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Revelation is the last book of the entire Bible. It is the consummation of God's revelation and the center of God's word. If the book of Revelation were not in the Bible, the Bible would be a book without a conclusion or ending. There would be no answer to the difficult problems which arise in the other books of the Bible. What a pity it is that God's children have the book of Revelation in their Bible but do not have it in their hearts! They do not read it and are totally ignorant of it. This is why so many people are spiritually weak.
Revelation is a book that fulfills all of the promises and prophecies. It is a continuation of the Law, the Prophets, the Psalms, the Gospels, and the Epistles, being a completion of all the types and teachings therein. It is the final message given by the Lord Jesus to His church, unfolding the relationship between Himself and His church, His Israel, and His enemies. It is a book on warfare — warfare between Christ and Antichrist and warfare between God and Satan. This book reveals how the saints are in one accord with the Lord and stand with Him to resist Satan and his army. This being the case in the future, how much more true should it be today. May the Lord grant us grace so that we would take a fighting attitude toward the devil on earth today, and that in life, in conduct, and in reality we would resist him. May the Lord intensify our hatred towards Satan.
Revelation is the most appropriate book to be placed at the end of the New Testament, that is, at the end of the Bible. When we read the Gospels, we are reminded of the future kingdom of God and its glory. When we read the Epistles, our hearts long even more earnestly for the future. The whole Bible seems to point to one future. This directs our hearts toward that end. Revelation concludes all the prophecies. It sets before us the schedule of coming events so that we may know that the day will come when there will be no more groaning of the creation and no more sufferings for the believers. How comforting this will be! Even what the saints experience in this age is now causing them to look forward to the coming of that day. How numerous are the iniquities! How widespread is the violence! The waves are higher, the fire is stronger, and the world worsens day by day! How much the saints look forward to the triumph of righteousness and truth! Revelation speaks forth God's future judgment on sin and unveils the final victory of the lovers of the Lord. See how great the Lord's love is! He gives this book to us for our satisfaction and comfort. He always cares for us!
The Lord Jesus is the center of God's Word (cf. Luke 24:27 and John 5:39). As such, He is the wonderful key to God's Word. The entire Bible directly or indirectly speaks of Him. Everything the Bible says points to Him and revolves around Him. Apart from Him, no one can understand the Bible. "In the roll of the book it is written concerning Me" (Heb. 10:7). Martin Luther once said: "There is only one book — the Bible, and one Person — Jesus Christ in the world." He is both the outline and the detail of the Bible. If we read Revelation with a heart after Christ, we will see His face and hear His voice in every page. The book of Revelation is not an exception. Here, as in the entire holy book, the person of Christ is the leading figure, and the glory of Christ is the subject. If we cannot see Christ in Revelation, whatever we see is in vain. To be drawn to this book is to be drawn to Christ. How good and beautiful this is! May we have much grace to see more of Christ in every page of this book. What a shame that Bible expositors and readers only care for the judgments, signs, mysteries, and outcomes in this book but have forgotten Christ, our dear Lord. May the Lord cause us to seek and magnify Him with a single heart so that we can learn more to love Him and to be obedient to Him.
Revelation is a record of the person and the work of the Lord Jesus. In the first chapter there are many titles describing His person — His Godhead. It speaks of His life on earth as "the faithful Witness" (Rev. 1:5). It also speaks of His substitutionary death on the cross: "released us from our sins by His blood" (1:5); "I became dead" (1:18); "the Lamb was slain" (5:6); "worthy is the Lamb who has been slain" (5:12). This book mentions Him as the Lamb twenty-eight times, and every time it reminds us that He died for us because of our sins. How much He loves us (1:5)! This book also records His resurrection; He is "the Firstborn of the dead" (1:5). He is "the living One; and I became dead, and behold, I am living forever and ever" (1:18). He is "the First and the Last, who became dead and lived again" (2:8). Because He died and resurrected, God the Father gave Him far more surpassing glory. "He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, and that the death of a cross. Therefore also God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should openly confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:8-11). We see these verses fulfilled in Revelation. In His glory, He receives the praises of the blessed ones, the lauding of the heavenly hosts, and the worship of the creatures. All the hearts of those who love the Lord should exult, because we delight in seeing our Lord receiving glory and honor. The major part of this book speaks of His judgment. "For neither does the Father judge anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son" (John 5:22). Who can stand the wrath of the Lamb? Everything that our Lord has done is proper. Whether He sends grace or wrath, both are full of His goodness and beauty. They stir up our hearts to admire Him unceasingly. How lowly He was in the past! How He was insulted and despised by men! But now how majestic and glorious He is! May the Lord open our eyes to see His venerableness in those horrible judgments! After chapter nineteen we see Him joining with His Bride, defeating His opposers, and the overcoming saints reigning with Him for a thousand years. In the new heaven and new earth we see Him caring for His people. The Lord Jesus is truly the unique, great subject in Revelation. If God's Word is centered on Christ, how much more our speaking should be centered on Him. If God commits all things to Him, how much more should we commit all our walk to Him.
Besides the person and the glory of Christ, this book also emphasizes the church and the kingdom. However, it does not speak merely of the church and the kingdom, but it speaks of how the church and the kingdom relate to the Lord Jesus. The world, in this book, is under judgment. Hence, there is nothing else recorded concerning the worldly kingdom except that it is judged. As for the church on earth, it does not speak about her particular rights but about her responsibilities. Yet, concerning the glory of the heavenly church and the kingdom, what the Old Testament never mentions is all revealed here.
In this book God is the eternal Judge. Christ is the Executor. He executes judgment, which begins from the house of God and extends to the world. The Holy Spirit is not merely the "one Spirit" as He is in the other books, but the "seven Spirits" according to His operation in God's administration.
The title "Revelation" was translated formerly in Chinese by some as "The Book of Hidden Instructions." Actually, this is not a book of "hidden instructions" but a book of revelation. If this were a book of "hidden instructions," then we surely would have no hope of understanding it. However, since it is a book of revelation, we can pray for the instruction of God's Spirit in understanding the doctrines in this book. "Revelation" means an "unveiling." In this book, the Holy Spirit unveils the glory and the person of the Lord Jesus. Again, may He open our eyes even more to see the precious teachings in it.
Genesis, the first book of the Bible, tells about Satan being cursed by God. Revelation, the last book of the Bible, covers how Satan will be defeated in the future and how God will execute judgment upon him. The true face of Satan and his eternal destination are recorded in these two books. For this reason, Satan particularly hates these two books. He attacks the book of Genesis, saying that it does not agree with science and that the story of creation is only a myth. On the surface what he attacks is the record of creation, but in so doing he subtly hides his cursed background. With the book of Revelation, which prophesies his destiny, he resorts to a different way. He does not openly attack the book of Revelation, but he changes it to a book of "hidden instructions." He convinces the believers that this book is very difficult, profound, and hard to understand, and that even if one studies and researches it, it would just be a waste of time. For this reason, many believers read some of the other books in the Bible but do not dare to touch the book of Revelation! In this way, Satan easily covers up his coming humiliation!
We know that the book of Revelation was despised by early Christians. Not only did they despise it; they rejected it totally. We can find this out from the study of history. Today in the twentieth century, although there are a few — a very few — Christians who are willing to read this book, the majority of believers demonstrate a cold attitude toward it. Many would place it on a high shelf. The probable reason some people do not read it is that they do not even read the other books in the Bible. Naturally they would also abandon Revelation. There are others who, having no trust in the Holy Spirit, have no patience to read it. They often say, "This book is too profound and too mysterious. I cannot understand it."
In fact, there are many strong reasons why the book of Revelation is not welcomed and is even considered a stumbling block by men. In brief, besides the frustration of Satan, the contents of this book hardly leave a pleasant impression upon the worldly believers. It is concerned with the glory of the millennial kingdom and the happiness of the eternal kingdom (20:1-9; 21:1—22:5). There is glory and real joy. But those who want to enjoy this glory and joy must be "faithful unto death," "hold fast until I [the Lord] come," be "watchful," "repent," and be "zealous." Those who would gain the future world must renounce the present world. If they suffer today, they will have glory in the future. On the contrary, those who have the glory of the world now will be put to shame in the future. Many worldly believers cannot part with this world because they have been attached to it for too long. When suddenly faced with the prospect of bidding it farewell, they have difficulty cutting off the affection for it in their hearts. The more they read Revelation, the more bothered they become. Therefore, they give up reading it.
In addition, this book mostly speaks about God's wrath and judgment (chs. 4—19). Man prefers to hear about God's kindness and love. In their imagination God is One who never gets angry or judges people. Yet, this book tells about God's righteousness. His wrath and judgment are not welcomed by men. Why would they read this book if they do not welcome it in their heart?
The whole book of Revelation, from beginning to end, talks about supernatural things. God does not want men to be concerned solely with things in the natural realm. God wants us to see Him face to face; He wants to deal with us in the supernatural realm. Men can tolerate supernatural stories about the past because past events and past circumstances do not have any effect on them today. But if these supernatural things will still occur in the future, would it not deal a great blow to their materialistic mind and their disbelief in signs and wonders! Moreover, if many of these things are to really happen in the future, how much should men pass their days in godliness and in glorifying God. It is a pity that many people, because they cannot tolerate the simple and direct teachings of Revelation, decide to spiritualize this book instead. They consider this book to be an allegory that does not really have historical value for the future! Alas! How the flesh is put to shame before God's two-edged sword! Truly the heart is deceitful above all things.
Many people think that the world is getting better day by day and that all civilizations are improving. They think that the world is advancing and making progress and that there is no evidence of its degradation. To them, if the world continues to improve at the present rate, the ideal society of Christ will arrive on earth soon. What a striking contrast between Revelation and the thought of man! Revelation never considers for a moment that the world is progressing. Its testimony is that the sins of the world are increasing, that men have rejected God and His salvation to an incurable degree. God has no other way but to judge them. Even when God uses severe judgment on them, they still will not repent! This applies not only to the world but to the church also. Because the church left her first love, she was eventually vomited out by the Lord. Man's thought today is completely different from the Word of God! Revelation is a testimony for God. It does not seek to go along with men. For this reason, it is not welcomed by men. It is pitiful that many people have lost the spirit and the testimony, as found in Revelation, which witnesses to the sin of the world.
That the real church ought to arrive at a certain standard is yet another reason that people do not like Revelation. The required standard of the church, described in chapters two and three, is really embarrassing to the believers who love the world. Today, men pay great attention to work. The top Christian is one having a great deal of outward activity. Revelation tells us, however, that all the works are in vain if one leaves his first love. The person who is truly for the Lord must be faithful unto death and must be watchful. The worldly believers, of course, find this unbearable.
The idea men have today is that all the people in the whole world will be saved eventually. Revelation opposes this. It prophesies that countless people will perish in the lake of fire forever. How can those who consider themselves kinder than God face this? People think the punishment of the sinner is just temporary and that eventually it will all go away. Revelation opposes this. It prophesies that men will suffer in the lake of fire eternally and that there will not be a day of rest for them. This book is a record filled with disasters, calamities, curses, troubles, and warnings. No wonder it is not accepted by man! In conclusion, Revelation opposes every one of man's opinions. That is why up until now there are still very few men who study this book.
But with what a different attitude the saints who love the Lord treat this book! They receive supply from it when they are in want, support when they are discouraged, comfort when they are sad, assistance when they are weak. This book wipes away their tears, increases their faith, and revives their will. How the saints who are willing to suffer for the Lord love to read this book! They become poor and lonely for the sake of the Lord and walk on this narrow path of the cross. Although this is a suffering according to man's view, they find comfort in this book. Truly, believers have much hope in this book! Would not the coming of the Lord Jesus give happiness to those who love to see His appearing? Although they suffer on the earth, is it not better than anything when they are raptured to the heavens? Would not the New Jerusalem, the city of gold, create in them an avid desire? Though they give up much, would they not receive much more when they become co-kings with the Lord? The suffering they have now is temporary and light. Will not the coming glory in the millennial kingdom and the eternal kingdom be the highest and the most matchless? Revelation is truly a blessing to the Christians!
