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.
        

       In preparation for Christ’s first coming as the incarnate God in the flesh, God sent a voice crying in the wilderness—John the Baptist. He came not only to prepare God’s people with a call to repentance, he also came to mark the pivotal shift from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant. That is, to mark the early part of God’s prophetic week (time past) to the current part of His prophetic week (these last days).
       “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,  has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they” (Heb. 1:1-3, emphasis added).
     What signaled this shift in God’s timetable? Jesus’ baptism. Needless to say, Jesus didn’t need to repent of any sins as the perfect Son of God, fully divine. Yet as the Son of Man, God in the flesh, He chose to operate on this earth as we do—by the anointing of God. He came to show us that we can likewise minister to others through the power of His anointing and God’s Spirit in us (Lk. 9:1, 10:19; Mk. 16:15-18).
        Now as the end of these last Days draws near, God is intent on bringing another comforting message: we need not fear what lies ahead when we know the hope of our calling. “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Eph. 1:17-19).
       This message has to do with the end-time highway of God for this time. Like our earthly highways, this one has fallen into disrepair, compliments of the various inaccurate end-time doctrines that we’ve inherited and have become so attached to over the years. We have not seen clearly because we have been seeing dimly as in a mirror (1 Cor. 13:12). Our hearts were intent on knowing God’s Word, but it was not yet time to see it clearly, for the time was “not at hand.”
       Now is the time to make things straight, level, and smooth concerning the highway of God’s prophetic end-times restoration (Is. 40:1-5). It is a message of comfort, hope, and victory. It is time to be assured of what must shortly take place.
        END-TIME LESSON: Throughout the Bible we find that God always brings the light of revelation just before the appointed time in His plan comes. Operating under our earthly calling, the Church has only known in part. We are all on the journey of  renewing our minds to God’s Word and growing in our knowledge of God and Christ. As such, we have functioned as parrots, sharing the Gospel recorded in the New Testament with all the world so they can be saved as well.
         But shortly we shall see fully, face to face (1 Cor. 13:12). We shall be fully conformed to Christ’s image (Rom. 8:29). As the appointed time draws nearer and nearer, God brings more revelation and disperses the clouds of confusion. Yet it is up to us to keep looking and not let the traditions of men dictate what we believe (Mk. 7:13). We are meant to have eagle eyes.
        As Isaiah prophesied about this end-time, we are meant to be eagles, given God’s overcoming strength and power to overcome death through resurrection. We are living at the close of the 6th great Day in God’s prophetic week of His plan of redemption. We were born for such a time as this!
       It is time to make ourselves ready for our Bridegroom. Our heavenly calling as the Heavenly Esther awaits us. For we are destined to be united as one new Man in marriage. We shall rule with Him as joint-heirs, as the immortal heavenly court ruling from above, by virtue of being likewise resurrected (Acts 17:31; Rom. 8:17). We have suffered persecution for being His. Shortly we shall be glorified, receiving our fully sanctified  immortal bodies.

      The book of Revelation connects all of Scripture according to God’s agenda and timetable. God wants us to understand it, especially in our time, because it gives us critical information that the Body of Christ needs to know. So how do we approach such an epic saga?
       Tip #1: The Revelation is actually a series of visions. It is not one continuous chain of events from start to finish.  To read it that way only leads to confusion and wrong interpretations. Some parts of the book are continuous, but a major portion offers a series of instant replays of the key events.
        Tip #2: The Revelation is recorded in the form of an apocalyptic (end-time) account. As such, it often uses figurative language and hyperbole that was common in ancient writings of such events. However, having said that, a passage is to be taken literally unless it doesn’t make sense that way. One example is the two-edged sword coming out of Christ’s mouth in Rev. 19:15. It isn’t a literal sword; it represents the power of God’s Word spoken on the earth (Ps. 149:6).
         Any verse that contains a hyperbole (exaggerated wording), such as “ all who dwell on the earth will worship him” (the Antichrist) in Rev. 13:8, must be interpreted in light of the whole counsel of God’s Word. We do that by connecting the same phrases or analogies found throughout the Bible.
         In this case, we know from the chapters that immediately follow chapter 13 that not all the people worship the Antichrist, for he goes to war against the revived Jewish saints who have finally accepted Jesus as the Messiah and Savior. We also know that news from the north and east trouble him (Dan, 11:44), so other nations do not worship him either. Otherwise, why would he be worried?
      In some cases, such as Rev. 1:20, the interpretation of the lampstands is given in the same chapter. In other cases, such as Rev. 12 where we find a vision of a Woman with the stars and moon over her head, the same description is given in Gen. 37:9, describing Joseph’s dream. The  imagery refers to the nation of Israel. These connections are not haphazard; they are Spirit inspired. They safeguard us from adding or subtracting from God’s Word.
         Tip #3: Each chapter in the Revelation has a specific purpose. The book takes all that was prophesied in the past and combines it into a meaningful whole concerning what will take place shortly—the end of this present age and the dawn of the final great Day. We are meant to ask: “What are we to see in this part of the vision? What does it add to our understanding?”
       Tip #4: Understanding the layout of the book is crucial to understanding the sequence of events of that final 7th Day. Chapters 1-3 set the stage and bring us up to speed as to what we have in Christ Jesus. Chapters 4-5 show us the ceremony of the Scroll of Inheritance that Jesus received at His ascension. Chapters 6-7 provide an overview of this present age (our current time) as His Church, up to Christ’s second coming and the rapture. Chapters 8-9 give us an overview of the wrath of God in the form of the trumpet judgments.
      Chapter 10 is a break in the action, signaling a shift in the Revelation from the overview to critical details. Chapters 11-19 provide supplemental visions or replays of the events in the overview of the judgments first seen in chapters 8-9. Like instant replays in sports, they provide different camera angles of the events so that we can get the full picture of what is happening during the crucial first 3-1/2 years of the 7th Day—known as God’s vengeance against evil and the wrath of that Day.
         Chapter 20 gives us a brief glimpse of the rest of that final 1,000-year Day. Chapters 21-22 show how the last Day in God’s prophetic timetable comes to a close and what happens at the end of the Days.

