A REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST
“The Apocalypse”-- A 21st Century Commentary
INTRODUCTION
By
Doug Krieger
“It is unthinkable that God who knows the end from the beginning would pinpoint such small nations as Libya, Egypt, Ethiopia and Syria in the prophetic declaration and completely overlook the wealthiest and most powerful nation on the earth. Too long have we evaded the question. Too long have we summarily grouped our country with the so-called revived Roman Empire. Too long have we persisted in terming the U. S. A. in prophecy as one of the "lion's cubs," thus giving her but an inferential mention in the shadow of a diminishing Britain.”
S. Franklin Logsdon – Sr. Pastor, Moody Memorial Church, Chicago – c. 1967[1]
GEO-POLITICAL REALITIES – THE RISE OF THE IMAGE
Today’s world is a far cry from the Papacy’s apostate dominance which suffered at the hands of Napoleon I in the 1790s. A far cry, indeed, from “Pax Britannia” – and light years beyond the Great War and Wilson’s designs to “make the world safe for democracy.” The geo-political world of colossal antagonists disappeared as Reagan’s words, “Tear down this wall,” were financed by the deficit spending of today’s only Super Power. Instead of Khrushchev’s, “We’ll bury you” – the bear was driven into hibernation.
Seemingly oblivious to the nature of the Image that arose upon the banks of the Tigris—unaware or unwilling to admit that Western Civilization’s inexorable march toward world political, military, commercial and even cultural hegemony—evangelical exponents of Bible prophecy find themselves mired in inane eschatology and relegated to the periphery of the world’s greatest debate. Purposefully, or ignorantly, they diminish biblical relevance—and shower believers within the Western framework with false perceptions and erroneous hope—holding forth the promise of Premillenarian Rapture prior to any final engagement with the “powers of darkness.” Or, worse yet, convolute their hermeneutic to relegate vast portions of the Revelation to First Century fulfillment or strive to speculate—sincere as it may be—some historical past event that will bring solace and comfort to the Body of Christ . . . only to bring such specificity into disrepute as events progress through time.
ONE’S WELTANSCHAUUNG IS DETERMINED BY ONE’S ESCHATOLOGY
After scores of books written on this subject of the Revelation—by well-meaning futurists, historical interpreters, and those who would dismiss the text as purely symbolic, or worse, relegate the prophetic to the immediate escapades of Nero Caesar (Preterism)—this writer has concluded that the Church’s theology at the conclusion of Scripture’s canon, awaits a more relevant commentary that refuses to compromise the great Premillenarian insights of the 1800-1900s, while facing the immediate with the living Word of God that will yet speak into our generation. Indeed, insights may be gained from all these aforementioned eschatologies; however, the God of Revelation has far more to say at the conclusion of this age than at any time in history!
The time for a revelatory commentary that does not confine itself to the strictures of history past—but confronts the end of the age with the Testimony of Jesus in the midst of “a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15b)—is the charge before us. The Reformation initially embraced Catholic Amillennialism as their eschatology; however, as the Papacy’s Counter Reformation ensued, a sea-change in Protestant eschatology took place—Historicism became the obvious eschatology . . . and thus was the Papacy exposed as the Great Whore of Revelation 17. Large numbers of Protestant Separatists began to view traditional Catholic eschatology of the Kingdom Now or Christian Dominionism as scripturally disingenuous, even apostate. The gradual embrace of Premillenarian eschatology, with its view of the literal Kingdom yet future, and ipso facto, some role for Israel’s materiality, became prime considerations—hence, the move from pure historicism to Premillenarian eschatology.
To date, the Weltanschauung overshadowing the Revelation has been the domain of eschatologies well-known to theologians and, in the main, popularized primarily by Futurists in America—The Late Great Planet Earth and the Left Behind Series or the recent fictional attempts of Preterists like Hank Hanegraaff (The Last Disciple).
Indeed, Preterism or partial preterism—wherein virtually all of Revelation was written for First Century Christians (Note: Jerusalem of 70 AD is “at least” the Harlot of Revelation 17 and perhaps even in toto Babylon the Great or Rome’s demise in the Fifth Century is Babylon the Great’s destruction); postmillennialism (closely linked to Preterism)—which deigns to project the ascendancy of the Church’s persuasion to sweep the world into the Kingdom of God, thus ushering in the bodily return of Christ—Christians are transforming the world as the Kingdom Now; amillennialism—which truncates the Revelation to the final Eschaton (i.e., the eternal state) awaiting the Second Coming of Christ, although the final outburst of evil transpires prior to His Appearing; the Idealist or “spiritualist” interpretation akin to the Alexandrian church fathers (Clement and Origen) and is linked to amillennialism wherein the Revelation is not restricted to a particular historical period—it is seen as an apocalyptic dramatization in types, symbols and shadows of the classical struggle between God and evil; Historicism—which seeks to make sense throughout the past two-thousand years by disbursing the Revelation and its counterparts (viz., Daniel and other Hebrew prophetic Scriptures) into a host of chronological shapes and sizes throughout the centuries; Futurism (viz., classical/traditional Dispensationalism) separates Israel and the Church in the prophetic schematic while projecting the greater part of the Revelation and its Antichrist, tribulation, final week of Daniel (i.e., the Seventieth Week of Daniel), the Rapture of the Church (be it pre-mid-post or partial), abomination of desolation . . . all into the future—all the while claiming exclusive purview to the “historical-grammatical” or so-called “literalism” or “one meaning” of prophecy, in particular, the Revelation ; and, finally, Futurism’s sister, Progressive-Modified Dispensationalism, which adheres to most of traditional Dispensationalism; however, it acclaims a two-tiered “already / not yet” hermeneutic wherein prophecy takes on adumbrative fulfillments, providing initial archetypes fulfilled in history past, yet projecting greater fulfillments into the “yet future.”
