knee to King Jesus, I pray that today would be the day of salvation, before grace expires and judgment comes. Give us boldness to live without fear, knowing that the victory is already won. In the mighty name of Jesus, Amen.