To understand Revelation one must read it. One will not understand it if he does not read it. What a meaningless, senseless thing it is to try to understand it without reading it. Nevertheless, this is what many Christians do! If one of them is asked, "Why don't you read Revelation?" — the answer is: "Because I don't understand it." How absurd! Does one understand it first and then read it? May the Lord give us more patience to read His Word and not give up the Word of God because of difficulties we may encounter, thus causing us to miss much blessing. Whoever reads Revelation should not use his own mental capacities. You must be prayerful, humble, and willing to receive the enlightening of the Holy Spirit. When the light of the Holy Spirit comes, you will instantaneously realize things that you could not have understood for years. However, those who read Revelation must have a pure motive. They should not try to read it out of a curious desire to know the future. You should read it because you want to understand more about God's Word, to obey God's will, and to receive from His Word what He intends to give us. If you want to understand Revelation only to satisfy your curiosity, God will not bless your reading and it will not benefit your spiritual life at all. As I see it, for you to understand Revelation, the first thing you must do is to read it thoroughly. Begin reading one chapter after another. Read until you can describe, after closing the book, what is in each chapter. Then read the verses in detail. Memorize the verses that you think are important. You should use all sorts of methods to study the book until you are thoroughly familiar with it, forward and backward, up and down. Once a person becomes thoroughly familiar with the content of Revelation, the Holy Spirit will be able to instruct him through his familiarity. When one studies this book thoroughly, the natural divisions will surely become apparent to him. He will know exactly how the book is structured, which parts constitute the main narration and which parts are parenthetical. He should connect the various parts of the main narrative in chronological order and should pay attention to the relationships between the parentheses and the main narrative. If one reads each verse carefully, he will see what things this book has explicitly explained and what things it only gives a hint of. Those things that are explained clearly will, of course, present no problems. For those things not fully explained, one will need to take notes so that he can compare them to the other parts of the Bible. As the conclusion of the whole Bible, Revelation gathers all the incomplete parts of the preceding books and concludes them. This being the case, one should examine all the previous books of the Bible to find out the connection between them and the book of Revelation. When we expound the Bible with the Bible in this way, we will have an accurate explanation and understanding of it. Our study of the Bible, however, must not be just for the gaining of knowledge but for the nourishment of our spiritual life. Therefore, in all those portions that we understand, we should seek the leading of the Holy Spirit to open up the spiritual significance of these passages to us so that we may receive the help.
It is a great and crucial matter to know when the book of Revelation was written. Some theoretical teachers believe Revelation was written a long time ago, around the time of Nero's reign. They set this as the time to support their idea. In their opinion, the solemn declarations in Revelation were completely fulfilled by the time of the burning of Rome. They think that Revelation did nothing more than to prophesy about the ancient Christians' persecutions, the fall of Jerusalem, and other events taking place at that time. They saw the prophecy of the beast or Antichrist as referring only to the cruelty of Emperor Nero and all his evil deeds. According to their interpretation, the whole book of Revelation revealed the events taking place at the time of Nero and can therefore only be a book on fulfilled prophecy, which is of no spiritual benefit to us as Christians. It would thus become a particular book on Roman history or a history book of the ancient church. If this were the case, Revelation would be a meaningless book. Hence, we have to find out when Revelation was actually written so that we will have the ground to say whether or not their concept was right.
I myself believe that Revelation was written between A.D. 95 and 96, during the second half of the reign of Domitian, the last of the twelve Caesars. Most conservative contemporary Bible interpreters hold the same view as I do. I will now give you some evidence for your study.
The fact that Revelation was written during the time of Domitian can be seen from two kinds of evidence: external and internal. Let us discuss the external evidence first. Secular writers between the first and the third century admitted that it was near the end of the reign of Domitian when the apostle John was exiled to the island of Patmos and wrote Revelation. In other words, it was written around A.D. 95 to 96.
The apostle John had a disciple named Polycarp, who in turn had a disciple named Irenaeus. Irenaeus was, therefore, a disciple of John according to a direct lineage. Concerning the closing years of John's life, he must have known more than any others and what he made known should be more reliable. Mr. G. H. Pember said, "When he [Irenaeus] mentioned the name of Antichrist or Titus he specifically testified as follows: `Regarding this matter we dare not be so definite as to say that he must have this name without the risk of error. Because if his name is to be announced now the one who saw the revelation [John] would have mentioned it, for the revelation was seen not long ago, but almost in our own age, at the end of the reign of Domitian.'"
Tertullian, contemporary of Irenaeus, said, "Blessed is the church upon which the apostles poured out all the truth and their blood. There Peter suffered as his Lord did; there Paul and John [the Baptist] died in the same way and gained the crown; there the apostle John was plunged into a cauldron of boiling oil, and, unhurt by this, was banished to an island." These few words tell us two facts: (1) John had been exiled, and (2) the place to which he was exiled was an island. After Tertullian mentioned the persecution of Nero, he said, "Domitian, too, a man of Nero's type in cruelty, tried his hand at persecution; but as he had something of the human in him, he soon put an end to what he had begun, even restoring again those whom he had banished." Domitian's method of persecuting Christians was by banishment; whereas Nero's method was by killing. This is what history tells us.
Clement of Alexandria thought that John returned from his exile after Domitian's death, which was in A.D. 96. In his book, Eusebius mentioned three times that John's exile was during the reign of Domitian, and he believed that it was in the fourteenth year of Domitian's reign, which was A.D. 95, when John received the Revelation.
Victorinus was martyred in A.D. 303. His commentary on the book of Revelation is one of the oldest books of its kind in existence. He expounded on Revelation 10:11 — "You must prophesy again over many peoples and nations and tongues and kings" — in this way: "John spoke in such a way, because he was on the island of Patmos and saw this vision; that is, he was exiled there by Caesar Domitian to do hard labor in the mines. It was there he received the revelation. Since he was already in his old age he wanted to be with the Lord and be delivered from his tribulation in peace. Because Domitian was killed, all his ordinances were abolished. Therefore, after John was released from the mines, he announced the revelation he had received from the Lord." In his book, he explained that the sixth of the eight kings in chapter seventeen was Domitian, so the book of Revelation must have been written during the reign of Domitian.
Jerome testified in the fourth century that "the time when John wrote Revelation was during his stay on the island of Patmos, which was the fourteenth year of the reign of the Emperor Domitian (A.D. 95). Domitian was the second emperor that persecuted Christians; Nero was the first one."
It was not until the second half of the fourth century that Epiphanius appeared to express a different view. He said that John returned when he was ninety years old; that was during the reign of Claudius. Claudius was supposedly killed by someone in A.D. 54. If John was ninety years old in A.D. 54, then he would have been approximately thirty-three years older than our Lord. Because our Lord was already thirty years old in A.D. 27, He would have been fifty-seven years old (if He were alive on earth) in A.D. 54. If John was ninety years old at this time, then would he not have been thirty-three years older than our Lord? If this were true, and because the Bible records that our Lord was already thirty years old when He began to call the disciples, then when John became one of the disciples, he would have been already in his sixties! Every student of the Bible knows that he could not have been that old. Therefore, the theory in favor of Claudius' time is illogical. Mr. Pember said, "Epiphanius was one of the most careless and least accurate ancient writers."
From all these external evidences, we have sufficient proof that Revelation was written at the time of Domitian. Other than the above cases, we still have countless examples of ancient authors who agreed that it was written at this time.
While the external evidence is quite strong, the internal evidence is not weak either. What I mean by internal evidence is the testimony in the Word. In other words, the book of Revelation itself proves that it was written at the time of Domitian.
If we say Revelation was written at the time of Nero, it would have happened only five or six years after the time of Paul. The seven letters in Revelation 2 and 3 indicate the actual circumstances of the churches at the time Revelation was written. Those circumstances had to be the circumstances of the churches at least twenty or thirty years after Paul, rather than five or six years after him. Hence, the concept which favors the writing to be at the time of Nero must be incorrect. Revelation 2:14 says that "you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam." What this verse says was established during the time of Domitian. Before this time, there was no fact to match chapter two verse 14.
John said, "I John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and endurance in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus" (1:9). This verse is especially related to the circumstances of the churches, because at that time there was in the church in Pergamos a martyr named Antipas. The believers in Smyrna were going through a big test of their faith. They were tested perhaps even unto death. The situation described in 2:10 shows that there was persecution in Asia. This could not have been Nero's persecution; it must be Domitian's, since the method of Nero's persecution was by killing, while that of Domitian was mostly by banishment. Furthermore, Nero's persecution took place only around the city of Rome; Domitian's persecution reached throughout Asia.
Although Jezebel did have a great deal of power in Thyatira before, the record of 2:20-21 shows that by the time Revelation was written, the Lord had already given her the opportunity to repent.
From these two evidences, the external and the internal, we can prove that Revelation must not have been written during the reign of Nero. Rather, it must have been written during the reign of Domitian. This was A.D. 95 or 96.
Since Revelation is a book of prophecy (1:3), some idealists try to place the time of writing at Nero's reign for the purpose of showing that all the prophecies were fulfilled in the person of Nero and in the circumstances encountered by the Christians at that time. However, we know this book was written after the time of Nero, and since this is a book of prophecy, their theory consequently fell through. Up until today, this book is still a book of prophecy. It is neither a history in allegories nor a book of fulfilled prophecies.
We have already proved that this book was written at the time of Domitian. Therefore, the whole strategy of the idealists, whose plan was to take away this fearful book, which is one of the sharpest swords of the Holy Spirit, has failed.
The interpretation of Revelation has always been a subject of debate among Bible interpreters. The interpreters of Revelation are divided into three main schools: (1) the preterists, (2) the historicists, and (3) the futurists.
The preterist view: This view maintains that the words in the entire book have almost been fulfilled. A great part of the things said in the book was fulfilled in the past struggle between the church and Rome. The final result of that struggle was victory for the church. What this school said was too idealistic to be accepted by orthodox Bible interpreters.
The historicist view: This view regards the book as a book on church history, which shows how the evil power of the world fought against the church. During the Reformation, this interpretation was most prevailing. It had not died away even by the nineteenth century. Today, this view still exists. During the time of the rise of Napoleon, this view was recognized as the most acceptable interpretation. Many Protestant reformers thought the pope and the Roman church were the Antichrist and the beast. Luther also held the same view. At the same time, Bible interpreters of the Roman church considered the reformed church the Antichrist. They further said that the number 666 refers to Martin Luther, because they discovered this number in his name! At the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth century, many of God's people thought Napoleon was the person who fulfilled the prophecy in Revelation 13. Based on their conjecture, they concluded that the numbers in the book refer to fixed dates when many prophecies would be fulfilled. They took the three and a half years and other numbers as referring to tribulations occurring in the history at their time.
The futurist view: This view considers the majority of the book as not having yet been fulfilled. The fulfillment will be in the future. From chapter four onward not even one word has been fulfilled. Chapters two and three are concerned with the church. The church age must be completed before there is the possibility of the fulfillment of the events in chapter four and onward. From chapter six to chapter nineteen are the events yet to take place in Daniel's seventieth week. The church age must end before there will be the start of Daniel's last week. This interpretation is the most satisfactory one and coincides the best with the prophecies given elsewhere in the Bible. We are not arguing about opinions. May God keep us away from this. What we want is His truth. May His Spirit guide us into all the truth that we may clearly understand the Word of God.
