In the first two verses of the Revelation we learn that what we are about to read is not John’s revelation, as it is often called. It is “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to Him to show His servants things which must shortly come to pass; and He (God) sent and signified it by His Angel (Jesus) to His servant John, who bore record (wrote) of the Word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ (Words spoken by Him) of all that he (John) saw.” The One who spoke God’s Words (God’s Angel) is the One John saw and heard, Who was Jesus Christ as we are told in verses 8-18.

The message God the Father gave to Jesus the Christ to give to John the apostle to give to His saints  began with somber warnings to the church of that day–seven congregations existing along a Roman highway system in Asia Minor. In His individualized, detailed descriptions He described the seven church eras leading up to the Lord’s second coming. The final (Laodicean) church represented the final church era–the era in which we live today. For a description of the Laodicean church and her present, end-time counterpart read Revelation 3:14-19. Now let us move on to the 4th and 5th chapters where we find the prelude leading to the main prophecies of the Apocalypse.

Here we learn that John, the only apostle to die a natural death, has been exiled to the Isle of Patmos as punishment for preaching God’s (ONE AND ONLY) gospel. Note that some 70 years after the church’s founding there were no divisions among church people–NO DENOMINATIONS. John had managed to keep the church together in spite of a growing number of false prophets who were trying to divide her into various factions. With the takeover of the church by what would become known as Catholicism, the devil finally succeeded. Later, a group separated from the Catholic Church. Calling themselves “Protestant,” the group began a denominalizing process that continues to this day in spite of God’s condemnation of it. Satan’s divide-and-conquer technique has worked to perfection. Back to John.

One day as John is praying he is taken to heaven, in spirit, to the very throne of God where the Father Himself is sitting. Before Him are a number of living entities. Standing in front of the Father is Jesus Christ. The Father is holding a book (scroll) in His right hand. John had been told by a heavenly voice that he was about to be shown things that would come on the people of the earth in the future (4:1,2). In 5:1 he sees a book (scroll) in God’s hand. The scroll has writing on both sides and has been sealed with seven seals. The sealed scroll contains a prophecy detailing the horrendous events that would take place on earth just prior to the return of Jesus Christ. For over two thousand years men have tried to explain the symbols Jesus revealed to the Apostle John, symbols that God has made known to His chosen servants in this era. John was about to be shown what would take place during the final 3 1/2 years of this age. To be continued. L.J.