Transitional Dispensationalism:
Another school of Dispensationalism could be labeled “transitional Dispensationalism” – and is best summed up by Premillenarian theologian Robert Gundry, who projects the radical notion that Israel and the Church are involved in an end-times dispensational transition of immense eschatological significance. The implications embedded within Gundry’s proposition would revolutionize both classical and progressive dispensationalism and move the eschatological debate within the futurist-premillenarian camp from Israel’s prophetic “isolation” in the Last Day’s drama within Daniel’s Seventieth Week to “ecclesiological engagement” wherein the Church and Israel not only “passively co-exist” within the Seventieth Week of Daniel’s prophecy but literally “spiritually collaborate” their joint witness under divine mandate:
“In the chronological question concerning the rapture, the dispensational issue centers in the field of ecclesiology. An absolute silence in the OT (Old Testament) about the present age (i.e., the present “Church Age”), a total disconnection of the Church from the divine program for Israel, and a clean break between dispensations would favor Pretribulationism: the Church would not likely be related to the seventieth week of Daniel, or tribulation, a period of time clearly having to do with Israel. But a partial revelation of the present age in the OT, a connection (not necessarily identification) between Israel and the Church, and a dispensational change involving a transitional period open the door to the presence of the Church during the tribulation.”
“. . . it is not merely a matter of dealing with two groups at once. It is a matter of dealing simultaneously with, and through, two groups of redeemed people and witnesses. With two diverse groups of saints, those who belong to the Church and those who belong to Israel coexist on earth and perhaps live according to different regulations? If so, will the tribulational Church be composed exclusively of Gentile believers? Will two distinct companies of witnesses preach the Gospel, maybe variations of it? Such questions arise quite naturally if we take the tribulation as transitional. But the mere existence of these questions does not preclude the possibility of the presence of the Church in the tribulation.”[2]
A mere digression into Gundry’s thesis not only conjures up a host of theological conundrums but opens up an altogether “eschatological dynamic” heretofore eschewed by most Premillenarians—especially dispensational ones.
Confronting the identity of Babylon’s final descript, and an eschatology—yes, Weltanschauung—that is distinctly JUDEO-CHRISTIAN in its essence (and I use this term in its distinctive, not ecumenical, meaning)—and that takes the consummation of the end of days by endorsing the panoply of prophetic writings found in both Testaments, weaving the preponderance of Hebrew allusions, symbols, types and shadows found in the Revelation, and making biblical sense of the writers content . . . that’s what this commentary attempts to do. Finally, as we shall unabashedly declare—the separation of Israel and the Church by dispensational futurists is eschatologically untenable, embarrassing, and contrary to the preponderance of theological understanding of the covenants, promises, and ultimate declarations of the Almighty prior to final judgment against Babylon.
The crucible of the Seventieth Week of Daniel—the Tribulation—is not only a declaration of the Testimony of Jesus lived out in His people . . . it is a cosmic courtroom wherein the Judge of all the earth calls forth His Two Witnesses to prophetically testify against that Great City that assails and treads underfoot the Holy City, but whose testimony endures until the conviction is secured, and the sentence is carried out under the Wrath of the Lamb and Messiah’s miraculous incursion and deliverance at His Coming.
The Church and Israel, are woven into the “Climax of the Ages” – the Antichrist-Beast, False Prophet, Image of the Beast and their worship shall be confronted by the “saints of the Most High” with overcoming faith: “By the Blood of the Lamb, and by the Word of their Testimony” – because they refuse to love themselves unto the death! The Seven Seals, Trumpets, Bowls and Thunders shall yet descend upon the “the face of the whole earth” – but our assessment of their judgments and curses must undergo an agonizing reappraisal by the believing Church, and prophetic Israel.
Our understanding and practical engagement in these major prophetical themes will no longer tolerate a “Laodicean indifference,” nor a Eurocentric, theological bias. Blatant at worst, and benign at best, disregard for the “signs of the times,” and an “eschatological aloofness” which bespeaks more of blind national patriotism and “scriptural isolationism,” rather than humble interaction with the “pure Word of God” in the “midst of a crooked and perverse generation,” confirms Babylon’s grip upon our psyche and the shallowness of our spirituality. Are the “children of this world” really “wiser than the children of light?” Do you think it dictatorial or insightful that communist China omits the Revelation of Jesus Christ from their “Three-Self Movement” Bible distribution? Do the Kings of the East perceive their demise and wish to excise its revelation? Yet we who freely disseminate and read the Apocalypse ill-recognize the implications it portends!
Unless the theological core of Premillenarian thought undergoes a rigorous course correction, an ill-prepared, earth-bound, heavenly-denying, end-times’ Church, shall have little viable witness to a world careening out of control—facing the encroachment of imperial dictatorship—Antichrist—unceasing wars, famine, death and all within the false delusions of peace and safety; taking place in the here and now . . . right in our own backyards! Notwithstanding our short-sightedness—there’s much hope, because the God Who spoke the universe into being, has no intention to remain silent at this most pivotal point of human history.
STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF PROTESTANT REFORMERS AND PREMILLENARIANS OF THE 18th AND 19th CENTURY ---
The pop-eschatology, non-fiction of Hal Lindsay’s The Late Great Planet Earth and the
Premillenarian/Pretribulation, fictional Left Behind series of Tim LaHaye, have reinforced, during the past fifty years—especially among American evangelicals—the prophetical teachings and interpretations of 19th and 20th Century dispensationalists like John Nelson Darby of the Plymouth Brethren and “marketers” like Clarence Larkin and C. I. Scofield. Well-meaning, turn-of-the-century (19th to 20th Century) “Biblical Literalists”—resisting the trend of Postmillennialists among leading American evangelicals and proponents of a liberal-leaning social gospel—ceaselessly challenged their generation’s vision and love for the Word of God. These millenarian futurists quickened within the Church a zeal for the gospel, a commitment to Christ and consecration to a life of holiness, based upon an uncompromising affirmation for the inerrancy of the Scriptures. It was not so much their woeful disregard for “peace and justice” (witness the evangelical fervor of the Salvation Army and its social outreach—“Soup, suds and salvation”), but, having been freed from “social reformation” – these “heavenly-minded” evangelicals were and are able to put their full spiritual weight behind the Great Commission and the salvation of the lost. . . awaiting the soon coming of Christ.
