Victor Conkle
Published: 2016-06-25
Total Pages: 363
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THE REVELATION CAN SEEM complex and difficult to read, much less to understand. Seven of this, three of that, and 200 million of them, all mixed in with bowls, woes, and scrolls--it can be daunting. It makes a person wonder why this strange, mysterious book was ever added to the biblical canon. Was the Revelation ultimately slapped onto the end of the Bible with a groan and the utterance, "Let someone down the road figure it out?"In fact, Revelation is pretty much the opposite of "hidden" or "mystery," as indicated by the very title, "Apocalypse," "Revelation," or "revealed." The title of the book itself means "to reveal, or to make known."In Matthew 24, Jesus said, "But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only" (verse 36). Father God will reveal it; and He did. He revealed it to His Son, who then revealed it to John. The only difference between the Olivet Discourse in the books of Matthew and Luke and the words in Revelation is that in the Gospel passages Jesus talks about what will happen down the road a bit (not a prediction or vague apocalyptic vision), whereas in Revelation, he tells John that it has now been revealed and will happen shortly: "Very soon." "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw." Revelation 1:1-2