As to the interpretation of the book of Revelation, those of these three schools were bound to have many debates. Our intention, mentioned previously, is to apprehend what God wants us to know. It is not to argue about the view of these schools. Therefore, I do not want to spend much time reasoning here. Although men welcome this, it will not edify them. However, I can say a few words here: the preterist view is, in general, the view of the idealists. None of the church fathers in the first few centuries held this view. The preterists limited John's view, considering his writing to be an allegory of what he had witnessed of the persecution of the Christians by the Romans, and that he was prophesying the fall of Rome. The historicists negate the Bible's serious warning to the people in the end time, so that men become ignorant of the wrath of God. However, we should see clearly what the Bible teaches us.
In 1 Corinthians 10:32 Paul divided men into three categories: Jews, Gentiles, and the church of God. In the Old Testament, there was no church. It is in the New Testament that the Lord established the church. Since the book of Revelation is not only the last book of the Bible but also the conclusion of the entire holy book, we can surely see how each of these three categories will consummate. This is most logical. The preterists thought Revelation talked about the past and how the church struggled. The historicists thought it talked of the church's experience after the passing away of John. These two schools concern themselves only with the church and ignore the Jews and the Gentiles. Their explanation is unavoidably biased; it makes God's revelation in the Bible incomplete. If what they said was right, we will not know the fate or destiny of the Jews and the Gentiles. In this book we see the journey experienced by the church in the world and the glory she will receive in the future; how the remnant of the Jews are protected by the Lord, how they will go through the great tribulation, and receive the promised blessing which God promised through the prophecies; and how some Gentiles disbelieve, sin, and receive punishment, and how some of them turn to the Lord and receive their joy.
I have no desire to argue about who is right or who is wrong. However, there must be a true interpretation which matches all the prophecies of the Old and New Testament and which will benefit our spiritual life. Where can we get this true interpretation? My answer is that it is in this book. The record of Revelation is most reliable. We do not need to waste time to study the interpretations and concepts of the different schools. Do not pay attention to the terms "preterist," "historicist," and "futurist." The best way is to study the Bible directly. I believe that in the book of Revelation our Lord Jesus Christ has already given us an excellent key to the interpretation.
Every book of the Bible has a key verse. This key verse can be used to unlock the meaning of the book. We hope to find such a key verse from the book of Revelation that we might see the structure of this book. Where is such a verse? We can see how the Lord Jesus commanded John to write the book of Revelation and how John obeyed the command. Hopefully, from this we can understand the content of the book. The Lord Jesus commanded John, saying, "Write therefore the things which you have seen and the things which are and the things which are about to take place after these things" (Rev. 1:19). John was charged to write three things: first, the things that he had seen; second, the things of the present; third, the things which are going to take place. When John wrote Revelation, he wrote these three things according to what the Lord had commanded. At the time of the Lord's command, John had already seen a vision. The Lord commanded him firstly to write down that vision which he had seen. Then the Lord commanded him to write "the things which are," and after these "things which are," the "things which are about to take place." Thus, this verse of the Bible includes the things of the past, the present, and the future.
From this verse we can see that Revelation must be divided into three main sections. But how do we divide the twenty-two chapters of Revelation into three sections? Before we talk about the first and second sections, let us first look at the third section. In chapter four there is a verse clearly proving the third section begins from chapter four. John said, "After these things I saw, and behold, a door opened in heaven, and the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, Come up here, and I will show you the things that must take place after these things" (Rev. 4:1). "After these things" refers to the things transpiring after the first three chapters. Revelation 1:19 shows that the third section of Revelation is concerning "the things that must take place after these things." What John saw from chapter four and onward are "the things that must take place after these things." Therefore, the third section of Revelation begins with chapter four. (Since the book has only three sections, the third section consists of chapters four through twenty-two.) So, beginning with chapter four, the whole book is concerned with the things that must take place after these things. Since the third section starts at chapter four, the first and second sections must be in the first three chapters.
Revelation 1 is composed of the things that John saw. In verse 11 John was told to write down in a book what he was about to see. In verse 19 he was asked again to write down the things he had seen. In between verses 11 and 19 he saw the vision. This vision is what he had seen. Thus, the first section of Revelation is the first chapter. Since the whole book is divided into three sections, and since the first section is in chapter one and the third section is from chapter four to the end, the second section must consist of chapters two and three. The second and third chapters of Revelation are "the things which are," consisting of the things concerning the churches. Since John belonged to the church age, the things pertaining to the church are called "the things which are." Chapters two and three are the prophetic history of the church from the beginning to the end. Beginning from the church in Ephesus who had left her first love (2:4), to the church in Laodicea whom the Lord had spewed out of His mouth (3:16), the whole history of the church is manifested through these seven churches. "The things that must take place after these things" are "after these things" (the things in chapters one through three). Since the book has only three sections, the third section is from chapter four to twenty-two. Therefore, everything that happens from chapter four on must wait until the completion of the church history before it can be fulfilled. Although we are now very close to the end, the church still exists. Her time is still not complete. So, from chapter four through chapter twenty-two, which are the things of the third section of Revelation, not even one word has been fulfilled yet. It is not possible for "the things which are about to take place" (the things beginning from chapter four) to be fulfilled before "the things which are" (the church) has passed. This is the teaching of the Bible. Revelation 1:19 is really the key to open up the mystery of this book. We have, therefore, found the real explanation through this verse.
Although Christ is the subject of Revelation, this book records the things that will occur at the end of this age. All the things that happen in this book focus on the bringing in of God's covenanted kingdom. Hence, it is a book of prophecy. The beginning and the end of this book show its prophetic characteristic (1:3; 22:7, 18-19). The message of this book is a prediction of the future. It speaks forth many future things through many visions.
Beginners always get confused by the symbols in this book; they are lost in a fog that is "five miles thick." They think that the book contains too many symbols which are difficult to understand. Actually, this book is not as difficult as they think. Even though this book has many symbols, many of them have been interpreted. Thus, readers should not be confused and lost. Rather, they should rely on the strength of the Lord and be patient and diligent to study the Word of the Lord. If we need patience to seek the knowledge of the world, how much more is it needed for spiritual knowledge! At least fourteen of the symbols have been interpreted, and the others, which are not interpreted, do not exceed this number.
(1) The lampstand signifies the church (1:20).(2) The stars signify the messengers of the churches (1:20).(3) The lamps of fire signify the Holy Spirit (4:5).(4) The horns and eyes signify the Holy Spirit (5:6).(5) The incense signifies the prayers of the saints (8:3-4).(6) The dragon signifies Satan (12:9).(7) The frogs signify the unclean spirits (16:13).(8) The beast signifies a king (17:12).(9) The heads of the beast signify the mountains (17:9).(10) The horns of the beast signify the vassal kings (17:12).(11) The waters signify peoples (17:15).(12) The woman signifies the great city (17:18).(13) The fine linen signifies righteousness (19:8).(14) The bride, the Lamb's wife, signifies the city of God (21:9-10).
Therefore, we must not consider this book to be merely "a book of symbols." Though it has more than thirty symbols, half of them have been interpreted. Since the whole book has only twenty-two chapters, it averages out to no more than one symbol per chapter. How can we say that this is "a book of symbols"? There are two kinds of prophecies in this book: direct and indirect. Because some think that Revelation is only on symbols, they end up with many passages that they do not understand. Although this book has many indirect symbols, they are not altogether left in the dark without explanations. The reader should not feel completely at a loss simply because of the many symbols. Rather, he should distinguish between the explained ones and the unexplained ones and find out their meanings.
Although the style of this book includes symbols, we should not spiritualize the book in its entirety. One thing to remember is that Revelation is an "open" book (Rev. 22:10). It is not like Daniel which is a "sealed" book (Dan. 12:4). Furthermore, this book is called Revelation; everything recorded is open revelation and is for man to know. Therefore, the entire book is a literal account based on facts. We can understand it by its literal meanings. Moreover, what was recorded at the end of this book are literal signs: resurrection, rapture, descension, etc. Therefore, what was recorded at the beginning of this book must be literal punishment because this is a book in which the end matches the beginning. Earlier we have said that Revelation is also a book of prophecy. It is said that the Old Testament contains one hundred nineteen prophecies concerning the Lord Jesus. How were all these prophecies fulfilled? They were fulfilled literally. For example, prophecies such as the virgin birth, the place of Bethlehem, the escape to Egypt, and the thirty pieces of silver were all fulfilled literally.
In this book, except for some symbols, God speaks in plain words. We admit that the book has spiritual meanings and lessons, but its facts are all explained literally. For example, after the seventh seal is opened, the seven angels will sound the trumpets. The hail, fire, blood, mountain, sea, stars, sun, moon, etc., in the seventh trumpet must be explained literally. Nevertheless, we can also derive much spiritual meaning and lessons from them. We must not consider only the spiritual significance of Revelation and disregard the fearfulness of the literal punishment. Here we see the wisdom of God. He conceals the spiritual significance inside the clear letters so that those who have been taught more by God can see deeper lessons apart from the letters of the word. At the same time, the ordinary believers may learn directly from the book the actual condition of the coming tribulation. The word of the Lord is revealed to infants (Matt. 11:25). If the word is as hard as most people say, how can the babes understand? We praise the Lord because, even though Revelation has some difficult passages, the babes in the Lord can still understand it, for many places can be taken literally, and all who can read can understand it. We further praise the Lord that although the word is simple enough for an ordinary believer to understand, at the same time the best minds in the world can find much material for their research. Our God is truly God!
The nature of Revelation is righteousness. From the beginning to the end it shows forth God's righteousness. It is not easy for us to find God's grace in this book. Even towards the church, the words are extremely strict. It is truly a book of judgment. In it we see the Lord's judgment upon the church, the Jews, and the Gentiles. This book reveals the Lord Jesus and speaks of His judgment. Because the nature of this book is different from the other books of the New Testament, most people consider it too hard. Actually, it is not hard to understand. The church had already failed, and the only recourse the Lord had was to judge her. Hence, the record in chapters two and three is the precursor of the Lord's judgment at His judgment seat (2 Cor. 5:10). Except for chapters four and five, which record the things in transition, what is recorded from chapters six through nineteen are events in the last week, that is, the seventieth week referred to in Daniel (see the subsequent section "The Seventy Weeks in Daniel"). The seventy weeks in Daniel are all in the age of the law. The age of grace is the interval between the sixty-ninth and seventieth week. Hence, when the age of grace comes to an end, the seventieth week begins, which will still be in the age of the law. Thus, the things mentioned in chapters six through nineteen are things within the age of the law. No wonder in nature it is so righteous!
Because Revelation is righteous and of the law, it carries much Jewish character. The church here is different from the church in Paul's Epistles. Even though Revelation was written in Greek, a number of Hebraic words and expressions were used, such as "Abaddon," etc. The titles of our Lord also bear much Jewish character, such as Jehovah God, etc. The Gospel of Matthew quotes scriptures from the Old Testament about ninety-two times. The book of Hebrews quotes about one hundred and two times. Revelation quotes approximately two hundred and eighty-five times. This substantiates the fact that God will go back to the realm of the Old Testament to deal with the Jews and the Gentiles. Salvation is of the Jews. The saints of the Lord should learn how to love the Jewish people and not to show displeasure toward them. We should love them as the Lord's chosen people.
We have seen that Revelation is a book on righteousness. If we want to understand the function of its righteous nature, we must differentiate between salvation and reward. The Bible as the Word of God has made a clear distinction between these two things; they are never mixed together. What God has separated, no man can put together by force. Let us now consider their distinctions a little:
Salvation is free; it is not obtained through man's work. It is God who has graced us. We are not saved through any merit of our own. We can look at a few verses from the Bible:
"Ho! Everyone who thirsts [the sinners], / Come to the waters [God's salvation], / And you who have no money [merits, righteous acts, etc.]; / Come, buy and eat [every sinner can believe and be saved]; / Yes, come, buy wine and milk [the joy of salvation] / Without money and without price [without righteous acts and without goodness in oneself]" (Isa. 55:1).
