Questions in the Book of Revelation

Well, if you would turn in your Bible to the book of the Revelation, we'll continue in our study there. This is the fourth message from these opening verses from the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Let me read the first nine verses of chapter 1. The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants, things which must shortly take place, and he sent and signified it by his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ to all things that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it, for the time is near. John to the seven churches which are in Asia, grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come and from the seven spirits who are before his throne and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler over the kings of the earth, to him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and has made us kings and priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 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. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come the Almighty. I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. Thus stands the written, eternal word of God.

Let me introduce this message a little bit differently by telling you a personal story. Probably 30 years ago, I obtained a New Testament commentary set of John Calvin's work. It was a used commentary set, and when I got them home and began to look at them, a week or so had gone by, I noticed that there was a volume missing. So I called the friend that I purchased them from and mentioned that to him and asked if he had that other book of the set, and he said this. The book that was omitted was the book of the Revelation. He said the reason you don't have a copy of the book of the Revelation is because John Calvin did not write a commentary on the book of the Revelation.

He wrote a commentary on every other book of the New Testament, but he did not write one on the book of the Revelation. And I did a little bit of reading about what was behind that, and he was just, he was uncertain, he was perplexed. He felt like he almost needed to have a code to understand the book of the Revelation because of the signs and the symbols that were associated that we find throughout the book.

And I don't know how that strikes you, but I'm thinking a couple of things. Number one, I have similar thoughts about the book of the Revelation. It is a very daunting book, a very challenging book, but it's part of the canon of Scripture. It's part of God's Revelation. It's a book that he wants us to know and understand.

It's a book that he's given. And there's a promised blessing for those who read it and hear it and keep those things that are written in the book. But some have asked if it's my intention to preach through the book of the Revelation.

And my answer to that is no. I don't know how many messages I'm going to bring from the book of the Revelation, but I'm convinced at this time that there's some help here, and God is directing me to bring some messages, and tonight will be another one of those messages. I don't know how long I'll tarry in this book, but you'll see tonight as I bring this message some of the challenges that are related to understanding the book.

In fact, I want to say on the front end, it is not my purpose to unsettle anybody. It's not my purpose to bring a crisis to your faith. But I'm going to be sharing some things tonight that perhaps you've never heard before, and when I hear a preacher say that, I always think, uh-oh, I have suspicions about anything that's new. What I'm saying is not new. What I'm saying is perhaps new to you. You haven't heard this, but I think it is accurate interpretation.

And I'd be glad to talk to anybody later about it. So I would just challenge you at the beginning here to think with me about our approach to the book of the Revelation. The book of the Revelation is in the genre of prophecy.

That's not because a group of academic scholars have said that. It says it right here in verse 3. It is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy. So prophecy is the genre of the book of the Revelation. It's speaking of future events.

Now the big question is, from John's perspective as John wrote these things, how far into the future was these things to take place? And so that is challenging. The second thought that comes to my mind as I think about Calvin's reluctance to write a commentary on the book of the Revelation is, if he was reluctant, what does it say about those who have an eschatology and an understanding, they think that they've got everything understood, they have everything nailed down, and then they go around and hold Bible prophecy meetings to explain all that's found in the book of the Revelation. I think it calls for some humility. I think it calls for some hesitation. I think it calls for, let's not be so quick to say I know everything about what is written here. If a man like John Calvin had reluctance, there's certainly grounds for me to have reluctance and for all of us to have humility and go, you know what, there's a lot of different people who have looked at this book and have some various opinions about it, and we can't all be right.

I remember, I don't know whether it was, maybe it was Don Theobald who said this, or maybe even Mark Webb. One of the men who's come for Bible conference and says about things, he says we can't all be right, and it's possible that we're all wrong, that nobody's right about some things. So, that's what I want to do tonight, look at some opening verses here in the book of Revelation that we've touched on but have before tonight not camped on and begin to consider. We're confronted with many questions when we come to the book of the Revelation, and let me just mention four questions that confront us, and there are many, many others, but these are the ones that are on my mind tonight. Question number one, the book's audience. Was the Revelation written chiefly for the benefit of the people living in the final days before the consummation of God's kingdom, or was it written primarily for the first century church, or was it written for the church of all the ages?

The audience, who did God intend primarily this book to address? Question number two, the meaning of the book of the Revelation. Is the book of the Revelation describing events that were unfolding in the first century? As John was writing and talking about things that were near and things that would shortly come to pass, was he speaking about those things that would come to pass in the first century, in his generation, or was he writing about events that would be long, long into the future? Here we are nearly 2,000 years removed from John writing these words, the meaning.