They stood upon the shoulders of Protestant reformers, whose eschatological theology seized upon the Papacy’s fulfillment as the Apostate Church and of her leadership’s identification with the Antichrist-Beast. Babylon the Great, Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth, whose hands dripped with “the blood of the saints” – the “martyrs of Jesus” by the millions—riveted these Reformers and their “historical” approach to prophecy brought meaning and comfort to millions freed from the “Woman who Rides the Beast” and the tyranny of her religious persecution.
Notwithstanding that burst of illumination that freed Luther, Calvin, Knox, and so many Reformers from Rome’s spiritual darkness—yet it did not shine upon their earthly entanglements, as the Princes of this World, sought alliance and spiritual covering for their own aggrandizement, and in so doing, these very “reformers” compromised the witness of the Church to the world.
Compounding these princely influences were theological, especially eschatological systems, whose insidious error confounded the most sincere of the Reformers. Augustine’s Amillenarian ideas and implications which justified Catholicism’s march toward political and spiritual dominance—wherein the “Kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ” (i.e., “right here and now”)—insinuated its doctrinal pathologies into the heart and soul of Reformist theologians and corrupted the purity and world view of these early visionaries of religious freedom. Solo Scriptura shared the pulpits of the land with the protection from the State.
Notwithstanding these shortcomings, salvivic truth—Solo Gratia—restored that Light of Life Who alone can save to the uttermost! These evangelical forebears, and their spiritual counterparts of the 18th and 19th Centuries—the Premillenarians who looked for the Kingdom yet to be manifested upon this earth—challenged their generations, and in so doing, changed the world for Christ and for His Church.
The Church’s role in society—before Gentile World Powers—was, by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, disseminating “light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death” (Luke 1:79). Subsequently, our witness “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places,” was clearly delineated as never before. The Scriptures were unsealed to illuminate the way of salvation and deliverance to the multitudes, while rolling back the dark ages of Biblical ignorance, and stifling ecclesial superiority which had thwarted our Lord’s promise through Peter that we all were a “chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation . . . a special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (I Peter 2:9).
A vibrant Premillenarian eschatology—which spoke into their generation—captivated the prophetical imagination of millions. No longer did a purposeless confusion permeate the people of God. Vision—overcoming vision—of how believers should live before their God, before their brothers and sisters in Christ, and before the world, propelled the greatest dissemination of the Gospel of the Grace of God this world has ever witnessed and set a standard of Christian living embodied by the Philadelphian Church: “I have set before you an open door; and no one can shut it” (Rev. 3:8).
These “sojourners and pilgrims” (I Peter 1:11), faithful to what the Spirit was speaking to the churches, contended with the ever-elusive, enemy of our souls, who “doth seek to work us woe . . . his craft and power are great . . . and armed with cruel hate.” To this they who “have kept My word, and have not denied My name” (Rev. 3:8) retorted: “One little Word will fail him!” That Word is the very Son of Man Himself Who stands in the midst of the Seven Churches of Revelation 1 and by His Spirit speaks to our generation afresh: “Hear what the Spirit says to the Churches.”
THE LATE GREAT PLANET is not the geo-political world of the 21st Century. Behold: THE AMERICAN NEW WORLD ORDER SYSTEM
The Age has changed—and with it, the passing of former glories. The “old world order” commenced its inexorable descent into the trash bin of history as old European Powers gave sway to Western Civilization’s final experiment: The United States of America. Yet, our Euro-eschatological forebears, and their aforementioned American proponents, have doggedly persisted to this day, in the name of faithfulness and consistency to the revealed Word of God—believing and acting as if America’s meteoritic rise to the greatest power ever to countenance the planet has absolutely nothing to do with a Revived Roman Empire and will somehow conveniently descend into mediocrity as a result of the pretribulational rapture of the Church!
Will not the lessons of Church history and of the Holy Spirit’s illumination shining afresh upon His Word—unsealing the “end of the days” to God’s people—break us free from the strictures of this theological straightjacket which has bound us to eschatological irrelevance? Alas! We have been shunted to the periphery of world debate. The world views our revival of ancient Babylon’s Tower and pending wealth as prophetic comic—while the real Babylon and her armies—on land, on sea and in the air—surrounds and penetrates the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers before our very eyes!
Lindsay, LaHaye, Van Impe, Dyer, Peters and scores of Premillenarians—though sincere and godly men and women—are mired in an eschatology bereft of immediate significance and are either purposefully or inadvertently lulling the Church into a visionless complacency, unable to rise to the prophetical occasion, their voices within the Body of Christ, to Israel and to the nations prepare us for the Great Escape, while convinced that the “Tribulation Saints” and Israel shall bear the brunt of the cyclonic winds of the Dragon’s breath as the Antichrist arises from the EU!
To ignore America’s dominance—her economic, military, and cultural hegemony—and to suggest that Antichrist shall arise out of the powerless nations of Europe or from within Israel herself—bespeaks of a horrendous ignorance of the times in which we live—at best; and, at worst, conceals from God’s people the greatest prophetical truths concerning the climax of the ages so deeply imbedded in His Word.
Logsdon had the courage of the hour—but few could stomach his message and few in this nation dare would countenance his conclusions. His exposure of Sodom and Egypt, of that Great City, Babylon—from whence all the “merchants of the earth” are made rich through her trade—was the clearest declaration of modern Premillenarian literalism the world has heard: Yet “Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand; and seeing you will see, and not perceive” (Acts 28:26b).
