THE VISION OF THE SON OF MAN

     The vision recorded in Revelation was given to John, one of the original 12 foundational disciples. He was under house arrest on the island of Patmos, off the western coast of Asia Minor. He records the vision he receives while “in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.” He writes it in the form of an epistle or letter to seven churches which he oversaw. As with the other epistles in the New Testament, it was meant to be read by all believers. The number 7 in Scripture symbolizes completeness and fulfillment, which is why we see Jesus standing amidst seven lampstands.
      Jesus appears before John, identifying Himself as the First and the Last (the Alpha and Omega). He then gives John the definition of eternal life through resurrection. “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore” (vs. 18). Christ has overcome Death, which is why He is holding the keys of Hades and of Death.
       This verse is also the definition of being born from the dead. Jesus is the firstborn from the dead, having overcome death (Rev. 1:5). He is the Head of His Body, so He has preeminence and all authority (Col. 1:18).  He is the firstborn of many brethren—His Church, His Bride. Just as He was raised on the 3rd day, we shall be raised on the 3rd great Day!
       By the way, if you’ve ever wondered what our glorified bodies will be like, John’s description of our glorified Lord is a great clue. Notice that even though John was Jesus’ beloved disciple, he could not stand in the light of Christ’s glory!
      How, then, do we think that when Christ comes for His glorified Church that we will either stay on this earth or come back immediately in order to reign on the earth as taught by certain end-time scenarios? The ungodly people of the earth will not be able to stand it. Instead, we reign from the place of all authority over both heaven and earth—from God’s throne room above, in the 3rd Heaven.
      Note, too, that John refers to himself as our brother in tribulation. Jesus introduced the fact that He would die, be resurrected, ascend to Father’s House for a time, and then come again to gather His Body (the rapture) in what is called the Olivet Discourse (teaching) found in Matt. 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. He explained the things that would happen during the Church Age, as we were commissioned to continue His earthly ministry. He taught that this present age would culminate in His return.
     This means that we have also messed up the definition of the tribulation with our man-made end-time views. The time of the tribulation is an extended time period that began in John’s time of the early Church, and extends into our own time.
     Hint: We know this because Jesus taught that the last sign we would see before He comes is total darkness across the whole earth at one time. Since we haven’t seen such darkness yet, we know we are still in the tribulation. In fact, the Church has always existed in the tribulation. 
     END-TIME LESSON: This is the first crooked path we must straighten out. The idea of a 7-year tribulation period comes from a misinterpretation of the 70 Weeks Prophecy recorded in Daniel 9. 
         In short, the 70 Weeks Prophecy was given to the Jews to assure them of God’s plan for them. It correctly identified when they would come back to their land after captivity in Babylon and when the Messiah would come the first time.
     Unfortunately, they missed the time of this visitation (Lk. 19:44) when they rejected Jesus, thereby pausing the final “Week” of the prophecy mid-way through it. At His second coming, the Jewish remnant will finally see Jesus coming again and receive Him as their Messiah. The prophecy will be restarted, and the last half of the prophetic Week will then be fulfilled during Christ’s millennial reign over the earth.
      The confusion over the timing of the rapture in terms of His coming (pre-trib, post-trib, mid-wrath, etc.) comes from the fact that translators arbitrarily inserted another subject into the original prophecy. The prophecy given to Daniel spoke only of the Messiah, the One who would bring a restful end to the sacrifices, for He would offer Himself as the final sacrifice.