"The gift of God" (John 4:10).
"But the gift of God is eternal life" (Rom. 6:23).
"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works that no one should boast" (Eph. 2:8-9).
"Not out of works in righteousness which we did but according to His mercy He saved us" (Titus 3:5).
"Let him who wills take the water of life freely" (Rev. 22:17).
We should pay attention to the above verses. These verses, and many others which we have not quoted, prove that our salvation is free. It does not come about through our work or our righteous acts. We are saved through the grace of God. All there is for us to do is to believe in God's gift of grace, that is, in God's free gift. We must be very clear about this. The work of salvation is completely accomplished for us by the Lord Jesus. He died on the cross to accomplish our salvation. If we want to be saved and have eternal life now, we do not need to have any more work or to accumulate any merit. All that is needed is for us to believe and to receive. None of our good deeds are acceptable before God. In the whole New Testament, there are over one hundred fifty times where it says that we receive salvation by believing or that we receive eternal life by believing. God never lies to us. He says, "Believe, believe, believe." When we believe, we are saved, have eternal life, and are justified. This is free. "God gave to us eternal life and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life" (1 John 5:11-12). According to the Word of God, everyone who receives the Lord Jesus as Savior by faith has eternal life. Truly, "He who believes into the Son has eternal life" (John 3:36). The minute we believe, we have it!
But reward is different. It is different from gift. Reward is not given for free. It is obtained through good works. Reward is given according to the saints' work. We can look at the following verses:
"My reward is with Me to render to each one as his work is" (Rev. 22:12). This is a word to the church (see v. 16).
"Each will receive his own reward according to his own labor" (1 Cor. 3:8).
"Whatever you do, work from the soul as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as recompense....For he who does unrighteously will receive what he unrighteously did" (Col. 3:23-25).
"Now to the one who works, his wages are not accounted according to grace, but according to what is due" (Rom. 4:4).
We can quote many other verses, but these few are sufficient to prove to us that reward does not come freely. According to the teaching of the Bible, we can see that reward is awarded according to the good works of the believers. Whether it be as small as a cup of cold water (Matt. 10:42), or as hidden as a counsel of the heart (1 Cor. 4:5), or a humble service (Mark 10:43), or a suffering for the Lord (Luke 6:22), all these are opportunities for reward.
Hence, according to the Bible, what is set before man is two goals. While we were sinners, our goal was to be saved. After we are saved and have become believers, our goal is to receive the reward. Salvation is prepared for the sinners. Reward is prepared for the believers. A man should first receive salvation and then seek after the reward. The perishing ones need salvation. The saved ones need the reward. After reading 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 and Philippians 3:12-14, we see that some believers will not receive the reward. In those two passages, Paul was speaking of the question of reward rather than of salvation. Paul knew very well that he was saved. In his Epistles, he often expressed that he was a saved person, but in these two passages, he showed us what he was pursuing after he was saved. He was pursuing after the reward. At that time, he could not say for sure yet that he would receive the reward. He was still seeking after it. A sinner should seek for salvation, while a believer should seek for reward.
Even though a sinner may be corrupt to the uttermost, as long as he is willing to accept, that is, believe in the Lord Jesus as the Savior, he will immediately be saved. After he is saved, as one who has been regenerated by God, he should develop the new life, work for the Lord, and serve Him faithfully so that he can receive the reward. Man is saved by the merit of Christ. Man is rewarded through his own achievement. Man is saved by faith. Man is rewarded by work. God is willing to save a sinner who has no merit, but God is not willing to reward a believer who has no achievement. Before a man believes in the Lord, if he will confess that he is a sinner, and will come to Jesus, and will trust that His death on the cross is a substitution for him, he will be saved. He will be guaranteed eternal blessings. Once he is saved, according to the Bible, he is placed in an arena where he must run. If he wins, he will receive a reward. If he loses, he will not receive a reward. However, he will not lose his eternal life, that is, his salvation, just because of his defeat. Salvation is eternal. Here we have the most balanced teaching and the most appropriate truth. Unfortunately, many only know about salvation. They think that they will be adequately satisfied if they can be saved. They have no further capacity to strive for the reward. It is sad that many have confused salvation with reward. As a result they consider salvation to be extremely difficult and obtainable only through one's self-mortification. However, this is not the teaching of the Bible. The Bible says that salvation is very simple. The Lord Jesus has accomplished all the works for us. But to receive the reward is not that simple. It is an achievement we should attain through our trust in the Lord.
Here I can use an illustration. Suppose a certain rich man is setting up a free school. All those who come to join the school will not be charged any fee. The expenses are born by the rich man himself. Among all the students in the school, those with outstanding results will be rewarded. Salvation is like enrollment in this free school. Everyone who is willing to come to the Lord Jesus will be saved by the Lord. All the price for salvation has been paid by the Lord. It is very easy to become a student in a free school; there is no effort to it. As long as one comes, he will be accepted. Likewise it is very easy to be saved; one does not need to do anything. All he needs to do is believe. But it is not easy for a student to receive a reward. He has to put in the effort. Likewise it is not easy for a believer to receive the reward; he must have many good works.
The readers should never think that to be saved is good enough, and that there is no need to seek after any reward. We have to know that the Lord desires every genuine regenerated person to pursue after the reward. At the same time, it is spontaneous that a person would seek after the reward. This is not for one's self gain. To gain the reward is equivalent to gaining the Lord's heart, for those that the Lord rewards are the ones that are well-pleasing to Him. As sinners should seek for salvation, so believers should seek for reward. Just as salvation is crucial to a sinner, in the same way reward is crucial to a believer. The most important thing for a sinner is to be saved. The most important thing for a believer is to receive the reward. If a believer does not receive the reward, it does not merely mean that he has relinquished his rights. It means that he has not conducted a holy life, that he has not been faithful in his work, that he has achieved no performance in this world, and that he has not fully expressed the Lord Jesus Christ.
Recently, there have been two extreme teachings which have developed into two errors. Some think that to be saved is very difficult, that man has to do this and that before he can be saved. This annuls the merit of the Lord Jesus' substitution and redemption. This teaching puts all the responsibility on man and forgets the biblical teaching that salvation is by grace and justification is by faith. Some others think that everything is of grace. This is, of course, true, but they think that all those who believe in the Lord Jesus are not only saved but will also receive reward, glory, and kingship with the Lord Jesus in the future. They put all the responsibility on God and forget that the Bible also says that some will suffer loss, and that though they will be saved, they will be saved so as through fire (1 Cor. 3:15). We have the most balanced and sensible teaching. Before a person believes in the Lord, the Lord takes all the responsibility for him. After he believes in the Lord, he has to take up his own responsibilities. The work of salvation is fully accomplished by the Lord on our behalf. Once a man believes, he will receive. The matter of reward is fully accomplished by the believers themselves. It is not enough just to believe. A sinner cannot be saved by good works. A believer cannot be rewarded by his faith. Salvation is based on faith, while reward is only based on work. Without faith one cannot be saved. Without work one cannot be rewarded. If we read the New Testament carefully, we will see how clearly God separates the matters of salvation and reward. Salvation is for the sinners, while reward is for the believers. Both are God's commandments. A sinner should be saved, and a believer should obtain reward. Those who are reluctant to accept either of these commandments are bound to suffer great loss. We must never mix salvation with reward.
What is to be saved? We know that it is to receive eternal life and to be delivered from perdition. However, this does not determine our position in glory. The latter is determined by the reward. What is the reward? According to the Bible, we can see that the reward is to reign with the Lord Jesus in the millennial kingdom. Every believer has eternal life, but not every believer will be rewarded with the kingship with the Lord Jesus. The kingdom of the heavens mentioned in the book of Matthew refers to the heavenly part of the millennial kingdom [5:3, note 4]. There, believers will reign with the Lord Jesus. Every careful reader of the Bible should see the difference between eternal life and the kingdom of the heavens. The Lord permitting, we will discuss this more at a future date. To receive eternal life requires only faith, but to receive the kingdom of the heavens requires our striving. To be saved is to receive eternal life. To be rewarded is to enter the kingdom of the heavens. Brothers, let us press forward towards the mark! May God cause us to be willing to relinquish everything for His sake so that we can obtain His reward. Salvation is for now. It is obtained instantly because the Scripture says that he who believes in the Son has eternal life (John 3:36). To have is to obtain now. But reward is something for the future; we will be rewarded in the future. The Scripture says that not until the Lord comes will there be praise (1 Cor. 4:5). We will all be recompensed (2 Cor. 5:10). "Will" means something for the future. Salvation is for now, but reward is for the future. The two cannot be mixed. There is a great difference in principle between salvation and reward. Salvation shows God's grace because God does not recompense man according to his sins; when he believes in the Lord, he is saved. Reward shows God's righteousness because God recompenses according to the believers' good work; if they serve the Lord faithfully, they will be rewarded. We have to remember that God is not either gracious or righteous; He is both gracious and righteous. To save the sinner is an act of His grace. To reward the believer is an act of His righteousness. We have said that Revelation shows God's righteousness. Hence, to understand the distinction between salvation and reward is the necessary condition in understanding the book of Revelation. If one fails to understand the difference between salvation and reward, he will not be able to explain God's righteous way of dealing with the believers in Revelation.
God spoke the words of the eternal life through John. In the Gospels, He spoke of the way to receive eternal life. In the Epistles, He spoke of the expression of the eternal life. In Revelation, He spoke of the judgment for those who have received eternal life, that is, the saved ones. Hence, Revelation seldom touches the question of the believers' salvation; it touches the question of their reward. This book is on righteousness. Reward is God's act in righteousness. Hence, this book is concerning reward. This is why when we study chapters two and three, there is no mention of the matter of salvation. They cover the Christian life, work, and victory. This realization will help not only to explain chapters two and three but the doctrines in all the following chapters also.
After we have seen the difference between salvation and reward, we come to a related question, that is, judgment. Without judgment, how does one know who is saved and who is unsaved? Without judgment, how does one know who will receive the reward and who will not? There are four judgments in the Bible:
(1) The judgment of the Lord Jesus on the cross as a substitute for sinners;(2) The judgment of the saints before the judgment seat of Christ for works;(3) The judgment of the Gentiles on the earth (Matt. 25:31-46);(4) The judgment of the dead (Rev. 20:11-15).
Of these four judgments, one has transpired; three are yet to come. If anyone believes in the Lord Jesus as his Savior, the effectiveness of the judgment of the Lord Jesus on the cross for sin will come upon him. Thus the problem of his sin will be solved eternally. He will be saved, have eternal life, and be freed from the condemnation of sin. To have no condemnation (John 3:18; Rom. 8:1) in the original language means to be free from judgment. This means that whoever believes in the Lord Jesus as the Savior will be freed from the judgment of sin. This is because the Lord Jesus already became his substitute on the cross.