A third critical question is when. When was the book of the Revelation written? When did John write this book?

What is the historical context? And you know when you're studying a book of the Bible and beginning to get into it and there's all those introductory pages about authorship and all kinds of other things and we tend to just kind of skip over that and get to chapter 1 verse 1 and get on with it, well there's some very, very important and critical questions that the introductory material raises and here is an absolutely critical question. When was the book of the Revelation written? In our day, the majority opinion is that it was written in the late 90s AD. There is a significant group of others who believe that the book of the Revelation was written during Nero's reign, Nero the Roman emperor during his reign and Nero reign from 54 AD to 68 AD. And the critical hinge point about this in terms of when it was written is this. Was it written before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple or was it written after?

That is a critical, critical question and you'll see as we move forward tonight how critical that question is. And in question number 4, the question I want to deal primarily with tonight is the question of time frame references. Time frame references and there are a host of them and I want to draw your attention to them and try and get our mind around how we're to understand these references. The first time frame reference occurs in the book's opening verse. The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him to show his servants things which must shortly take place.

John was given a vision. John was commanded to write these things down, things that would shortly take place. Verse 3, blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it for, here's a second time reference, for the time is near. Things that must shortly take place and the time is near. Now not only in these opening verses but in the opening chapter, in the middle of the book, at the end of the book we find all kinds of time references. We're warned that the time is at hand, that these things must shortly come to pass.

Behold Jesus says I come quickly, surely I come quickly. There's these kinds of references and we have to wrestle with how are we to interpret them. A man who wrote extensively about this, his name is Gentry, has wrestled with these time references. And I'm going to draw your attention to a number of them so that you get a sense of how often they appear and how critical they are to a proper understanding. I've shown you two there, verses 1 and verse 3. Listen to chapter 2, we'll start in chapter 2 and verse 16. To the church of Pergamos, verse 16. Repent or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. I will come quickly. Chapter 3 and verse 11.

Behold I am coming quickly, hold fast what you have that no one may take your crown. I skipped over 1 and verse 19 of chapter 1, chapter 1 and verse 19. Write these things in which you have seen, this is in my Bible red letter, words of Christ to John, write the things which you have seen and the things which are and the things which will take place after this. Take place after this, after what?

What is the antecedent to this is the question. Chapter 3 and verse 10. Because you have kept my command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth. Behold I am coming quickly. I am coming quickly.

So there is a context there of judgment and suffering that needs to be taken into account. And then when you get to the end of the book, we will turn over to chapter 22. Chapter 22 verse 6. Then he said to me, these words are faithful and true, and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show his servants the things which must shortly take place. Verse 7, behold I am coming quickly. Verse 12, and behold I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me to give to everyone according to his work. Verse 16, I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bride and the morning star. And the spirit and the bride says, Come, and let him who hears say, Come, and let him who thirsts come.

Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in the book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the book of life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. Verse 20, he who testifies to these things says, Surely I am coming quickly. And this man, Ken Gentry, raises this question. How could events related to two to three thousand years in the future be considered at hand or soon or, as it says, near?

How is that possible? A straightforward reading of the text creates problems for us. And skeptics have seized on this. Skeptics have said, You see, the Bible is full of error. That the apostles believed that the coming of Jesus was soon, they were wrong. Jesus' own statements show that he too was wrong about his coming.

And we have to be at a place to be able to answer the critics. Over there in 2 Peter chapter 3, Peter is writing about the second coming of Christ. And he said, God is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but he is long suffering.

To us we are not willing that any should perish, but all should come to repentance. So whatever conclusion you draw about your attempt to reconcile the promise of Christ's coming with these statements that he is coming quickly, that his coming is at hand, one thing you've got to nail down if you're going to be faithful to the Scriptures is that God is not slack concerning his promise. I brought a message two weeks ago on the second coming of Christ from chapter 1 verse 7 and 8, seven aspects of the second coming of Christ. So I am adamant in my commitment to the second coming of Christ. Nothing that I say tonight should take away from that, the second coming of Christ.

Pastor Barkman mentioned this morning that, I hadn't noticed this, but each of the five chapters in 1 Thessalonians, at the end of each chapter there's a reference to the second coming of Christ, and we'll be looking forward to seeing what that exposition of 1 Thessalonians brings to us along those lines. But what Ken Gentry did in his consideration of these time references is to put them in three different categories. There are three different Greek words that are employed and used.

