Introduction
The book of Revelation is a series of visions of great and awe-inspiring events that Jesus gave to the Apostle John, some of which would take place in John’s day. These matters were being presented symbolically:
“The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant.”
– Revelation 1:1
But more was given to John than just a symbolic vision of immediate prophecy. John was given a glimpse of things past, present and future and was told to write them down as he saw them.
“Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later.”
– Revelation 1:19
And even though John’s impression of what he saw was fearsome at times, the overall message is a message that is designed to encourage, strengthen, and renew those who read it. The angel told John:
“Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.”
– Revelation 1:3
We believe the happiness that derives from reading the book of Revelation can be achieved once we understand man’s historic walk to salvation.
Many are waking up to the truth that Jesus, who is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), would not go to war against his own creation. (Colossians 1:15-16) And they are inspired and encouraged by “The Ninevite Possibility” which suggests that we can avert any supposed worldwide destruction by teaching the plain and open teachings of Jesus and getting our generation to turn to God. (See Turning Back Destruction.) Nevertheless, many are not sure what to say about the dreadful personalities and the fearsome events contained in the prophetic book of Revelation. After all, Revelation is a part of the same Bible canon that presents the plain and open teachings of Jesus, so it cannot be ignored.
However, it must be recognized that the book of Revelation was the last Christian writing to be added to the Bible canon. For a long time, its characters, symbolism and authorship was in doubt. About 100 years after the other writings were canonized, the canon was re-opened and the book of Revelation was added, though controversy continued about its content, with claims that the original text had been greatly altered by adding to or taking away. If this is true, then that would explain the quick transitions from vision to vision, and the strange and inconsistent verbiage such as we find at Revelation 14:4.
Nevertheless, we believe the overall message and purpose of the Revelation remains even though much of the symbolism continues shrouded. And to the extent that it is consistent with the plain and open teachings of Jesus, we accept it, as we do when considering all other portions of the Bible canon.
We, the authors of this website, have hitherto refrained from commenting specifically on the visions in the book of Revelation for those reasons. But the foremost reason we have withheld our comments is because not enough of Jesus’ plain and open teachings are understood which would open the door to a real understanding of Revelation. As long as man holds onto ideas of a wrathful, jealous God who wants His Son to carry out a wholesale destruction of His creation, the true good news as revealed in Revelation could not shine through. Our words would have been nothing more than a sounding piece of brass among an orchestra of poorly tuned instruments and tone deaf singers, and it would have been a complete waste of time.
But now we believe we have built a foundation of information upon which greater and weightier matters can be supported. The time has come for us to speak more boldly, and with more candor, which will challenge the comfort zone of many, but it will lead to great satisfaction and peace of mind for those who sincerely seek truth and who are willing to allow themselves to be guided by the Spirit of Truth. We hope to, at the very least, get our brothers to open their eyes to the bigger picture.
What we will present here is not new information. All of the ideas we will share are rooted in the Bible and already understood by most. But the way it is presented and developed may be an eye-opener – even revolutionary to some. What we are doing is merely putting the pieces together into one grand historic overview beginning from before the days of Adam and Eve through to Jesus Christ and culminating in our day. It is up to you, the reader, to use your own discretion as to the value of what we present. The Spirit will bear witness with you individually as to whether these things are so.