Although the saints are freed from the judgment of sin, the Bible says that the saints still will be judged (2 Cor. 5:10; Rom. 14:12; Matt. 25:14-30; 1 Cor. 3:11-15 etc.). What is this judgment? This judgment is not for salvation or perdition because that was solved on the cross already. According to 1 Corinthians 3:15, this judgment, whatever it entails, does not result in eternal perdition. What kind of judgment is this then? This is the judgment of the saints' conduct. The judgment of the cross terminates our living as a sinner. The judgment before the judgment seat of Christ terminates our living as a believer. The judgment before the judgment seat of Christ judges all our conduct since the time of our believing in the Lord Jesus. The sins that we have confessed will not be brought up again. Some people work for the Lord faithfully. They suffer afflictions, forsake all things, and do everything for the Lord and for no other purpose. They do not seek to please man. Rather they seek only to do the will of the Lord. Such people will receive a reward. They will be co-kings with the Lord Jesus and will receive unspeakable glory. How marvelous this will be! The Lord's heart will be overjoyed and we will receive the glory. Let us pursue after this. At times, some are defeated, but since they have once confessed their sins, the precious blood has already cleansed them. As they repent and seek again to follow the Lord in the narrow way of the cross, they will still receive a reward from the Lord. Some, though they have not sinned, have works like wood, hay, and stubble. They seek men's pleasure, strive for the outward things, and work with a double purpose. They will suffer loss and will be deprived of the reward. Some, though saved, still commit many sins after salvation. These sins are never confessed and repented of before the Lord. As a result, such a one will not only lose a reward but will receive punishment. Although his eternal salvation cannot be shaken, he will receive severe punishment and chastisement from the Lord. Revelation 1—3 shows us the attitude of the Lord Jesus Christ in judging the saints. The conditions in these three chapters are a precursor of the condition before Christ's judgment seat.
The judgment of the Gentiles will depend on the way they treat the Jews during the great tribulation. The time will be at the end of the great tribulation and when the millennium will be about to begin. Revelation 16:12-16 and 19:11-21 speak of this judgment.
The judgment at the white throne is the fourth judgment.
Revelation talks about judgments. If we understand these four judgments we will understand the judgments in this book.
"All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Tim. 3:16). God uses a great deal of numbers in the Bible. To those who love the Word of God, the numbers are very meaningful. God has no intention for man to use the numbers for curious talk but to use them for His children's blessing. If God the Father sees fit to put numbers in the Bible, yet His children pay no attention to them, they will undoubtedly suffer loss in their spiritual life. Many people think that attaching meaning to the numbers in the Bible is simply a far-fetched interpretation. But to those who are godly and believing, nothing happens by accident; God's hand is behind everything. Since it pleases God to use many numbers in the Bible, we should not be foolish and ignore their significances. The book of Revelation uses numbers more than other books in the Bible. Before we can rightly interpret the book, we must understand the meaning of the numbers in the Bible.
The numbers from one to seven are the base of all numbers in the Bible. All other numbers depend on these seven for their meaning and explanation. Many realize that seven is the number of completion. Eight is not an independent number. Seven days make a week; eight is the number of the beginning of a new week. All numbers greater than seven are the multiples or the sum of these seven numbers. For example, ten is the product of two and five; twelve is the product of three and four; forty is the product of five, two, and four. Other numbers go by the same principle. Their meanings depend on the numbers up to seven and how they are multiplied and added. Now let us consider several numbers.
One is the number of God, as Deuteronomy 6:4 says, "The Lord our God is one Lord." First Timothy 2:5 also says, "For there is one God." One is the number that is independent and unique; it does not depend on a second person. This signifies the power of God. One is the number for sufficiency; there is no need for another. This signifies the riches of God. One is also the first of all numbers and is the number of the beginning. This signifies God's greatness, that He is the source of all creation and that He is the head of everything. God is unique. We can get much help by looking at the usage of one in the Bible. Exodus 12:2 says that the Passover is in the first month of the year. This denotes God's way of redemption. The redemption at Golgotha is the beginning of everything. On the first day of creation, light was created; this is God's great power. The first book of the Bible is Genesis which speaks of God's power and glory. Exodus 22:29 says that all the firstborn sons of the children of Israel should be given to Jehovah because they are sanctified unto Him. Exodus 23:19 says that the first of the firstfruits of the land shall be offered to the Lord because the Lord deserves our foremost service. It is pitiful that many of God's children still do not know that God is one nor do they consider Him as one. We should let Him have the first place in all things. Every word that is mentioned only once in the original text of the Bible is crucial and important. One also has the meaning of agreement. Genesis 41:25 says that the dream of Pharaoh is one. This denotes identity. One also has the meaning of peace, as in John 17:11, "They may be one." This signifies association. Putting all the aforementioned items together, we can see that one is the mother of all numbers. Hence, it is the number of God. All numbers originate from one, and God is the beginning of everything. One is the unit that unifies all the numbers; by God all things subsist in Himself. No number can surpass one and be before one, so one represents the absolute God in heaven. All the numbers also have their negative meanings. Although the number one primarily refers to God, when it refers to man, there may be some negative connotations. For example, it refers to man's loneliness and helplessness, or that he is a merciless autocrat, a stiff-necked person, or one unwilling to submit to and depend on others.
God is three-one and also one-three. In this three-oneness, the Son is the Second. Therefore, two is the number of the Lord Jesus. It also implies incompleteness and being short of consummation. The Lord is the second man from heaven. He has two natures — divinity and humanity. His work is also divided into two sections — suffering and glorification. When we read Leviticus, we see that when a man commits a sin, he should take two pigeons or two turtledoves before God. One is for a sin offering and the other is for a burnt offering. The sin offering is for sin; the burnt offering is for man. This also has two sides — God forgives sin and He accepts man. There are many other records of two pigeons and two turtledoves in Leviticus. They signify the Lord Jesus' salvation. Two is also the number for salvation. The Lord Jesus, the Second of the Godhead, is the Savior of mankind.
Two also means strengthening, support, and fellowship, as it is written in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12: "Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him."
Two is the number of testimony. When two different persons testify, their testimonies are true. Please read Deuteronomy 17:6 and 19:15; Matthew 18:16; 2 Corinthians 13:1; and 1 Timothy 5:19. God's testimony to man is incorporated in two Testaments — the Old and the New. The names of the disciples were recorded two by two (Matt. 10:2-4). When the disciples went out to testify, they went out in pairs. The tablets of the testimony of the law are of two pieces. In the great tribulation, there will be two witnesses (Rev. 11:3). The Second of the Godhead is the Word of God (Rev. 19:13), the faithful Witness (Rev. 1:5).
In addition, the number two means separation, antithesis, and variance. For example, the work on the second day of God's creation was to separate the waters from the waters (Gen 1:6). When the unclean beasts entered the ark, they went in two by two (Gen. 6:19-20). When a woman gave birth to a daughter, she was considered to be unclean for two weeks, twice as long as when she had borne a son (Lev. 12:5).
Two has still another meaning. Two is the number for reproduction. It is the first number after something is added to one. Therefore, two is not a complete number; it needs the addition of other numbers before it can be complete. The Father and the Son are not a complete God. They need the Holy Spirit to be added to Them to become three-one and to be the complete God. When a husband and wife become one flesh, in God's eyes, they are not yet complete. Only when they bear sons and daughters are they a complete family.
Three is the number of personal completion. Three is the number of God. It stands for the Triune God. Three is one plus one plus another one. When these three ones are added together, they make three. When they are multiplied together, they make one, in the same way that God is three yet one, one yet three. In geometry, two straight lines cannot form a shape. Therefore, as we have mentioned, two is not a complete number. At least three lines are needed to form a shape. Therefore, three is initial completeness, and it represents God. A complete man is composed of spirit, soul, and body. A complete family is composed of father, mother, and children. A complete faith is composed of knowledge, conduct, and experience.
Three is also the number of resurrection. The Lord Jesus resurrected on the third day. The dry land came out of water on the third day. Man's regeneration is through gospel preaching, which is not only with words but also in power and in the Holy Spirit. This is a triune work. Jonah came out from the belly of the fish on the third day. The restoration of the nation of Israel is also related to the number three (Hosea 6:1-2).
The number three is often related to God. For example, baptism is in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19). The apostle's blessing is also triune (2 Cor. 13:14). The Lord Jesus was tempted three times; He prayed three times in the garden of Gethsemane; Peter denied the Lord three times; the Lord asked Peter three times, "Do you love Me," and commanded him three times, "Feed My sheep." "There are three" (1 John 5:7-8) that bear witness for God's Son. The seraphim praise God three times saying, "Holy, holy, holy" (Isa. 6:3), and the four living creatures praise the Lord God three times saying, "Holy, holy, holy" (Rev. 4:8). The largest piece of furniture in the tabernacle was the altar, which had the capacity to hold all the vessels of the tabernacle. The altar represents the cross, satisfying God's righteousness. The altar is three cubits high, indicating that the righteousness of the cross has achieved God's standard. When God judged man's sin in Jesus Christ, there was darkness over the land for three hours. The Lord Jesus appears three times (Heb. 9:24-28): the first time He appeared for redemption (v. 26); the second time He appears at the right hand of God for intercession (v. 24); and the third time He will appear to His people who are waiting for Him for the redemption of their bodies (v. 28).
Four is the number of the world. God divided the world into four nations: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. The materials of the image (Dan. 2) which represent the earthly powers, are also of four kinds: gold, silver, brass, and iron. The earthly nations in God's eyes are like four great beasts (Dan. 7). Four as the number of the world is also evident by natural science. The earth has four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. The earth also has four directions: east, west, south, and north (Num. 2). The earth has four raw materials: soil, air, water, and fire. The earth has four winds (Rev. 7:1) and four quarters. The river going out of the garden of Eden, the paradise on earth, was parted into four heads (Gen. 2:10-14). There are four living creatures representing all the creatures on the earth (Rev. 4:6). The cherub is similar to the living creatures. Ezekiel saw that the cherub had four faces: lion, ox, man, and eagle, all of which are the creatures of the world. They also have four wings. Mankind is designated in four ways: peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues (Rev. 17:15). The hearts of men in the world are of four kinds as described in the Lord Jesus' parable of the sower. There are four kinds of soil; He said that the field is the world. The calamities that will judge and punish the world are divided into four types: wars, famines, pestilence, and earthquakes (Matt. 24:6-7). There are four Gospels that bear testimony for the Lord Jesus to the world, expressing the four aspects of the Lord Jesus. When mankind sinned to the uttermost, four soldiers divided the garments of the Lord Jesus (John 19:23). The altar built for those in the world is foursquare; it has four corners (Exo. 27:1). The fourth of the ten commandments refers to the earth (Exo. 21:8-11). The fourth clause of the Lord's prayer is concerned with the earth. What God created on the fourth day are the things of the world, the things "under the sun." The fourth book in the Bible, Numbers, is concerned with the experiences in the wilderness, which denotes the world. Four is derived from three, and three is the base of four. Three represents God. Therefore, four represents the creatures and how they depend on their Creator. Four is the first number that can be divided (four can be divided by two), thus it is a number of weakness. The creatures have nothing to boast of, for what they have is but weakness!
Five has several meanings. These several meanings are related to one another. Five is a number of incompleteness. It is also a number that indicates man's responsibility. There is responsibility because there is incompleteness. Five is four plus one. Four represents creatures in the world; one represents the only God. Five is the number of man before God. Based on this, five has two meanings: one is that God adds grace upon man; the other is that man bears responsibility before God. Man, having obtained God's grace, spontaneously ought to bear responsibility before God.
The imperfection of the number five can be seen from the following: the five fingers of man's hand and the five toes of man's foot only represent half of the hands and half of the feet. On the fifth day, God created the living creatures in the sea, but there was not yet life on the land. When the fifth seal is opened, how anxious the martyrs are, for they have not yet received the crown (Rev. 6:9-11). The wrath of the fifth bowl is poured on the seat of the beast, but the power of the beast has not yet been destroyed (Rev. 16:10-11). Of the virgins, five were wise and five were foolish (Matt. 25:2). Thus when the Lord Jesus Christ comes again, not all saved ones will be fully prepared. Five expresses man's receiving of grace and bearing of responsibility before God. The sanctification of Aaron and his sons (Lev. 8) and the cleansing of the leper (Lev. 14) both have very deep meaning. Blood is put on their right ear lobe, the thumb of their right hand, and the big toe of their right foot. These three, the ear, thumb, and toe, all relate to the number five. The ear is for one of the five senses, the thumb is one of the five fingers of the hand, and the big toe is one of the five toes of the foot. These three represent a complete man — he receives God's Word with his ears, does God's work with his hands, and walks in God's way with his feet. This shows that man is responsible before God. He has received grace and obtained the covering of the precious blood. After he is cleansed by the precious blood his whole being is responsible before God. He should walk worthy of the grace of His calling.