They're very close, but they're a bit different. And the first group is under the heading of shortly and quickly. There's the Greek word that's used that's translated shortly and quickly. There's another Greek word that's used that is translated near or at hand. And then there is a third group of words that are used, that are translated, that there's an event, there's something about to happen on the point of being manifested. So you can see how closely those three different words are.

Ken Gentry is of a strong opinion, and I will get to that in a minute. Nearly 2,000 years of church history have passed since John wrote these words, and we're back again in Revelation chapter 1. He's writing about things that he has seen in a vision that must shortly take place. The time is near. That's what he is saying at the very beginning of this letter.

And here's the question. How do we reconcile the language of shortly, quickly, nearness with the passing of nearly 2,000 years? Is he speaking about those things related to the second coming of Christ? Or is he speaking about those things related to the end of the age?

This is what Ken Gentry says. One solution is to understand shortly in the sense of suddenly or without delay once the appointed time arrives. But he insists that we must not take an approach contrary to a straightforward approach. I won't take the time to look at each one of those verses under those three categories that he gives to us. But let me give you a couple of other references that use the same words. So you see that it's not just confined to prophecy and here in the book of the Revelation, but other places.

So you can kind of get a sense of the way these words are being used. Listen to Acts chapter 12 and verse 7. This is Peter while he's in prison. Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him and a light shone in the prison, and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up saying, Arise quickly, and his chains fell off his hands. Arise quickly. You see, there's not much of a time lapse there.

There's not years and months and a long time there. The word there, arise quickly, and it says, and his chains fell off his hands. Romans chapter 16 and verse 20. Listen to this verse. Let me back up and read verses 17 so you can get the context. Paul's writing, he says, Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple. For your obedience has become known to all, therefore I am glad on your behalf, but I want you to be wise in what is good and simple concerning evil. And then verse 20. And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. The God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. And then one more reference.

There's ten or twelve, but I just chose three. First Timothy chapter 3 and verse 14. Paul's writing to the church, or I mean Paul's writing to Timothy here and he says this in verse 14. These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly. But if I'm delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. So Paul's stating his intentions to come and he says, I hope to come to you shortly. That's his desire. That was his hope. And it's hard to read a long delay into that. So what does Ken Gentry make of this? I mean we have to be honest here with what we're reading and what we're being confronted with.

And this is the honest question. How could events that are two or three thousand years in the future be considered at hand? It's hard to reconcile that. Here is Gentry's point. He says all three of these word groups that he looked at point to the nearness of the things foretold in the book of the Revelation. But the question is, what is being pointed to? What is John writing about?

What is in the future that is near, that is at hand? And this is Gentry's position, that the book was written before 70 A.D. and what is at hand, what is near, is Jesus Christ coming in judgment of the nation of Israel and of the Jewish community and the destruction of the Jewish temple. If you take that interpretation and go back through those time references, it removes an awful lot of question and an awful lot of doubt and brings some clarity. I'm not saying that that answers every question, but it's something we have to give some serious thought to. And we're back to what I believe to be a very, very critical question, and that is the timing of the writing of the book.

And Ken Gentry wrote his doctoral dissertation on this subject. He wrote a book entitled Before Jerusalem Fell, and he's advocating that the context of the Revelation that John was writing, what was near, and again, he was writing during the reign of Nero, who reigned from 54 to 68 A.D., and persecution has come upon the church. John is in exile on the island of Patmos for his testimony and for his commitment to the gospel of Christ. So persecution has come upon the church.

Nero, his reign is moving toward the middle or toward the end, and the destruction of Jerusalem is maybe two, three, five years out at the most, as John is writing, and that is what John is referring to with his language of nearness, and it is at hand. That may be all new to you. You may have never even thought about that, but that's what I'm suggesting to you that Ken Gentry is writing. Now listen to what J. Adams, we know who J. Adams is. This is what J. Adams said about Ken Gentry's doctoral dissertation, Before Jerusalem Fell. He said, quote, Here is a book some of us have been awaiting for years. Mr. Gentry convincingly demonstrates the fact the book of Revelation was written as it in so many ways declares prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.

