2.2.1 - An Invitation
We invite the reader to journey along with us as we explore what the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation1 has to say concerning a simple carpenter born 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem, Israel. Although many recognize that the life of Jesus has had a greater impact upon the world than that of any other person of history, relatively few realize how much He will intervene in history yet to come as He proves Himself to a skeptical world as being much more than a simple carpenter: the King of kings and Lord of lords risen from the dead.
If you do not yet know Jesus, we urge you to consider the importance of believing in Him:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:16-18)
Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:5-6) [emphasis added]
God our Savior . . . desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. (1Ti. 2:3-6)
We invite you to consider the free gift offered in the final chapter of the Bible:
And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. (Rev. 22:17+)
If you already know this carpenter personally, may your knowledge of Him be increased by our study of the book of Revelation.
2.2.3 - Why Another Commentary on Revelation?
If one were to attempt to climb to the moon upon a stairway made of books published upon a single topic, the informed person would choose to build that staircase out of biblical commentaries. Next to the Bible itself, the most voluminous stream of publication down through history must be the writing of men andwomen who have attempted to understand and explain the biblical text. The number of commentaries, dictionaries, devotionals, and other study aids which focus upon the Word of God is truly staggering.
Out of this vast stream of biblical interpretation, perhaps the largest tributary consists of commentaries upon the book of Revelation, otherwise known as The Apocalypse. The sheer number of commentaries on the last book of the New Testament is a daunting consideration for anyone who would attempt to contribute to this flow of words which has spanned centuries and occupied some of the best minds and most devoted spirits mankind has been graced with by God. When scanning the footnotes or bibliography of one of the many modern commentaries on the book of Revelation, one is immediately overwhelmed by the breadth of material which has been written on this book.
Any writer who considers casting his small pebble into such a mighty flow must ask himself what his work could possibly contribute to the already large body of material on the subject? Why attempt to extend the work of giants who have gone before? Will it not be equivalent to painting over the face of a finisheddiamond? Surely, close attention must be given to the motives and goals of such a task!
It is from such a perspective that we offer this work. It is not our intention to supersede or improve upon those which have gone before, but to glean from their work while achieving the following goals:
- Unrestricted Use - To provide a commentary which is not subject to the royalty and permission limitations so prevalent in our times. A primary goal of this work is to provide a modern commentary on the book of Revelation which may be copied and freely distributed by any means and for any purpose. This is particularly important in our current age of digital study tools and worldwide distribution via the internet. It is our desire that this commentary would be freely available for reading or inclusion with any of the many free or low-cost Bible-study programs which are now available.1 The copyright for this commentary embraces this goal.
- Use of Modern Technology - To present the commentary using modern text-processing, cross-referencing, and presentation technology. This facilitates the ease with which the material can be read when using a computer, with or without an accompanying digital Bible text.
- Introduction to Other Works - To guide the inquiring student toward what we believe are the most valuable and trustworthy works available on the book of Revelation. Fortunately, after dismissing those works which compromise the core values of Evangelicalism or are written by those lacking the illumination of the Holy Spirit because they have not been “born again,” the number is reduced substantially.2 Readers will find additional aids for the study of the book of Revelation within the endnotes and bibliography.
- A Policy of Inoculation - It is our desire to alert the unfamiliar reader concerning some of the potential pitfalls which accompany a study of Revelation, and the Bible in general.
2.2.4 - Attacks upon the book of Revelation
As we consider this last book of the Bible, we would do well to bear in mind the strategy of the enemy which has long sought to undermine a plain acceptance and understanding of this capstone of God’s revelation. The confusion which exists concerning the interpretation of the book of Revelation is one of many evidences which reflect his desire that this important part of God’s Word might not have its intended effect among the saints. In fact, the two “bookends” of the Bible, Genesis and Revelation, are of foundational importance in revealing the purposes and plan of God.
If the authority of Genesis can be unseated, then the rest of God’s Word which is constructed upon it, will also be seriously eroded. This, then, is a key aspect of the admittedly clever but unsupportable theory of evolution which substitutes random events for the Grand Designer. If evolution were true, then the entiregospel of Jesus Christ collapses.
As one atheist has observed:1
Without Adam, without the original sin, Jesus Christ is reduced to a man with a mission on the wrong planet. Sin becomes not an ugly fate due to man’s disobedience, but only the struggle of instincts. Christianity has fought, still fights, and will fight science to the desperate end over evolution, because evolution destroys utterly and finally the very reason Jesus’ earthly life was supposedly made necessary. Destroy Adam and Eve and the original sin, and in the rubble you will find the sorry remains of the son of god. Take away the meaning of his death. If Jesus was not the redeemer who died for our sins, and this is what evolution means, then Christianity is nothing! Christianity, if it is to survive, must have Adam and the original sin and the fall from grace or it cannot have Jesus the redeemer who restores to those who believe what Adam’s disobedience took away. 2
Similar spiritual elements which are at work attempting to undermine the trustworthiness of the book of Genesis are also busily attempting to undermine the message of the book of Revelation. Morris observes the importance of both Genesis and Revelation as antidotes for existentialism and postmodernism which now characterize secular philosophy:
It is small wonder that the great Enemy of God’s truth has directed his most intense attacks against Genesis and Revelation, denying the historicity of the former and the perspicuity of the latter. With neither creation nor consummation—neither beginning nor ending—all that we would have is the existential present, and this unfortunately has become the almost universal emphasis of modern philosophy and religion.3
Not only do the books of Genesis and Revelation serve as important moorings for understanding our place in the scheme of God’s universe, but the book of Revelation serves also as God’s unveiling to His saints of important future events. The master deceiver is well aware of this and has specially targeted this book for attack.
The Apocalypse not only reveals much concerning the person and work of the Man of Sin, but it describes his doom, as it also announces the complete overthrow of the Trinity of Evil. This, no doubt, accounts for much of the prejudice which obtains against the study and reading of this book. It is indeed remarkable that this is the only book in the Bible connected with which there is a distinct promise given to those who read and hear its prophecy (Rev. 1:3+). And yet how very rarely it is read from the pulpits of those churches which are reputed as orthodox! Surely the great Enemy is responsible for this. It seems that Satan fears and hates above every book in the Bible this one which tells of his being ultimately cast into the Lake of Fire. But ‘we are not ignorant of his devices’ (2Cor. 2:11). Then let him not keep us from the prayerful and careful perusal of this prophecy which tells of those things .which must shortly come to pass.4
What may be surprising to the newer believer is the source of these attacks: from both outside and within Christianity. Of these two, the latter is more damaging.5
Notes
1 How one might wish that all believers had as good a grasp of the essential relationship of Genesis to the gospel as this enemy of the cross!
2 Bozarth, G. R., The Meaning of Evolution, American Atheist, 1978, 20:30.
3 Henry Morris, The Revelation Record (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1983), 21.
4 Arthur Walkington Pink, The Antichrist (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, 1999, 1923), s.v. “Antichrist in the Apocalypse.”
5 This is due to the fact that most believers automatically know to test unbiblical philosophy and teaching by God’s Word. What is more damaging, are teachers who appear to fall within the pale of Christianity, but whose views concerning Revelation deny essentials of the faith or its prophetic relevance for the future.
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