Four is basically very weak. Unless one is added to make it five, it cannot bear responsibility. This can be illustrated by a hand. Four fingers are nimble, but without the addition of the thumb the hand does not have enough strength to bear any responsibility. The Lord Jesus fed five thousand with five loaves (Matt. 14:17), a sign of the Lord's grace. David selected five smooth stones and gained the victory over Goliath (1 Sam. 17:40), another sign of man's responsibility. The fifth book of the Bible, Deuteronomy, tells how God bestowed grace and how man ought to be responsible. The fifth kingdom of the earth is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ (Dan. 2:35, 44; Rev. 11:15). How great is the responsibility of those who desire to enter into the kingdom and rule with the Lord Jesus! Matthew 5 — 7 reveals the requirements. Deuteronomy, the fifth book of the Bible, tells us what one should do after entering the promised good land which typifies the kingdom of the Lord Jesus.
The Feast of Pentecost is the fiftieth day after the Passover. It typifies the descension of the Holy Spirit and the Jews and Gentiles receiving grace and being joined as the church. (Please read Leviticus 23:15-21 — two loaves represent the church composed of the Jews and the Gentiles.) Man receives the Holy Spirit through grace. Those who offend Him will receive severe punishment! This speaks of responsibility. In Leviticus, the five offerings typify the Lord Jesus' unique sacrifice, but man here must also bear responsibility. There are five curtains in the tabernacle and there are five pillars. The number five is often used in the measurement of the tabernacle.
Six is the number of the devil and also the number of man. Because man sinned and listened to the devil's speaking, man is joined to the devil. The night is darkest just before the dawn. In like manner, six is the worst number because it comes before seven, the complete number. Six is two times three, signifying the exposure of sin. Six is divisible; therefore, it is also a number of weakness. Both man and the devil are weak in any case. The number six, regardless, is always less than seven; likewise, neither man nor the devil can in any way triumph over God. May we realize more that man himself is number six.
Man was created on the sixth day (Gen. 1:26-31). Man should work six days (Exo. 23:12). The Israelites could be slaves for only six years (Deut. 15:12). The land of Canaan could be sown for only six years (Lev. 25:3). There are only six thousand years in human history. Moses waited six days on the mountain before God appeared to him (Exo. 24:15-18). There were six ascending steps to Solomon's throne (1 Kings 10:19). The number of hours in a day is divisible by six. Athaliah reigned over the land for six years (2 Kings 11:3). In Genesis 4:16-24 the descendants of Cain were recorded only up to the sixth generation. The sixth letter to the churches mentions the sufferings of the people of the world. The sixth seal mentions the death of the people of the world. The sixth trumpet mentions that one third of the people will die. The sixth bowl mentions that the evil spirits will cause the people of the world to fight against Christ. One-sixth of Gog's army will be left (Ezek. 39:2); the whole army is six-sixths. The Lord Jesus took on the form of sin for man, which was typified in the Old Testament by six curtains made of goats' hair (Exo. 26:9). Christ became a man with the name Jesus. "Jesus," in the original language, is composed of six Greek letters. Six times men said that the Lord Jesus was possessed by the demons; fleshly people are always ready to attack our most holy Lord.
When men oppose God under the hand of Satan, their numbers are related to six. The first one was Goliath. He was six cubits tall; his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron (1 Sam. 17:4, 7). The second one was the image of gold set up by Nebuchadnezzar. Its height was sixty cubits and its breadth was six cubits (Dan. 3:1-3). The third one is the future Antichrist. His number is six hundred sixty-six (Rev. 13:18). There is one thing that can comfort our heart: no matter how poor man is, his number is only six. Our God's number is seven, so man can never catch up with God.
Seven is the number of completion. Seven is four plus three. Four stands for man. Three stands for God. When God and man are joined, there is completion. (Seven is a number of temporary rather than eternal completion. We will speak more about this when we come to the number twelve.) Therefore, seven often shows the intimate relationship between God and man, the close connection between the Creator and the creatures. There are many examples in the Bible showing that seven signifies completion. The first time seven is used in the Bible is when God rested on the seventh day, which He sanctified as a holy day (Gen. 2:1-3); it was a complete rest. Enoch was Adam's descendant of the seventh generation (Jude 14); it was a complete human life. After Noah went into the ark, God still reserved seven days for a period of grace (Gen. 7:4); it was a complete waiting period. Jacob served Laban seven years before he got Rachel; it was a complete service (Gen. 29:20). There were seven fat years and seven lean years in Egypt (Gen. 41:29-30); this was complete mercy and judgment. The golden lampstand in the holy place has seven branches (Exo. 25:37); this signifies complete union. Aaron and his sons were required to put on the holy garments for seven days (Exo. 29:30) and be sanctified for seven days (v. 35); this is complete sanctification. If a man sinned, the priest sprinkled the blood seven times for him before the veil of the sanctuary (Lev. 4:6); this is complete washing. Aaron and his sons abode at the tabernacle for seven days (Lev. 8:35); this is complete mutual abiding. On the day of atonement the blood was sprinkled seven times before the mercy seat (Lev. 16:14); this is complete redemption. During the feast of unleavened bread, an offering made by fire was offered unto the Lord for seven days (Lev. 23:8); this is complete consecration. At the feast of the tabernacle the Israelites dwelt in booths seven days (Lev. 23:42); this is complete glory. In the seventh year the children of Israel could not sow the land (Lev. 25:4); this is complete rest. When the Israelites attacked Jericho, seven priests blew seven trumpets and they surrounded the city for seven days and compassed the city seven times and the city collapsed (Josh. 6:4); this was complete obedience and complete victory. Solomon spent seven years to build the temple and then held a feast for seven days (1 Kings 6:38; 8:65); this was a complete work and a complete worship. Naaman dipped himself seven times in the Jordan (2 Kings 5:14); this was complete trust. Job had seven sons (Job 1:2); this was complete blessing. Job's friends sat with him in sorrow seven days and seven nights without saying a word (Job 2:13); this was complete sorrow. Later, they were told to take seven bullocks and seven rams and offer them up as the burnt offering (Job 42:8); this was complete repentance unto the Lord. When our Lord Jesus was on the cross, He spoke seven sentences; this was the expression of complete grace and mercy. Seven ministers were appointed over the business (Acts 6:3); this was complete labor. The Old Testament uses the seven feasts of the children of Israel to typify how God deals with man (temporarily) (Lev. 23). The New Testament uses seven parables to express the situation of the hidden age of the kingdom (Matt. 13). Revelation uses seven epistles to prophesy the condition of the churches in different ages (Rev. 2—3). These are all temporary; they will all pass away.
In Revelation, we can see many sevens. A brother once said that Revelation is a book of "sevens." It has seven visions; there are seven praises to the Lord God and the Lamb; before the throne of God there are seven Spirits; there are the seven golden lampstands, seven stars, seven lamps of fire; the Lamb has seven horns and seven eyes; there are seven seals, seven angels blowing seven trumpets, seven thunders; the beast has seven heads and seven crowns on the heads; there are seven bowls pouring out God's last seven plagues, and seven mountains standing for seven kings. The whole book uses the number seven fifty-six times. It speaks of how God deals with people in the last age. Hence, this number is the number of completion for this age, that is, a number of temporary completion.
Eight is the number of resurrection. The Lord Jesus was resurrected on the first of the seven days which is the eighth day. Noah was the eighth person (2 Pet. 2:5) — there were eight souls in his family (1 Pet. 3:20). They came out from the ark (death), and they multiplied over the new land which was once covered by the flood. God ordained Abraham to circumcise every manchild on the eighth day after birth (Gen. 17:11-14); circumcision means "putting off of the body of the flesh" (Col. 2:11). It is the same as saying we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:10). David was Jesse's eighth son (1 Sam. 16:10-11); he established a new nation of Israel. A man with leprosy was cleansed on the eighth day (Lev. 14:10, 23); this was to declare that he was a new man from that day on. A sheaf of the firstfruits was waved before the Lord on the eighth day, the day after the Sabbath (Lev. 23:11). Then fifty days later the feast of Pentecost was kept (v. 16), which signifies the coming of the Holy Spirit and the beginning of a new generation. The feast of tabernacles lasted seven days, and on the eighth day there was a holy convocation (v. 36). The feast of tabernacles typifies the millennial kingdom. Therefore, the holy convocation typifies God's new rest after the millennial kingdom. There were seven days for the cleansing of the priest until the eighth day when he entered his new duties (Lev. 9:1). The children of Israel resowed their land in the eighth year (Lev. 25:22). The eighth Psalm speaks of the Lord's kingdom (cf. Heb. 2:5-9). The Lord Jesus went up to the mountain and was transfigured on the eighth day (Luke 9:28). This typifies His power and His coming (2 Pet. 1:16-18). There are six letters in the word "Jesus" in the original language, and every letter in Greek has a numerical value; "Jesus" has a total numerical value of eight hundred eighty-eight. The disciples were gathered together on the first day of seven days, which is the eighth day, to break bread (Acts 20:7). This is a new meeting day. The disciples were instructed to give their offerings on the first day of seven days, which is the eighth day (1 Cor. 16:1-2). This is not the practice of the Old Testament. The eighth head of the beast came out of the resurrection of the seventh (Rev. 17:11). The original evil spirit takes with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, which is eight all together, and they enter into the heart of one who does not receive the Lord Jesus (Matt. 12:43, 45). In Daniel, the fourth beast had ten horns of which three fell and seven were left; then a little one came out, which was the eighth horn, and it renewed the blasphemy against God (Dan. 7).
Ten is the number of earthly completion; it is two times five, indicating man's complete responsibility before God. A complete man has ten fingers and ten toes and can work and walk. When man rebelled, God used ten plagues to punish the Egyptians. When the power of the Gentiles rises to its peak, there will be ten nations. The Bible uses ten toes and ten horns to typify them (Dan. 2; 7:7; Rev. 17:12). There are the ten commandments for Israel to bear responsibility before God. Ephraim, which stands for the ten tribes of the kingdom of Israel, should bear its own responsibility before God; it was not joined with Judah. After the resurrection of Christ, He appeared ten times on earth. What a big responsibility for those who knew that He had resurrected! The church in Smyrna suffered ten days on the earth (Rev. 2:10). The disciples prayed for ten days (Acts 1), then they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Christians in the end times are likened unto ten virgins (Matt. 25:1-2). However, among them, five are foolish and five wise. Man should bear his responsibility until the Bridegroom comes back. The woman has ten pieces of silver (Luke 15:8) which represents all the people in the world who belong to God. (Initially, it only represents the children of Israel.) Ten servants were delivered ten minas to do business until the Lord comes back (Luke 19:13). They should not be careless with what they have received. The first servant was awarded ten cities because he gained ten minas. God asked the children of Israel to offer a tenth. Therefore, God divided what the children of Israel possessed into ten minas. God took one part, indicating His esteemed greatness. In the tabernacle on earth, ten is the number used most often; the same is true with the temple of Solomon, and the coming temple of which Ezekiel prophesied. This is because they were on the earth. Please read Exodus 26 and 27, 1 Kings 6, and Ezekiel 40.