Logsdon’s greatest horror would be to have witnessed the rise of today’s Patriotic Church in America—the Christian religion and the secular State—merging their efforts to address the “war against evil” in the world! “My Kingdom is not of this world” – how faint the refrain of our Lord’s admonition.
A PROPHETIC COMMENTARY – FOR THE 21st CENTURY
A theological discourse, especially one literally denounced by some, as “esoteric verbiage” that neither manages Christian finances, nor perpetuates “church growth” – which neither provides practical counsel to married couples in need, nor allegedly caters to the “struggles of the real world we face” – simply cannot impact the world in which we live. In particular, such a visionary discharge of pertinent eschatological insight which would ignite the Church to the work of the gospel seems altogether outdated, anachronistic and negligent of the real mission of the social gospel now sweeping American evangelicalism. Today’s purpose driven church dispenses with such a gospel that does not trumpet the sacred shrines of peace, equity and social justice; instead, the Church’s mission is to the noble task of feeding the poor and educating the illiterate masses of the planet.
In defense against these “pragmatics” – let me assure you that Elijah, Daniel, Zechariah, Paul and John – did not prescribe anecdotes to treat the symptoms of the world’s spiritual maladies. To the contrary, they struck at the causes of the curses that plague the face of the whole earth. They held little truck with “relational niceties” – they boldly proclaimed the unvarnished truth, and sought to “please Him” alone. In keeping with the spirit of “His servants the prophets” (Revelation 10:7b), and convinced we shall shortly hear the words, “that there should be delay no longer” (Revelation 10:6b)—this commentary, for the Church’s edification, is humbly extended. . .
“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation (“origin”), for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (II Peter 1:20-21).
We shall revisit major eschatological themes which culminate in the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ—the reservoir into which pour nearly all prophetical streams throughout the Word of God.
THE SON OF MAN AND THE SEVEN CHURCHES
The commencement of our exercise is overwhelmed by the unveiling of the Son of Man. We shall intertwine major portions of the Hebrew Prophets which coalesce with the Revelation in presenting the prophetical aspects of this One, for “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10). It is here that the editors of the “Spirit Filled Life Bible” stimulate our understanding, as John’s gospel reveals the depth of the meaning of “testimony.”
“And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe” (John 19:35).
“Testimony” - marturia (mar-too-ree-ah); Strong’s #3141: Compare ‘martyr.’ Witness, historical attestation, evidence, judicial or general certification. The word describes a testimony based on what one has seen, heard, or knows. The English word ‘martyr’ comes from the Greek root, with the implication that a witness is willing to die for his belief.”[3]
John on the Isle of Patmos was an exile committed to “the word of God” and the “testimony of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 1:9). Thence, this “testimony” and its intensity, is far more than a verbal declaration, void of passion—no, this is a “to die for” witness of supreme worth. To bear the “testimony of Jesus Christ” – to declare Who He is – to unveil the Son of Man is to John, and should be to us all who bear the Spirit’s Mark: The ultimate sacrifice! It was not John’s testimony but the testimony of the faithful and true witness. John bore witness of His life, death, resurrection, and ascension lived out through the saints—saints who ultimately participate in His enthronement!
Throughout the Revelation, those who testify, who prophesy, who bear witness, who declare, and who dare to speak “the sayings of the prophecy of this book” (Revelation 22:7 and 10), are, like John, commanded by the Mighty Angel: “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings” (Revelation 10:11).
An in-depth examination of the prophetic ministry of the Son of Man, and those who are called to testify in this absolute manner must be central to the study of the Apocalypse. Without a profound understanding of the “testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” – this book will remain as sealed, and as complex and confused as so many have presumed it to be.
But before any testimony can be committed to our trust, any speaking can be declared by John, or by the Two Prophets of Revelation 11—there must be both a seeing of the Son of Man and a hearing of what the Spirit is speaking to the churches.
We will explore—re-examine the letters to the churches—in light of both Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. This can only be done in reference to the Son of Man and all that He is, was, and is to be—“who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8). The messages given to the Seven Churches speak, not only into the generation of their day, but their words of warning, encouragement, and commendation loudly broadcast His Word to assemblies scattered throughout the earth today—for the essence of the Revelation is encapsulated in the Blessed Hope:
“Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen” (Revelation 1:7).
Surely, the brilliance of His Person, and the promise of His Second Advent, were not “jurisdictionally assigned” to the physicality of the seven historical churches in Asia. His care for the churches extends beyond the confinement of history immediate and expands throughout the Church age. Notwithstanding the historicity of these seven churches in Asia Minor—what He says to them, He says to all the churches today! Does not John “who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ” affirm that “blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep(s) those things which are written in it; for the time is near?” (Revelation 1:2-3)? Our conclusion is forthright: Believers today are “blessed to hear the words of this prophecy.” Some have declared that in so far as prophecy concerns “It is none of your business.” The ignorance of that statement reveals the spiritual bankruptcy of today’s abandonment of prophetic study. Furthermore, “the time is near” – it cannot be any nearer than it was when the prophecy was given—His speaking is to the churches today—and they are enjoined to “keep those things which are written in it.” Once the anticipatory nearness of His coming is diminished, an irrelevant lackadaisical mindset and ultimate spiritual atrophy will inevitably result—this statement should historically haunt those who distance the relevancy of prophecy to the distant past or the Eschaton itself.
EXAMINATION OF REVELATION 4-5 – THE THRONE ROOM OF GOD
The Revelation of Jesus Christ continues in earnest as the throne room of God and the Lamb are revealed. It is here that the four living creatures whose wings are full of eyes and the twenty-four elders are described. Their significance and the four-fold praise and worship that they commence prior to the unsealing of the Seven-Sealed Book and immediately thereafter, describe a most glorious participation prior to the blowing of the First Trumpet but conclude at the sounding of the Seventh Trumpet.