It should receive a wide reading, and get this, and ought to rattle a lot of windows. In other words, it's going to bring upheaval, and it's going to cause people to rethink their whole approach to the book of the Revelation. Well, when considering when a book was written, there is, you're looking for internal evidence, you're looking for external evidence. And what I mean by external evidence, extra biblical sources, people who wrote historically during the time that collaborates, some of the things that helps us date Josephus and other historians, that would be external evidence.

But the strongest evidence, in my opinion, is internal evidence. And what we're doing here tonight, what I'm doing, trying to do, is to demonstrate a hermeneutic that we're committed to. What is that hermeneutic?

We believe a correct biblical hermeneutic is a historical, grammatical, cultural approach to the Scriptures. What do I mean by that? Well, the aim of a historical, grammatical, cultural approach to the Scriptures is to discover the meaning of a passage as the original author, in this case John, would have intended and what the original hearers would have understood.

And there aren't multiple answers to that question. What did John mean by the words that he used grammatically? And we've spent time looking at that. The time references to nearness and at hand and shortly. What did he mean by that?

And how did those he wrote to understand what he said? That's our approach here. That's the first thing, is we're looking at internal evidence.

We're looking at the grammar, the language that's being employed and trying to understand it. A second thing here as we look at internal evidence is this. If John wrote the book of the Revelation after the destruction of the temple, the fall of Jerusalem, the fact that he never mentions the destruction of the temple in the book of the Revelation is worth noting.

Now, it is an argument of silence, but the silence is deafening. Because in a Jewish context, the destruction of the temple is cataclysmic. And the fact that John would have never mentioned it, had he been writing after the fact, raises questions.

Questions like, what hadn't happened yet? And that's why John hadn't mentioned it. One more issue of internal evidence and that is, turn with me to Revelation chapter 17. Revelation chapter 17.

I want to begin to read it, verse 7 and read down through verse 18. Again, John is writing, verse 7, But the angel said to me, Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the seven horns.

The beast that you saw was and is not and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition, and those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world when they see the beast that was and is not and yet is. Here is the mind which has wisdom, the seven heads or seven mountains on which the woman sits. There are also seven kings, five have fallen, one is and the other has not yet come, and when he comes he must continue a short time. The beast that was and is not is himself also the eighth and is of the seven and is going to perdition. The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdoms as yet, they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind and they will give their power and authority to the beast. These will make war with the lamb, and the lamb will overcome them, for he is lord of lords and king of kings, and those who are with him are called chosen and faithful. Then he said to me, the waters which you saw, where the harlot sits are peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues, and the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill his purpose to be of one mind and to give their kingdom to the beast until the words of God are fulfilled.

And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth. Now, if you were a little bit perplexed by what I said to you about John Calvin and his hesitancy about going near the book of the Revelation to try and understand it, just reading that portion right there will cause you to scratch your head. Ten kings and beasts and a woman and you say, well, where's the code book to understand what these symbols and signs are?

Yes. But here's what I want to draw to your attention as we're considering internal evidence here as to when John wrote the book of the Revelation. Notice with me, verse 10, it says, There are also seven kings, seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come.

And when he comes, he must continue a short time. Now, the question is, who are these kings? And commentators say they represent the Roman emperors. So, John is writing in a context where five Roman emperors or kings have been on the scene and are no longer. Notice again, verse 10, There are also seven kings, five have fallen, five have fallen, one is. There is a king who is present right now and the other has not yet come.

So, he's talking about seven kings, five have fallen away, one is reigning at the present and there's one that is yet future. And the question is, who is that king that is reigning presently as John writes? And as you go back through documents and how people have considered and thought about the various kings, they start with Julius Caesar. Now, he wanted to be known as a Caesar, not as a king, but as you recall the language of the New Testament, John chapter 19 verse 15, I think the people said, We have no king except Caesar. So, the people acknowledged Caesar as a king. So, if he's the first king and you begin to count through the various Roman emperors who were in power, when you get to the sixth king, guess who he is? He's Nero.

And again, Nero reigned from AD 54 to AD 68. And if that's accurate, then we know who's on the throne, who is the Roman king as John writes. And that's pretty strong internal evidence that John is writing before the destruction of Jerusalem and the fall of the Jewish nation, not after. Now again, you probably are aware that there are counter arguments to all of this, but I'm just setting before you some evidence that we need to think about, we need to consider as we're trying to understand the book of the Revelation correctly. And you see, it's not just the book of the Revelation. There's this language all through the New Testament. Listen to what Peter said in his first letter.