Twelve is an eternal number. Seven is the dispensational completion or temporal completion; only twelve is the eternal perfection. Seven is four plus three, the creature (man) joined to the Creator (God). Twelve is four times three, the creature (man) mingled with the Creator (God). Seven represents man and God joined together. Twelve signifies that God bestows grace on man and receives him so that the creature is mingled in with the Creator. Therefore, seven represents dispensational perfection, and twelve represents eternal perfection. The former indicates the contact between the creature and the Creator. Although it is complete, it is temporary. The latter indicates the mingling of the creature with the Creator. It is not only complete but eternal. We ought to know that both seven and twelve are derived from the numbers four and three. Whereas seven is the sum of these two numbers, twelve is the product of these two numbers. Addition means that two numbers are parallel; they are put together. Multiplication means that they are mingled together into one. The meaning of multiplication is deeper than addition. Therefore, one is eternal, and the other is temporal. When the creature and the Creator are put together, there is completion, but there is still the distinction between the eternal and the temporal. Here we can see the importance of mingling with God.
There are twelve months to a year. There were twelve tribes of Israel. There were twelve precious stones on the breastplate of the high priest (Exo. 28:21). There were twelve loaves of showbread on the golden table (Lev. 24:5-6). There were twelve springs at Elim (Exo. 15:27). There were twelve men that were sent to spy out the land (Num. 13). Joshua put twelve stones into the Jordan River (Josh. 4:9). Elijah took twelve stones and built an altar (1 Kings 18:31-32). Solomon used twelve brass oxen upon which the molten sea was set (1 Kings 7:25). The Lord Jesus went to Jerusalem when He was twelve years old (Luke 2:42). He chose twelve apostles and promised that they would sit upon twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel (Matt. 19:28). He healed a woman who had an issue of blood for twelve years (Luke 8:43-44). He raised Jairus' daughter who was twelve years old (Luke 8:42). He took five loaves and two fishes to feed the multitude of five thousand, and the fragments that remained were twelve baskets full (Matt. 14:20). He had the power to pray to the Father who would present twelve legions of angels to save Him (Matt. 26:53).
In Revelation, we can see that the number twelve is used more than in any other book. The woman has a crown with twelve stars on her head (Rev. 12:1). The New Jerusalem has twelve gates of twelve pearls (Rev. 21:21). There are twelve angels at the gates (v. 12), and the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel are written thereon (v. 12). The wall of the city has twelve foundations and on them are the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (v. 14). The tree of life bears twelve kinds of fruit (22:2). There is one thing that deserves our attention: in the eternal kingdom of the new heaven and new earth, all the numbers are twelve; there is no seven. The first part of Revelation uses the number seven many times when it speaks of the situation of the temporary age. In the eternal kingdom, twelve is used. This proves even further that seven is the temporal perfection and twelve is the eternal perfection.
In the Bible there are many other significant numbers, but according to our need today, these numbers are enough. When we review the meanings of the relationships between these numbers, we will see more wonderful things. In the Bible, one to seven is a cycle of numbers. If we look carefully we will see that their sequence is also meaningful. All the other numbers in the Bible are derived from the multiplication and addition of these seven numbers. In the Bible these seven numbers are the base of all numbers. Before we continue we should see one thing, that is, although all the numbers have their own meaning, their denotation can be either good or bad. If the number is to refer to God, it is good; if it is to refer to man, it is bad.
Numbers one, two, and three represent God's completion — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God ought to be before all the numbers. God ought to have the first place in all things, otherwise, we will see failure.
Four is the symbol of the creatures. In the Bible, four is composed of three and one. Four is the first number after three. Three represents God. Four represents what comes out from God, that is, every created being. Therefore, four is the number of the creature. Here we see the relationship between the creature and the Creator: the creature comes out of the Creator. It is pitiful that men do not know this. Besides the creature and the Creator, there is nothing else in the universe; therefore, three plus four is a complete number; all the other numbers are based on this.
Five, six, and seven are based on four. One, two, and three are the first three of the seven numbers; they represent the greatness of the Creator. Four is the middle number of seven, and it represents the creature. Five, six, and seven are the last three of the seven numbers; they represent the condition of the creature. Five is four plus one, six is four plus two, and seven is four plus three. God's number is only three. Man's number is only four. The relationship between God's number and man's number goes only to seven (four plus three). Therefore, seven is a complete number.
Five is four plus one which indicates that the creature (four) is the antithesis of the Creator (one). In another sense, five is four plus one, meaning that the creature is before the Creator. Hence, it has the meaning of responsibility. Although the Creator is merciful, that does not mean that man's responsibility is annulled. Therefore, all the numbers that have five in them such as ten, forty, etc., denote responsibility.
Six is four plus two. It indicates how the creatures (four) are in want and always disputing (two). It also indicates how they (four) receive help and deliverance (two). Hence, six indicates the real situation of fallen man.
Seven is four plus three. It indicates the creatures (four) being well accepted by the Creator (three). Seven is a complete number. When we read the numbers that God shows us in the Bible, we have to praise Him for His wisdom and admire His wonderful teaching and thoughts. After we know the overall meaning of the numbers, whenever we read Revelation, we will see new meanings in connection with the numbers in the book.
Recently, in the study of prophecies, many who have adopted the theory of equating a day to a year have caused a bad impression to be formed in the believers about this theory. Bible interpreters who use the year-day theory often try to interpret the various numbers in the Bible by equating a day to a year. They even predict the date when the Lord Jesus will return, which is contrary to our Lord's announcement on earth that the date of His second coming is not known to anyone. Many interpreters of Revelation often apply the year-day principle and cause much distortion in meaning. Here we do not intend to debate about this matter. We are merely presenting the biblical teaching concerning dates.
The year-day principle is based on Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6. Let us first look at the book of Numbers. "According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day a year, you shall bear your iniquities, forty years." Here it says that the children of Israel searched the land forty days, and because of their unbelief, God punished them for forty years. It does not speak of the days in any other place, much less Revelation. As to Ezekiel it says: "And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year." Here God ordained Ezekiel to lie on his right side to bear the iniquity of the house of Judah. This portion is not concerned with anything else. Surely we cannot consider the days mentioned in all other Scriptures as years. Let us look at some other verses:
(1) Genesis 7:4: "For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights." What happened next? Did they wait seven years? Did it rain forty years? No. "And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth...And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights" (vv. 10, 12). One day is not one year.
(2) Genesis 40:12-13: "Joseph said unto him, This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days: yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head." Was it three years later that the butler came out of prison? No, "It came to pass the third day...the chief butler" had his "butlership again" (vv. 20-21).
(3) Exodus 16:4-5: "Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day...that on the sixth day...it shall be twice as much as they gather daily." Israel went out and gathered manna every day, not once a year.
(4) Numbers 11:19-20 says that the Lord gave Israel flesh to eat for one month. Afterwards, did they eat thirty years? No.
(5) Joshua 1:11: "Within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan." What happened then? Was it three years later when Israel passed over the Jordan? No, it was only three days.
(6) Matthew 12:40: "For as Jonah was in the belly of the sea monster three days and three nights, so shall the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights." Was the Lord Jesus in the earth three years? No, He was there only three days and three nights.
From these examples we can see that the theory of a day for a year is wrong. Furthermore, if a day in some verses in Revelation counts as a year, should not the day in all the other verses count as a year? If so, then the three and a half year great tribulation would count as 1,260 years. The millennium would change to 360,000 years. We know this cannot be right. May God cause us to read the Bible by His Spirit and not to make any strange interpretations. Although the Bible is truly marvelous, we should not interpret it in a peculiar way. We should be submissive to God in our thought instead of twisting His Word.
The author of Revelation was the apostle John. There are many evidences to prove this. We do not need to say too much here. However, there is one thing that we should know. We should know the characteristic of God's writing through John and what distinguishes John's writing from the writings of Paul and Peter. We all know that Peter and Paul were two men chosen by the Lord for the building up of the church. John did not mention much about the great truth regarding the church in his Gospel and Epistles. However, what the Lord commanded him to write in the first two sections of Revelation was concerning the church. Hence, if we want to understand the position, situation, and characteristics of the churches in the first three chapters in Revelation, we have to investigate carefully the differences and the relationships between his writings and those of the other two apostles, Paul and Peter.
We can prove from the Bible that Peter and Paul are the ministers respectively of the circumcision and of the uncircumcision. Peter and the eleven apostles remained at Jerusalem. They continued the work of the Lord, gathering into the church the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Paul was chosen and called by the Lord to unveil the principle of the church, which is to call out every creature under heaven through the gospel (Col. 1). He was the one to lay this foundation. Most of Peter's work was limited to the Jews. He set us off as pilgrims on our heavenly journey to obtain the heavenly inheritance. Paul's work was specifically focused on the Gentiles. He showed us that our position is in the heavens and that whatever inheritance belongs to Christ belongs also to us. These are the dispensational truths of the New Testament, meaning that God deals with men according to dispensations. In different dispensations God has different ways to deal with men and different important truths for them.
John's work is very different. He does not talk about the doctrine of dispensation. In his Gospel he does not mention the ascension of Jesus. In his Epistles, he does not point out the position of the Lord's saints in the heavens. He speaks only concerning the incarnation of the Lord Jesus and His descent from heaven to earth. To him, the Lord Jesus is the eternal life. In his Gospel he explains the birth through the eternal life. In his Epistles he explains the character of the eternal life.
After the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, there was a change of the dispensation. The Jewish church which was formed at Pentecost had ceased. In fact, it had ceased long before, but it was not officially announced until then. The Christian faith and Judaism were completely separated after this. Christians had to go outside the Judaic camp. The church established by Peter among the Jews had already failed. Christ could no longer carry out His authority among them. Not only was this the case among the Jews, it was the same among the Gentiles. The churches which were established by the Lord through Paul among the Gentiles had also fallen and could not inherit the inheritance abandoned by the children of Israel. Paul said, "For all seek their own things, not the things of Christ Jesus" (Phil. 2:21). All they of Asia (including the church in Ephesus) had turned away from him (2 Tim. 1:15). Even those who had known the church truth so well were not able to stand in faith. Truly, the apostasy had begun from that time. The mystery of iniquity had already been at work. Both Peter and Paul's works went through a dispensational change, but John's work did not involve the matter of dispensation. He only declared that the Lord Jesus is the eternal life. This eternal life will never change. Although the dispensation changes, and people and things change, the eternal life, whether it is in the Lord Jesus or in the believers, will never change. Although the church was spewed out of the Lord's mouth, the Lord remains unchanged. John's work continues after Peter and Paul, and makes up their lack. John's period links the first coming of Christ with His second coming. He works between these two comings. He preaches Christ's Person and eternal life. Although the dispensation changed outwardly and things had become corrupt, the eternal life is the same from beginning to end. We can see this from the last two chapters of his Gospel. In chapter twenty we see a picture of the remnant of Israel receiving Christ, beginning from His resurrection until the end time. Thomas's look on the pierced Savior was a type. In chapter twenty-one we see a type of the full millennial gathering. Then at the close of chapter twenty-one the particular ministry of John and Peter was spoken of. Paul's teaching concerning the church, which was fully heavenly, was of course not covered here. The children of Israel as the sheep of Christ were entrusted to Peter. However, Peter was to die. His work could not last and would come to an end after all. Eventually, Peter's ministry ended, and the church of the circumcision was left without a shepherd. Before long, Jerusalem was destroyed and his ministry was completely over. Here, Peter asked about John. It is strange that our Lord did not talk about the end of John. He only told Peter to follow Him, that is, to end his ministry in death. Peter might have secretly thought that John's ministry would continue until He comes. Although the Lord tarried and John died, John's ministry never died. His writings and teachings continue to work until the Lord comes again. The ministries of these three apostles are very important. If the Lord permits, a book will be written some other time specifically about them. John's ministry is between the two comings of the Lord. Now we can see the truth concerning the church. Peter spoke about the failure of the Jewish church; Paul spoke about the failure of the Gentile church. John was neither the minister of the circumcision nor the minister of the uncircumcision. He had no dispensational truth committed to him. Therefore, he did not talk about any changes that took place in the Jewish church nor in the Gentile church. In the book of Revelation, he talked only about the actual conditions of the church at that time. He did not talk about how the church went through changes until it arrived at its state then. He talked only about the conditions after the degradation of each individual church and how the Lord was going to judge them. When the work of Peter and Paul were over, John continued their work and depicted the situations of the churches that had degraded at the time of Peter and Paul's work.