   Understanding the times and the seasons in God’s prophetic timetable of the plan of redemption is crucial because it shows us what we ought to be doing (1 Chron. 12:32). We’ve spent a year and a half going through God’s times and seasons as declared in the New Testament, bringing us to the last book in our Bible. God Himself tells us that He is giving the revelation of His Son so that we may know the things that must shortly take place.
      We know from Jesus’ teaching on His coming and the signs of this age that His coming will be as the days of Noah were. “For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Mt. 24:38-39).
     How is it that the people did not know what was coming? Wouldn’t a loving God warn them? Glad you asked. You see, it took Noah many years to build the Ark. Exactly how long we can’t say for sure because the Bible doesn’t tell us. We do know that Moses preached to the people throughout the entire building process.
        So the people had the opportunity to know. The Scripture tells us that the people were eating, drinking, and were too busy living their lives and doing their own thing. Sound familiar? Or they outright rejected the message. That, too, sounds familiar. Choices always have consequences. The bottom line is that the people could know and so they couldn’t say that they weren’t warned.
        Some interpret Jesus’ statement about the days of Noah to mean that there will be a return of the Nephilim in some form, for this is what made the first reset of the Flood necessary.  But this would mean that more angels would have fallen because the Word tells us that the original fallen angels are incarcerated in chains (Jude 6).
     Others, including a popular Christian author, contend that different ancient spirits have come back to earth, fostering a general atmosphere of lawlessness. Yet we don't find this in God's Word. Instead we have the government and media talking about aliens and extra-dimensional beings—what the Bible calls Satan’s evil forces (Eph. 6:12).
     End-Time Lesson: Such man-made interpretations of the Scriptures and the deceitfulness of this age through technology and AI, only serve to add to the confusion Satan intends for our time. This is why we must stick to the Word of God and not add or subtract from it. We need to stick with the definition Jesus gave us of the days of Noah.
        As we’ve seen through our journey of what God’s Word says about His times and seasons, and our Lord’s coming, we can know when He is coming. We can see the Day approaching (Heb. 10:25). The foundational disciples came to understand God’s prophetic timetable in the Great Week. They understood how God counts prophetic time (2 Pet. 3:8-9).
         They understood how the Day would come after the lawless one would rise up and the people would not receive the truth in God’s Word. Peter went so far as to warn us that people would scoff at the idea of the Lord’s return because it has been labeled as “soon” for so long that people would give up on the truth.
        Jesus assured His disciples that the Holy Spirit would bring to their remembrance what He had taught them and bring the necessary revelation as He always does when the appointed time draws near. Jesus also told them that it had been given to His disciples to know the mysteries of the ages. This is one reason why seekers are always rewarded with understanding (Heb. 11:6).
       In general, the Church has been left in the fog of confusion because we did not heed the one thing that Peter told the Church to pay attention to regarding Christ’s return—how God counts prophetic time differently. Now you see why we spent so much time recognizing God’s times and seasons in His Word. Now, it is time to see exactly what lies ahead—the things that must shortly take place.  

          The Revelation ends with this affirmation from our Lord Himself: “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last” (Rev. 22:12). He also confirms again the promises made to His Church. “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 Bright and Morning Star” (vs. 16).
          Our response as the Bride echoes our earnest expectation of the glory that awaits us: “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” (vs. 17). While we add our voice of agreement, we must not forget our current assignment. People need to hear this warning and be offered the water of life freely.
          End-Time Lesson: Long ago, a shepherd serenaded his sheep with a song unto the Lord. It paints a beautiful prophetic picture of our earthly walk with the Lord. Even though it is probably one of the most recognized psalms, I invite you to read it again in light of the chronos and kairos.  We are living at the end of this age. Its truths can sustain us when we fully lay hold of the depth of His love for us (see also Ephesians 3:14-21).
            “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.” No matter what is happening in the world, God provides for us. “He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters.” He provides the essentials of life when we rest in Him. “He restores my soul. His Word and truths enable us to speak to our soul and bring it into alignment with our spirit. “He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. The Spirit leads me according to Heaven’s ways, for I am yoked with Jesus and my burden is light.
            “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” Yes, this world is subject to corruption and death, but I need not fear either, for I know that my future is secure in Christ who has made me a new creation. He has given me His authority and armor to defeat Satan’s strategies. “For you are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. Jesus is with me through the person of the Holy Spirit. The Shepherd’s rod of truth defeats any enemy; the crook of the Shepherd’s staff draws me close to Him.
           “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” The banqueting table of Your Word and Your Presence provide all I need to be refreshed, even when I am facing my enemies. “You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.” The anointing of the Holy Spirit covers me with the power and authority of Heaven. Whatever is required to minister on His behalf is available to me. “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” I walk in His grace and favor. “And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” I shall spend eternity with God and with my Beloved Bridegroom.          
            Our time on this earth, as God’s ambassadors and witnesses, is the equivalent of our boot-camp training for reigning. It is not a time of despair—at least not when we understand the God’s chronos agenda. For it is a message of comfort, hope, and victory!