Christ must be seen through the revelatory abundance of the living creatures—but they are there for one purpose: For the twenty-four elders to see before whom they fall down and worship—for worship has a supreme object: The Lamb on the Throne. The majesty of worship can never be exhausted through the illumination of the Four Living Creatures who continuously unveil His Person and Work. There is no such thing as true worship without revelation—and there is no revelation without the Four Living Creatures.
ISREAEL AND THE CHURCH
Without controversy today’s Church and “Prophetic Israel” will, by this author, undergo a through assessment concerning the collaboration of their final testimony and witness to the earth and to the heavens. Christians, who do not understand or refuse to contemplate a divine perspective wherein the testimony of these witnesses actually comprises the end-times’ scenario within the Seventieth Week of Daniel, are in for an agonizing reappraisal of their eschatology. The Revelation must be viewed as a cosmic courtroom wherein the Judge of all the Earth will call before the bar of heaven the accused: Babylon the Great—both its kingdom and leadership. He, the Lamb of God, will summon His main character witnesses: Israel and the Church—to give final testimony against all that this Great City is and has wantonly amassed.
The reoccurring theme of the Two Witnesses, seen in Israel and the Church, the 144,000, the twenty-four elders, the Two Prophets, the Two Olive Trees and the Two Lampstands, the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb, the ones who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus, the twelve gates with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve foundations having the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (i.e., the Holy City, New Jerusalem, the Woman, the Bride)—continuously affirms the testimony of the faithful and true witness. Dear reader, may the Holy Spirit give us His insight into all these metaphors, symbols, numbers, types and shadows. I believe He will and I contend that today’s Church and Prophetic Israel await their finest hour in the midst of the world’s most tumultuous week.
THE ANTICHRIST-BEAST, THE DRAGON, THE SECOND BEAST, THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST AND THE MARK OF THE BEAST
From the beginnings of the Revelation there is ample evidence that Satan and his minions continue to thwart the purposes of the Almighty. The “Unholy Trinity” of the Dragon, the Antichrist-Beast, the False Prophet and the Image which comes to life (produced by the False Prophet), once again, must be approached with candor and biblical scrutiny. Each is juxtaposed, over and against the reality of the Almighty, the Son of Man, the Spirit, the Image of Messiah, and the Seal of God.
Yes, for too long have we contemplated fanciful illusions as to the meaning of the forces of darkness—we can no longer allow their obfuscation! The Word of God will expose their identities and they who must testify will most definitely encounter their extremities, but only by the empowerment from above.
A great deal of attention has been committed by able expositors concerning the Dragon, and the Antichrist-Beast; and, some concentration and exposure has befallen the False Prophet, Second Beast—but so little commentary has confirmed the identity of the Image of the Beast, who comes to life and speaks and who is worshipped!
This oversight has not gone unnoticed—a complete accounting of the False Prophets’ counterfeit will be addressed, without compromise or dilution.
The “Rise of Antichrist” will in Revelation 6 merit our review—but only in light of Zechariah’s visions. We have disclosed the counterparts of the “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” – but we shall go into much greater detail as to their nefarious galloping throughout the face of the whole earth!
THE TRIBULATION SAINTS – THE MARTYRS OF JESUS
Interspersed throughout the Revelation are repeated accounts of a special group of persecuted saints. Again, their identities will be discussed in the context of the Revelation itself, as well as numerous passages from other Scriptures—until there shall be little doubt as to their personhood.
Chronological disputes are without end in so far as the Seventieth Week of Daniel are concerned; however, without a thorough discussion of this week and its placement in history—there can be little progress among God’s people concerning their final engagement upon this earthly clod. It appears that Amillenarians and their newly contrived “subsidiaries” (e.g., those who claim but 3 ½ years are yet to be fulfilled), doggedly hold to a failed system of eschatology that demeans the everlasting covenant between Christ and the Church (Unwittingly so—for how could such a “covenant” be contrived by our Lord and broken by Him in the midst of that fateful week?). They stubbornly attribute the work of Antichrist to Jesus Christ—in so doing, jettison, disinherit, and denounce Israel (aside for her final catastrophic tribulation, persecution and ultimate conversion).
Their pride and their persistence in error have blinded them to the Lord’s plan and purpose at the close of this age. Furthermore, their incorporation of Judaism and Jewish feast days, as well as dogged insistence (by some) that Christians bear the Mark of The Beast by worshipping on Sunday, because they do not enshrine the Sabbath as Saturday—is naught but a veiled attempt to supplant the sons and daughters of Abraham and inadvertently trespass upon the rights and covenantal privileges of Israel. You may think me too harsh in the maintenance of the Church’s “heavenly standing” in this blessed age of Grace; however, they who augment their Christianity with the Tablets of the Law and seek to exhibit the whole Law (as some contrive), are perilously on the verge of fulfilling Revelation 2:9:
“I know your works, tribulation and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.”
Well did Miles J. Stanford state—and it deserves repeating, again and again:
“It is absolutely essential for the believer to learn the scriptural difference between:
· His relationship to earth and heaven,
· The flesh and the Spirit,
· Judaism and Christianity” [4]
The failure to confuse the “testimony” of Israel with the “testimony” of the Church has been the bane of the Church almost since the Church’s inception. Virtually all Historicists, Preterists, Spiritual-Idealists subsume Israel’s relevance at the conclusion of this age to the Church’s purview—i.e., the Church is the true Israel of God, the extension and continuation of the grace of God in history. All covenantal promises are fulfilled in Christ, committed to the Church, and consolidated in her singular stature: The Bride of Christ. Meanwhile, virtually all Futurists who affirm the Premillenarian-Pretribulational eschatology dispense with the Church’s confrontation with that Great City at the close of this age and transfer all spiritual warfare to either Israel or the “tribulation saints” found in copious numbers throughout the Revelation, who ultimately rule and reign with Christ on earth (yet are NOT members of the Bride of Christ, the Church), while the real Bride of Christ, the Church, is somehow afloat in suspended animation above the millenarian bliss as the New Jerusalem—all this prior to the Eternal State (i.e., the Eschaton—the end of everything). [5] All this in a vain attempt to circumvent the true status of the “Tribulation Saints” of Daniel’s 70th Week. Those who have paid the uttermost price for the Lamb are excluded from the ultimate celestial expression because they are NOT members of the Church and yet they “rule and reign with Christ a thousand years?” Yes, something is doctrinally wrong with this picture.