This is 1 Peter 4 verse 7. Peter says, but the end of all things is at hand. That raises a couple of questions before we even finish the verse. The end of all things is at hand. What end does he have in mind?

And how do we understand that whatever it is he's making reference to is at hand? The end of all things is at hand, therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. There are three distinct possibilities as to what Peter means when he announces that the end of all things is at hand. The first possibility is that the end of the world is near. Bringing with it the end of all things on earth. That there would be this cataclysmic event that would bring an end to life on this earth as we know it.

That's a possibility. The second possibility is that Peter is referring to the end of all things Jewish. Looking toward the catastrophic event that took place again in AD 70. When the temple was destroyed and Jerusalem was trodden underfoot by the Gentiles. And you have to work hard at getting your mind around what that would have meant for a Jew in that context. From the Jewish perspective, the end of Jerusalem, the end of temple worship would be the end of everything. It's not a minor thing.

It's a major, major thing. That's a second possibility. And the third possibility is that Peter has in mind the nearness of the demise of those reading the epistle. That their earthly life will soon come to an end. And we're challenged that life is but a vapor that appears for a little while and vanishes away.

We're to look at life as very short, very fleeting. So again, there are three possibilities of just that one verse there in 1 Peter 4 and verse 7. So, again, if I've raised a lot of questions in your mind, and no doubt if you're following with me tonight, I have. My purpose again is not to alarm you.

It's not to cause you to think, uh oh, Pastor Carnes has gone off the deep end. He's embraced some erroneous theory of the book of the revelation. It violates everything I've thought about the book of the revelation.

Listen to me. I am committed to the doctrine of the second coming of Christ. Nothing changes in my understanding in that regard. What I've demonstrated for you tonight, I hope, is again a biblical hermeneutic, a historical, grammatical, cultural hermeneutic. Bringing that to the text of these time reference verses, trying to understand what God is meaning. These things are near. These things are at hand. These things are going to happen shortly. Because we have critics that are looking at that and saying, well, if the second coming is in mind, somebody's misleading somebody. Because that's not shortly. That's not it right now. That's not at hand.

You understand? Now, there's a measure of truth in this statement, but I don't know that it fully satisfies us in every regard. Peter is saying in the context of the second coming in his, I think, second epistle, that a day as to the Lord is a thousand years and a thousand years is as a day. In other words, God lives outside of time and it seems like two thousand years is a very long time, but God lives outside of time and a day to the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as a day. So again, we're forced to bring an eternal perspective to these things because we're looking at it in a time reference context. We're counting days and months and years. But however we look at that, God has not failed to keep His promise. Jesus said He was coming again, and He will come again, and nothing should shake our faith in that reality. So, my plan is to do a bit of broad study in the area of eschatology.

We're kind of getting our feet wet here tonight with this. I'd like to, in the future, survey the major eschatological positions. What is a pre-millennial position? What is a post-millennial position?

What is an all-millennial position? And talk about those things so that we can get our mind and have an appreciation for the various ways people come to the scriptures and draw various conclusions about end time matters. Pray for me about that.

That's not an easy task to take on. And I'm mindful that a mist in the pulpit creates a fog in the pew. And I don't want to create a fog in your mind, and perhaps you say, well, you did that tonight with this. I'm just asking you to wrestle with the text of scripture. What does it mean?

What do these time references mean? I don't want you to see tonight how critical it is to understand and think, depending on when John wrote this letter, changes your entire interpretation of the book of the Revelation. Because if John wrote after the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, then all of that is, those events are past. They're not future to John and those who are hearing him right. And that's critical.

But I think there's some pretty strong evidence for an early writing of the book of the Revelation. And if that is so, it changes a lot of things. And for me, it brings some clarity. It clears up some questions I've had in my mind that we've raised tonight. So thank you for following with me tonight. I'll be in my office tomorrow.

If anybody likes to call and ask questions or send me off an email, we'll wrestle through these things together. But our goal is to understand the word of God aright, understand what God meant by giving us this word the way He did. Shall we pray? Father, we thank you tonight for an inerrant word. We thank you that it is reliable, that it is trustworthy, that it is profitable for us, for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. How we thank you tonight that our subject is the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. How we thank you that He has promised that He is coming again. And He is coming to rule in righteousness and truth, and we rejoice in that. And we pray that you'd help us to live in the reality of that truth, that it is coming again, and we're to live with watchfulness and with expectation and with hope. And we thank you for what has been revealed to us here in John's letter. Now to Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, may Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.