The End Times, an overview of Revelation

The End Times

An overview of the Book of Revelation

I’m no scripture scholar, but what I know I will share to the best of my ability. If anyone spends much time on You Tube, there is much to see and hear about the end times. Even some media outlets raise an alarm. A few modern “prophets” tell us that we are at the brink of disaster, and it surely feels that way. A great dark pall hangs over us we face an increased threat of global war, diabolical behavior in France, defiance against science regarding the origins of life and its sanctity from conception to natural death, as well as the general disregard for anyone’s quality of life. There is murder in the streets, assassinations, abortions, destruction of reputations through social media and gossip. We are surrounded by evil making our world feel dark and hopeless. Some ask why God doesn’t stop it. Be careful what you ask for. Recall Sodom and Gomorrah!

We forget that we are not in charge of the planet, its events or its people. God is! That should give us great comfort. If we pray and live in the scriptures, we can confidently leave this messy, scary world in His hands. He’s got this and he acts in his own time. God can use the bad things of the world to bring about good so fear not.

In the first 200 years after the Church was founded it was greatly persecuted in the most horrific manner. Christians were rounded up, imprisoned, tortured or fed to the lions alive for the entertainment of the Romans.  The Book of revelation was written during this period and most people who have tried to read it give up because it seems so confusing. The problem is that it uses a literary style called apocalyptic literature. It contains themes about the  end of the world judgement and salvation.

In the 21st century we may be more familiar with a similar style in works by Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel, “I Am Legend”.  “The Road “is a novel written in 2006 by Corman McCarthy. Most everyone has heard or read Stephen King’s 1978 work, “The Stand”.  All of these were written in a period after the bombing of Hiroshima. At that time fear and anxiety prevailed during the Cold War era when there was the potential for nuclear annihilation. As a rule, apocalyptic literature is full of symbolism, visions, and allegorical language. Early examples in the Bible can be found in the books of Ezekiel, Zechariah, and Daniel. These visions may or may not have been real but did portend things to come and they did come. They were never intended to be taken literally but cloak messages that only the informed reader can understand. For instance, when a lamb is described as having all seeing eyes and two horns it sounds preposterous. When you understand that a lamb represents Christ, the horns represent power and all-seeing eyes tell that He is all knowing it makes more sense.  Numbers also have special significance. They also cannot be taken literally. The number 4 means the whole world, 6 means imperfection, 7 means perfection or completion, total, 12 represents the 12 tribes of Israel, and 1000 means an immense amount. The language is greatly exaggerated, especially vindictive descriptions which are intended to arouse horror at the apostasy and seriousness of sin. It includes extreme punishment because sin deserves it.  The modern world does not view sin as particularly serious, and repentance isn’t needed. Revelation, in contrast, paints a vivid picture of the consequences of sin. God will exact justice for all the offenses against Him. He is indeed a God of love but also the just One.

Apocalyptic literature needs also to be understood in the historical context from which it emerged. Sometimes it is composed as resistance literature during a time of crisis, or it describes what is and what will be. First century Israel was a Roman occupied nation experiencing persecution, but it was escalated when Christianity emerged. Rome is described as the harlot of Babylon! Babylon stands for all that is evil, and the harlot is the betrayer.

The author of this book, believed to be St. John, exhorts his readers to stand firm in the faith, not compromise the truth of the Gospel with paganism, no matter the personal consequences. Throughout the book we read of the struggle between good and evil, Christ and Satan. We know from Jesus’ own lips that the forces of evil will not thwart the Divine Plan. God will prevail. His Church will prevail.

That’s a bit of background or a few keys to facilitate the reading of this unusual piece of literature. It opens with the author being told by Christ to write whatever he hears and send it to the seven churches. Recall that this is not a literal number It means all the churches. The old man in a gold trimmed, long robe refers to a priestly person who is describing what is and what will be. The seven stars point to pagan astrology.

Chapters 2-3 address each church individually praising and correcting, but actually the message is directed to all the churches. He tells them they have lost their first love and fervor which they had had in the past and is saddened by this. He also sees their sins of slander by claiming to be Jews, but their behavior makes them sons of Satan himself.

He is not mincing any words here. Next, he calls out those who have abandoned the Gospel to follow false teachers which will become a stumbling block to their salvation. They have tolerated “Jezebel”, who claims to be a prophetess, but her teachings lead to harlotry (betrayal). They are dead inside even though they appear alive. They are neither hot nor cold and their tepidity will cause Christ to spit them out of his mouth. Only to Philadelphia does he offer praise for being faithful to the messages. They are but a small portion of the whole church.

These accusations sound like something that could be said to the church today. So many have lost their faith, follow false teachers (woke clergy, gurus, shamans). They tolerate Catholics who publicly betray their faith and themselves are not on fire for Christ or his true church. Americans have not elected moral leaders in years and have blindly accepted false teachings making no effort to study or seek knowledge since grade school. Is it any wonder the world feels scary, dark and oppressed. It is! Satan knows he has little time left to drag souls into his camp. Like blind sheep we follow the sirens into damnation.

To be continued…..