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The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Revelation 1:1-2
The ultimate author of Revelation is God, who then gave the revelation of what must soon take place to Jesus. Through the Holy Spirit living in John, this revelation was then made to him so that he could write it down. This is a perfect example of how God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit all work together as one.
“For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” 2 Peter 2:21
What is it That Soon Must Take Place? The Great Tribulation
“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be” Matthew 24:21 (ESV)
What will happen in the great tribulation will be revealed in the Book of Revelation. Here is a preview of what will happen:
-Peace will be taken from the earth. 6:4
-A quarter of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth. 6:8
-The sun turns black; the moon turns blood red and the stars in the sky fell to earth. 6:12-13
-A third of the earth was burned up (of what was left from 6:8), a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. 8:7
-Mountains will be thrown into the sea. 8:8
-A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. 8:9
-A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter. 8:11
-Locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth to torment people for five months 9:3-10
-Angels kill a third of mankind by three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur. 9:15-18
-Several earthquakes will occur. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. 16:18
-The anti-Christ will come to power and people will worship him. 13:1-8
-The war of Armageddon will occur, and blood will flow for a distance of 180 miles and as high as a horse’s head. 14:20, 16:16
-Festering sores broke out on the people who had the mark the beast and worshiped its image. 16:2
-Rivers and springs of water, and they became blood 16:4
-The sun was allowed to scorch people with fire. 16:8
-The earth will be plunged into darkness 16:10
-From the sky huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds, fell on people. 16:21
Who Enabled John to See The Revelation from Jesus?
God sent an angel of the Lord to John. God uses angels to send messages to his servants.
And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly.” And his chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he *said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” And he went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. Acts 12:7-11
Why Many Christians Have Not Read Revelation?
When is the last time you heard a sermon on the Book of Revelation? Why is that?
I am going out on a limb here, but one possible reason many Christians have not done a deep dive into Revelation is because many pastors or teachers do not want to teach Revelation. If a pastor preaches that you can possibly lose your salvation, they will not teach Revelation because that will bring on great fear. It’s a shame that some pastors teach temporal life instead of eternal life.
The fact is that a Born Again Christian will be raptured prior to the tribulation and will avoid the coming wrath. If you can possibly lose your salvation you will be there for the tribulation.
If you want to understand more what it means to be 100% sure of your salvation read here.
Who is the Coming Tribulation For?
The tribulation of God’s wrath in Revelation is NOT for a believer, but is for unbelievers only. Believers are born again by the Spirit of God, aka Children of God. Unbelievers are those who those who have not been born again by the Spirit of God.
“Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
1 John 5:12
““At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book.” Daniel 12:1
“For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:9
“Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious (Who Is Born Again and Saved) will not be hurt at all by the second death.” Revelation 2:11
Why Was Revelation Written?
It is God’s will that everyone is saved to be with Him forever in the New Heaven and New Earth. That is why God wanted Jesus to instruct John what to write down what is going to happen. Jesus then told John to send this letter to the seven churches where there are people who are not saved and as a final warning to be victorious in Christ.
God wants everyone to be saved and to avoid the coming wrath.
“This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” 2 Timothy 2:3-4
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