This author hastens to add that there are indeed those dispensational excesses which circumvent the Church’s greatest hour and relegate the entire 70th Week to Israel’s disposition. Yes, the distinctions between Israel and the Church should be kept; however, it is doctrinally mandatory that we retrieve the Church’s standing within the framework of the 70th Week and direct the debate concerning the First Resurrection, the Tribulation Saints, the Two Witnesses, and a score of other prophetical themes, in order to buttress the Church’s responsibilities at the height of her eschatological obligations throughout Daniel’s 70th Week.
Therefore, a comprehensive study shall be delivered throughout the Revelation relative to these most crucial of times and the inter-relationship among the Church, Israel, and the Gentile World Powers (i.e., “The Nations”). Again, the issue of prophesying in the midst of trial by those selected to testify must undergo thorough debate. One cannot project the Church’s rapturous escape allegedly seen in John’s heavenly, “Come up here” (Revelation 4:1b), while denying the earthly scene of the Two Witnesses and the “Come up here” of Revelation 11:12. John’s ecstatic spiritual state (i.e., “in S(s)pirit”) has far more to do with the condition of the believer in so far as the reception of revelation (be it a view of heaven or that which takes place on earth) than it does as a representation or type of the raptured church—and, to validate the church’s alleged “absence” from the prophetical scenes unfolding between Revelation 4 through Revelation 20, only reveals a superficial and fundamental misunderstanding of the types, shadows, and symbols used to describe the church within this time frame (e.g., the “Two Lampstands” of Revelation 11:4b or appreciation for the plethora of descriptions accorded the so-called “Tribulation Saints” whose characterizations are given:
“These so-called ‘tribulation saints’ are said to: ‘have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb’ (7:14); overcome by ‘the blood of the Lamb’ (12:11); ‘hold the testimony of Jesus’ (12:17); ‘keep their faith in Jesus’ (14:12); ‘die in the Lord’ (14:13); be ‘witnesses of Jesus’ (17:6); be ‘beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus’ (20:4); and possibly be our ‘fellow servants and brethren’ (6:11) if you include the church with ‘those who had been slain because of the word of God and because of the testimony which they had maintained’ (6:9). These people are Christians in every sense of the word.”[6]).
The fundamental dispensational error in the timing, place and participants of the Marriage of the Lamb is chronologically and eschatologically indefensible. The Church’s exodus from Daniel’s Seventieth Week is NOT a seven-year period where the saints are presented before the bema of Christ (i.e., the Judgment Seat of Christ) while all hell breaks out upon the “tribulation saints” and prophetic Israel—while the greatest prophetic display ever amassed upon the planet against that Great City is relegated to two persons + 144,000 Jewish evangelists; be they Jews or converted Gentiles; be they reincarnations of ancient prophets (Moses and Elijah or Enoch and Elijah) or two members of the so-called “tribulation saints.” Participants excluded from the Marriage of the Lamb during the 70th Week of Daniel (the “Tribulation Period”) are the un-resurrected of both Israel and the “tribulation saints.” They are derisively relegated to the periphery as naught but “observers” or at best “friends” or “guests” of the Bridegroom and are excluded from the event (the actual marriage) itself—let alone as being part of the Bride! Their appearance before the Bride and the Bridegroom takes place only after their witness and ordeal.
Notwithstanding, as a doctrinal sop, dispensationalism has bequeathed to Israel the status of “friends,” “observers” or “guests” of the Bridegroom (Likewise, Gentiles who are invited and accept the invitation during the Tribulation for the Millennium “marriage supper/feast”—be they “tribulation saints” or “those who make it through” the Great Tribulation are welcomed.). In other words, in Matthew 22:1-14 and Luke 14:16-24, as well as Matthew 25:1-13, we find Israel is “awaiting the return of the Bridegroom and the Bride, the wedding feast or supper is located on the earth” during the literal 1,000-year Millennium. The pre-tribulational rapture of the Church commends itself to both the Judgment Seat of Christ and the marriage of the Lamb during the 70th Week of Daniel’s prophecy. The “marriage ceremony” between the Bride-Church to the Bridegroom-Lamb takes place in heaven during the 70th Week of Daniel; whereas the “Wedding Feast” or “Supper” celebrating the already performed marriage occurs during the entire Millennium).[7] Here, invited guests, friends (yes, those who have “observer status”)—be they Jew, Gentile or Tribulation Saint enjoy the marriage feast with the Bride (the Church) and the Bridegroom (the Lamb). Notwithstanding, dispensationalists, like Chafer, dissect these distinctions further:
“Distinction is called for at this point between the marriage supper which is in heaven and celebrated before Christ returns, and the marriage feast (Matthew 25:10, R.V.; Luke 12:37) which is on earth after His return.”[8]
If you find this difficult to follow—you’re not alone!
THE SEVEN THUNDERS – THE LITTLE BOOK – THEY WILL PROPHESY
It is in this context that well-meaning brethren (e.g., the late John Walvoord of Dallas Theological Seminary), in order to maintain the Church’s separation from Israel and her celestial appearance during the “Tribulation Period” or 70th Week of Daniel, have incorporated numerous parenthetical insertions into the revelatory record, under the rubric that their sequential accounts militate against their eschatological systems; therefore, their extractions from the record, in this case, pretribulational priorities, ensure their untimely credibility elsewhere, since they do not “advance the chronology.” [9]
These elaborate and unnecessary parenthetical structures strain the exegesis of the Scripture to such an extent that their efforts to obfuscate the Church’s presence within the “tribulation time frame” are a theological embarrassment at best and, at worst, are a labyrinth of confused identity (e.g., Walvoord confers upon these “Tribulation Saints” the title of “Christians” and declares the Holy Spirit’s work of regeneration and presence in the 70th Week of Daniel will be akin to the Spirit’s manifestation prior to Pentecost—a sort of retrograde, Old Testament work and presence which creates “saints” and “believers in Jesus” who are separate from the Bride of Christ, yet rule and reign with Him in the earthly kingdom yet to be.[10] ).
