Lecture Five

Disclaimer:

I will type the notes as presented to me.
Again let me stress that what follows are NOT my words.
I will not add my thoughts in the post.
Comments allowed for friendly discussion and edifying.

II Timothy 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto G-D, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.

I Thessalonians 5:11
Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

And for the record no one is ruling out dual fulfillment.











1. The Book of Revelation was an apocalyptic vision given to John on a rocky island called Patmos in the Aegean Sea. The purpose, like all apocalyptic literature was to prepare the Believers for a great time of tribulation immediately before them. In the time of Daniel it was the tribulation of antiochus of epiphanes, to the Dead Sea Sect at Qumran it was the kittim or Romans, and to the new testament churches it was a terrible tribulation caused by the Romans a century and a half after the Maccabee episode.

2. One absolute necessity in understanding Jewish apocalyptic literature is to compare similar writings of that period with the same symbols such as the candlesticks, stars, a woman representing a specific thing, a man child, a dragon, a beast, a harlot, and an anti-christ. If these terms are used consistently in ancient scrolls a comparative study will reveal a certain pattern of these references meaning the same thing every time. This is the case with the Jewish symbolic items in the Book of Revelation. Because of perilous times of the new testament period these writings had to be hidden by symbolic imagery. Often the Book of Revelation appears to be a mass of confusion to modern Believers, but actually during the first century the Believers either had a Jewish background or were engrafted into the Commonwealth of Israel and were trained to understand this type of Jewish code. These writings were faith builders and left the reader with a sense of ultimate victory over evil. For this reason we hear people like Daniel, Jesus, and John saying: Let he that reads this understand what it means (Matthew 24:15).

3. Notice the seven major themes of the Book of Revelation:
a. To reveal Jesus Messiah to the suffering church and strengthen them by showing that their present tribulation was not against them personally, but a part of the overall war through history between good and evil.
b. To show that by the resurrection Jesus had already WON and ultimately they would not be forsaken.
c. This book was written specifically for the seven churches in Asia (Turkey) that were under John's influence and that were in great danger.
d. Although the Book of Revelation, like most of the new testament, was written to someone else, modern Believers benefit from it by getting an understanding that during any crisis G-D demands absolute faithfulness to HIM.
e. The Book of Revelation is not a book about how bad the devil or the anti-christ is, but a revelation of Yeshua Messiah defeating the mightiest force in the world (the beasts or emperors of the Roman Empire) with the power of love and innocence of a lamb.
f. The Book of Revelation shows that those who overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil will ultimately receive a place with the Messiah and eternal rewards.
g. The Book of Revelation shows that the Kingdom of G-D will ultimately overcome all evil.

4. There were some 250 Old Testament passages mentioned in the Book of Revelation and when listing those which are repeated the count rises to 348.

5. The term mark of the beast is always a popular phrase to make whatever the speaker wants, but during the Biblical period this concept of a mark had a specific meaning. Genesis 4:15 mentions G-D's mark placed upon Cain, the forehead of the high priest was marked with gold letters (Exodus 28:36), the servants of G-D were marked with the Word of the L-RD on their forehead and their arms (Deut. 6:6-8), and in Ezekiel 9:4 a mark was placed on the head of the faithful in Jerusalem, while the others were destroyed. Romans marked their soldiers in the hand and their slaves on the forehead. Revelation 7:3-9 warns that a certain number of Believers again will be marked by G-D and not hurt by the tribulation. Again in Revelation 14:1 the redeemed were sealed with a mark of G-D in their foreheads. In fact all the redeemed have a mark in the life to come as revealed in Revelation 3:12; 22:4. This concept of marking simply was a symbol which represented obedience to the law of the individual doing the marking. The text in Revelation 13:16 where the beast caused the people to receive his mark on their foreheads and hands was understood to mean they followed his law.

6. In Revelation chapter one there are four reasons given for Believers to never fear:
a. I am the First and the Last...
b. I am HE that liveth and was dead...
c. I am alive forever more...
d. I have the keys to hell and death...

Note that three out of four of these reasons mentions the subject of death which was a major concern to these going through the first century tribulations.





Go to Lecture IV or VI