However, the entire thrust of the Revelation and of the “Testimony of Jesus” projects a dynamic, sacrificial, uncompromised witness against the powers of darkness and their ultimate fabrication: The Apostate Religious System—The Great City, Babylon, Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth; the “merchants of the earth” and against the political machinations and characters who inspire and perpetuate this dastardly counterfeit upon the face of the whole earth, viz., the Antichrist-Beast and the False Prophet-Second Beast.
Revelation 15:2 proclaims the victory of those who “sing the song of Moses, the servant of God” (Prophetic Israel) “and the Song of the Lamb” (The Church). Its three-fold victory song heralds the conquest over political Babylon (the Beast); over religious Babylon (the Mark of the Beast and the worship of the Beast and Image of the Beast); and “over the number of his name” (i.e., “Commercial Babylon” – for without this number no one could “buy or sell”) . . .
“And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb” (Revelation 15:2-3).
“The Seven Thunders”
We can no longer dismiss the import of the Seven Thunders and of John’s ingestion of the “Little Book” – nor overlook the true “type” of John as the believer upon the earth who “must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings” (Revelation 10:11). Moreover, it is incomprehensible that we have separated John’s involvement in the succeeding verses of Revelation 11 from the context of this subjective and prophetical dynamic, viz., the prophecy of the Two Witnesses, as the “corporate expression” of both Israel (the Two Olive Trees) and the Church (the Two Lampstands) who are called forth to “testify” against Sodom and Egypt, in “the street of the Great City” (Revelation 11:7-8). Indeed, to allocate the cosmic accounting of the ministry or prophesying of the Two Witnesses to the mere persons of Enoch and Elijah (Elias) or Elijah and Moses or two yet-to-be discovered Jewish prophets utterly destroys the immensity of the war waged against them by the Beast in Revelation 11:7; 12:17; and 13:7. The same Despicable One who wars against the saints in Revelation 13:7; and the Dragon, who makes war with the rest of the Woman’s seed who “keep the commandments of God” and “have the testimony of Jesus” in Revelation 12:17, is the same satanically incarnated Beast who arose from the sea to wage war against these same saints who are the corporate BODY of Messiah upon the earth in Revelation 11:7.
To orchestrate these accountings as “parenthetical” and abstracts which do not “advance the chronological sequence of events” is a gross eschatological oversight of immense significance which robs the Church of her commitment to Christ and to the “testimony of Jesus.” Furthermore, it does great Biblical injustice to the eternal covenants of the Almighty in His preparatory work with Prophetic Israel before the Gentile Powers who, at the insistence of the Dragon-inspired Beast shall trample asunder the Holy City for 42 months!
THE WOMAN OF REVELATION 12 – THE BRIDE OF MESSIAH – THE NEW JERUSALEM
“Transitional dispensationalism” (coined by, among others, Robert Gundry11) has not won legitimate acclaim among Premillenarians who, if I can rightly assume, fear it as a compromise and ultimate mixture of “spheres of responsibility” in violation of “God’s economy” (namely, the Church to the heavens, and Israel to the earth).
The “Woman” of Revelation 12 and the Woman, the Lamb’s Wife of Revelation 21:9-27, are not inseparable symbols indistinguishable by their appearance in the Revelation. They are deliberately referred to as the Woman, because they are one in the same! The entire Bible is, if you would, a “tale of Two Cities, Two Women, Two Kingdoms, and Two Messiahs (Christ and Antichrist) . . . . And to conveniently circumnavigate around these types and anti-types—taking into account only those which substantiate one’s doctrinal predilections—subtracts from the majesty of God’s Word, and even appears disingenuous among some theologians who feverishly attempt to legitimize their eschatology by inconsistencies which detract from their synthesis.
No Scripture is of “private interpretation” – no Scripture “originates” on its own! The interdependency of Scripture and the test of sound hermeneutics, demands consistency and rigorous comparative study—the Scriptures are a marvelous and divine cohesive whole, not a “bits and pieces” cafeteria-style smorgasbord of delights interspersed with human imagination. I do not express this in a personal or derogatory manner—only to challenge the intense study of the Scripture and to recognize the incomprehensibility of the divine utterance is yet within the grasp, under the empowerment and illumination of the Spirit of God, wherein it is offered to the regenerated spirit of man!
It is also the bothersome impression left upon this author, after nearly some fifty years of Revelation’s read, and of a multitude of commentary, that the emphasis upon the tangibility of the New Jerusalem, and of our “heavenly mansions” therein (John 14:2-4), is a misappropriation of biblical literalism at best, and, at worst, a tragic neglect of vigorous, spiritual insights. The unquestioned physicality of the New Jerusalem is undeniable; however (and this may have more to do with man’s predisposition for relief from the terrestrial confinement with all its mortality and insufferable consequence), the conclusion of the Ultimate Expression of relationship between the Lamb and His Bride, must never be blinded by the brilliance of the City—“the Bride eyes not her garments.” The spiritual dimensions and divine measurements of this celestial masterpiece of perfection must be emphasized, and (if you would) divinely exaggerated! I say this in order to “bend the tree” the opposite direction so that it stand upright as its design demands. Preoccupation with walking upon the streets of gold grossly diminishes the unquestioned fellowship of the saints transformed by the power of an endless Life!
THE FINAL CONFLICT – BABYLON IS FALLEN
Finally, we shall investigate the finality of Babylon the Great and excoriate her tripartite nature: “Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath” (Revelation 16:19).
Once again, within these metaphors and symbols, these types and shadows to which we have become familiar, the “trial (as in a courtroom) which is to try the whole earth” will be held. The origination, historic development/evolution, nature and complexity of that Great City—of her religious, commercial and political constitution—will be traced and extracted from Scripture, while her earthly recordation will confirm her dastardly deeds and exploits.
It is our great fortune to have discovered numerous writers from a wide-variety of religious and secular backgrounds who have confirmed our worst suspicions as to her true identity. Her serpentine discourse throughout the ages, her indefatigable efforts to destroy the work of God; and her seductive, intoxicating charm cannot escape notice at the conclusion of human history as we know it.
These analyses are not designed to enflame and provoke the passions of sincere patriots and eschatologists—they are straightforward configurations of Holy Writ whose inevitable conclusions summarize the course of human endeavor and relentlessly adhere to the Bible’s final accounting and judgment of Gentile World Powers and the principalities and powers under the sway of the prince of darkness; the one known as “the power of the air” who manipulates and inspires their nefarious pursuits to trample asunder the Holy City. And, be it fully understood: The “Great City” of Revelation 11:8 first mentioned in the Revelation is NOT apostate Israel of the First Century or latter days, as Preterism and some Dispensationalists [12] would have us believe—it is the same “Sodom and Egypt” of Babylon the Great juxtaposed over and against the Holy City which it (viz. the Gentile World Powers of Revelation 11:2) wholly intends to trample asunder for 42 months, 1,260 days, time, times and half a time, or the final three-and-one-half days of Daniel’s 70th Week (i.e., three-and-one-half years). It is the same Babylon the Great, led by the “the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit” (who) “will make war against them” (i.e., the Two Witnesses) (Revelation 11:7).
The mountaintops of these prophetic summaries are a foretaste of the content of this commentary. In that “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” – it simply is inescapable to avoid confrontation; indeed, it is expected. The truth of Scripture, wrought by the breath of the Holy Spirit is given as the “spirit of prophecy” and delivered through human channels—prophesy. “To prophesy” in the Greek denotes the preposition pro and the verb phemi—meaning “to speak forth before.” In this capacity such a “before” could be interpreted either “in advance” or “in front of.” Yes, events are forecast in the Revelation—it is primarily futuristic. However, the emphasis contained in this treatise is to declare God’s Word boldly—even “confrontingly” before either groups or individuals—Revelation 11 will disabuse us of any alternative accommodation!
We face an implacable foe—but it is the very “testimony of Jesus Himself” Who does the confronting. His witness, through us, is the very essence of the “spirit of prophecy.” This is the ultimate definition of Scripture—all other exclamations and utterances which assert their prophetical value, without the testimony of Jesus, are mere hallucinations and disparate lies designed to distract from the reality and centrality of all true prophecy: Jesus Christ.
The words of Jack W. Hayford of Church on the Way in Los Angeles are altogether summarily appropriate:
“. . . true prophecy: Jesus Christ will be at the center of it all, as He is in the whole Bible. 1) The OT exists to reveal Christ (Luke 24:27; John 5:39; I Pet. 1:10-12; and 2) the NT is inspired by the Holy Spirit for the same purpose (John 14:26; 16:13-15).” [13]
The “prayers of the saints” are desperately needed in the discharge of this exposition—for all examination is fraught with the imposition of human error and hampered by our fleshly presuppositions and contrivances. Confounded by our own constraints, however, gives no cover for “plausible denial” to the truth that is in Christ Jesus our Lord; knowing this:
“See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, ‘Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.’ Now this, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:25-29).
Let us “turn and see” the very work of the Spirit of Christ and the Son of Man in His prophetic fullness (Revelation 1:12-13) and be forever changed as the Spirit speaks afresh to the churches in these “end of the days.” May that Spirit empower us all with supernatural courage—committing to us the very “testimony of Jesus” Who possesses the “spirit of prophecy,” but Who bequeaths to us the ministry of the prophetic before the Great City—the Great City which closes in on us with its rank apostasy, unbridled commercialism and spurious political subjugation. Only the Messiah – the Lamb of God – the Son of Man – can disburse the pending darkness and bring Life out of Death!
NOTES
1. S. Franklin Logsdon, Is the USA in Prophecy?, Hutchings, Noah W., U.S. in Prophecy. (Note: In Cooperation with S. Franklin Logsdon). Oklahoma City, OK: Hearthstone Publications, 2000 – A republication of Dr. Logsdon’s original late 1960’s work, n.s.
2. Gundry, Robert Horton, The Church and the Tribulation. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1973, pp. 12, 23.
3. Hayford, Jack W., Litt.D., General Editor, Spirit Filled Life Bible, NKJV (New King James Version), Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991, p. 1612.
4. Miles J. Stanford, www.withCHRIST.org c/o TrueBranch Ministry, Colorado Springs, Colorado (area). (Quoted from Home Page)
5. J. Dwight Pentecost, Things to Come, Dunham Publishing Company, Findlay, Ohio, 1958, pp. 577-80.
6. William Arnold III, www.apostolic.net/biblicalstudies/post/link3.htm
7. Ibid., Pentecost, pp. 226-28.
8. Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, IV, 396.
9. John F. Walvoord, The Prophecy Knowledge Handbook, Victor Books, A Division of Scripture Press Publications Inc., Wheaton, IL, 1990, pp. 558-59.
10. Ibid., p. 587.
11. Gundry, op. cit., pp. 12, 23.
12. H. A. Ironside, Revelation, Loizeaux Brothers, Inc., Neptune, New Jersey, 1920, p. 194. (“… Sodom and Egypt…It is Jerusalem, God’s holy city, which through apostasy, culminating in the worship of the Antichrist and the Beast, shall sink at last to the level of Sodom, from which Lot was only saved by fire, and Egypt, out of which Israel of old were delivered by Jehovah.”)
13. Hayford, op. cit., p. 1988.