The church he talked about, other than the one reference in Revelation 22:17, was different from the church Paul talked about. John testified from the point of view of the individual churches. Some lampstands of the church have the possibility of being removed. The churches he saw were degraded and backslidden and were judged by Christ. The churches had failed! The Gentiles who were grafted in by faith did not continue in God's goodness. Paul's truth concerning the church was primarily conveyed to the church in Ephesus. However, as she had left her first love, it was not long before her lampstand was removed. As the children of Israel were cut off in the past, now the church would also be cut off in the same way. But God's patience was shown towards the church as it was shown toward the children of Israel then. However, like Israel, the church did not maintain God's testimony in the world.
The church had decayed and had failed. In spite of the fact that the dispensation of grace was prolonged, God's rejection of the church on earth had begun at the time of Revelation. The Lord had to use another way. On the one hand, the Holy Spirit indicated that God had rejected the church. On the other hand, He also indicated that Christ will obtain His kingdom. The kingdom was the goal from then on. The Lord used the seven existing churches at that time to represent the church as a whole. He showed that God had rejected the church and that the end time was near. If the Lord delayed, these seven churches would be the history of the (outward) church on earth. Thus, the Lord indicated that the end time was near, and He Himself would come at any time. This is the wisdom of the Holy Spirit! The Lord indeed delayed, and Revelation chapters two and three became a description of the situations of the church from John's time until the Lord's second coming.
We should realize that by the time of Peter and Paul, the church had already failed. Knowing this will help us to understand the teachings concerning the church in the first three chapters of Revelation. Because of the failure of the church, we see that Christ is no longer an interceding Priest, but a judging Priest. From this, we understand why there is no perfect church today. In this way, we will not have a vain hope. We will know what kind of attitude we should have toward the church. All men are false; only God is truthful.
The first three chapters of Revelation mainly speak of the things pertaining to the church. Their relationship to other church truths has been discussed in the foregoing paragraphs. The third section of Revelation is from chapter four to the end of the book. This section, as indicated earlier, is after the discussion of the church. Hence, it is a prophecy. In this section there are many words which cannot be understood simply by reading this book alone. Peter says, "No prophecy of Scripture is of one's own interpretation; for no prophecy was ever borne by the will of man, but men spoke from God while being borne by the Holy Spirit" (2 Pet. 1:20-21). "Of one's own interpretation" in the original text is "interpreted according to the meaning of it." "It" here refers to the prophecy. This means that any portion of a prophecy cannot be interpreted according to its own context. Prophecy cannot be interpreted simply according to its own context. If it is, mistakes will be inevitable, for all the prophecies were not written by the will of man. If prophecies were written according to the will of individuals, then they could be interpreted by themselves, and there would be no need to care for other verses. However, the prophecies in the Bible are not like this. They were written by different men under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, though many men wrote, the thought was one. The Holy Spirit is the Author of all the prophecies. Hence, all the prophecies can be linked together as one. If one is to understand a prophecy, he must not consider just one portion alone. Instead, he must compare it with other places and must interpret the Bible with the Bible. The principle of interpreting the Bible with the Bible is most important. Here lies the failure of many Bible interpreters. Peter considered this principle to be the "first" (2 Pet. 1:20). The violation of this principle will surely lead to confusion. It is very easy for us to arrive at an interpretation out of context. The difficult thing about interpreting the Bible is to make a certain part match the testimony of the whole Bible. Concerning the verses before us, we should compare them with other parts of the Bible so that what we obtain will not just be an idea but a proven and proper interpretation. Now we need to study several portions of the Word.
First, let us read Daniel 2. Here we can see an image, which typifies four major Gentile kingdoms. Later, the image is smitten into pieces by a stone. This stone grows and fills the entire earth. This stone is the Lord Jesus and His kingdom, which will destroy all kingdoms on the earth and will replace them. The nations on earth will not gradually ferment to become the kingdom of God. Instead, they are raised up on earth according to their order and will suddenly be destroyed by God's kingdom. The smiting of this stone, of course, is in the future, and we shall see the relationship between it and Revelation.
In Daniel 7 the prophet saw another vision which also concerns the four major Gentile nations. The only difference between this and the vision in chapter two is that in chapter two he saw a man, but here he saw a beast. In the future, the kingdom of God will come through the coming of the Son of Man. Here, it tells us more clearly that the manifestation of the beginning of God's kingdom will be after the destruction of all the nations on earth. There will be a small horn which blasphemes God and persecutes God's chosen people. His time will be three and a half years. At the end of this time he will be destroyed. Then the Son of Man will come to establish His kingdom. The kingdom of man and the kingdom of God do not exist on earth concurrently. It is when the former is destroyed that the latter is established.
After we have considered these two chapters, we can come to chapter nine. After Daniel confessed the sins of the people, God sent Gabriel to speak to him. "Seventy weeks are apportioned for your people and for your holy city, to close the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make propitiation for iniquity, and to bring in the righteousness of the ages, and to seal up vision and prophet, and to anoint the holy of holies" (Dan. 9:24). Daniel prayed for his people and his holy city. Therefore when God answered his prayer, He mentioned only "your people" and "your holy city." Let us not be mistaken. "Your people" refers to Israel, and "your holy city" refers to Jerusalem. They do not refer to other people or to another holy city. God is saying that after seventy weeks the transgression of Israel and Jerusalem will be finished, their sins will be ended, their iniquity will be reconciled, and their everlasting righteousness will be brought in. Has this been fulfilled? Not yet. Israel is still "Loammi" — not my people (Hosea 1:9). Therefore, her recovery and reestablishment are still in the future. Before these things come to pass, this prophecy of seventy weeks cannot be fulfilled. When the Lord Jesus comes again, this prophecy will be fulfilled.
Gabriel continued speaking: "Know therefore and comprehend: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the time of Messiah the Prince will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with street and trench, even in distressful times. And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing" (Dan. 9:25-26).
"In distressful times" in the original text can also be translated "in short times." This probably means the seven weeks because it is shorter than sixty-two weeks. The rebuilding of Jerusalem is during the seven weeks, that is, forty-nine years. The original text only states seven; it does not specify whether it is days or years. However, all Bible expositors believe that it refers to years. After the wall is built, sixty-two more weeks will pass before the anointed One will come. Here, we do not need to study exactly when the seventy weeks begin. One thing is certain: we know the anointed One will come after sixty-nine weeks (seven weeks plus sixty-two weeks). From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild the city until the time of the anointed One's coming, there is a total of four hundred eighty-three years. Now sixty-nine weeks have already passed. The anointed One (Christ) has already come. Only one week is left. As soon as this comes to pass, the children of Israel will receive her full blessing. However, within seven years after Christ's death, was there any day in which we could say that Israel and Jerusalem made an end of sins? No, absolutely not. Is it not true that since Christ the anointed One came until now, more than nineteen hundred years have passed? Hence, it is obvious that the seventieth week did not come after the sixty-ninth week. Why was this week not fulfilled, and why has Israel not received her blessing yet? Because, "after the sixty-two weeks" — as mentioned above, which, together with the first seven weeks, makes up sixty-nine weeks — "Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing" (Dan. 9:26). Christ died; Israel did not get the blessing. They did not receive Him with a willing heart; rather, they treated Him with the cross. Therefore, punishment came: "The people of the prince who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary" (Dan. 9:26). The Jews killed the Lord Jesus. They willfully let the blood be upon them and their children. Of course, God punished them according to their own word. He forsook them temporarily and graced the Gentiles. When the fullness of the Gentiles comes in, He will grace Israel again. By then, the last seven will be manifested. As soon as the last week is completed, God will save Israel according to His promise in verse 24.
"The people of the prince who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary" (Dan. 9:26). Everyone knows that this refers to the Romans. After Christ's death, the Jews were punished by God greatly. The Romans came and destroyed Jerusalem and its sanctuary. Since the people here refers to the Romans, some think that the "prince" here is the Roman prince Titus who led the Romans. However, there are many reasons against this concept. Why did it not say that the prince who will come will destroy, but rather "the people of the prince"? Although the work of the prince must be done through his people, why does it mention only the people here and not the prince directly? Since the Holy Spirit was speaking of two things simultaneously, the prince and the people of the prince, and was emphasizing the people, does this not indicate that the people here are the people of the coming prince? This prince does not refer to Titus, and the people that came and destroyed Jerusalem, doctrinally speaking, are the people of the coming prince. This prince is the one Daniel prophesied of as the great man on the earth who shall rise up in the future. This man is Antichrist. If we translate this according to the original text, we shall see that the prince refers to Antichrist. "The people of the prince who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary." This prince is the one who shall come; he is Antichrist.
"And the end of it will be with a flood, and even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined" (v. 26). "The end" here does not mean the end of the city because in the original text the pronoun does not match this interpretation. It is not the end of the sanctuary because it could not mention the sanctuary only and leave out the city. A brother who knows Hebrew says that this phrase modifies "who will come." Therefore, this was not fulfilled at Titus's time but will be fulfilled in the future. The people of the prince who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary, and his end shall be with a flood. We know this "superman" is about to come, and the world will have no peace. But thank the Lord, we shall be taken away before Antichrist comes.
"And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week; and in the middle of the week he will cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease" (v. 27). The previous text tells how the Antichrist shall rebel; here it continues to speak of his acts. The last week is divided into two parts. In the beginning of this week, he shall confirm a covenant with many. This is not the old covenant, the only and unique covenant, that God made with His people. This fact is indicated by the article in the original text. Before "many," there is an article "the," which indicates a special people, that is, the Jews. Therefore, this covenant is the political treaty that the Jews will make with Antichrist. The period is seven years, but he will break the treaty at the half of the seven. This is the meaning of "to change the times and the law" in 7:25. Here we can see the similarities between the prince and the little horn in chapter seven. He will break the treaty at the half of the week; there still will be a half of the week (three and a half years) remaining in his hands. The time that the little horn wears out the saints is also for the duration of three and a half years (7:25). In these three and a half years, the little horn shall change times and laws. It is also in this period of time that he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. Up to now the Jews have had no sacrifice nor oblation, but in the future, they will be restored. Now we see that the Jews have returned. We have heard that they are going to restore these matters. The last days are really near.
Why does he cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease? It is because Antichrist will blaspheme God at this time (chapter seven). The sacrifice and the oblation are offered to God. This is why he forbids it. "For the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation" (9:27, KJV). The overspreading of abomination is the idol. In God's temple, the ark was covered by the wings of the cherubim. Antichrist will sit in the temple of God and will call himself God (2 Thes. 2). He will have the overspreading of abomination. Because of this worshipping of the idol, God will allow the destruction to last for three and a half years, until the end of the seventy weeks. "And that determined shall be poured upon the desolate" (Dan. 9:27, KJV). The desolate is Jerusalem. When the seventy weeks are about over and all nations will battle against Jerusalem, the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations for her (Zech. 14:1-6). Then the word in Daniel 9:24 will be fulfilled.
From this, we can see how Satan uses man. Antichrist is a man. Because he obeys Satan, he receives the evil power to dominate over the nations. Although Antichrist has not yet come, in A.D. 70 the Romans had already become his people; they had received his spirit. The chaos among the present nations is manipulated by Satan behind the scene. At times, he empowers this one, at times he empowers that one, making those on the political stage his puppets to disturb the world. The last person he will use will be Antichrist. Now we see the spirit of the antichrist working everywhere. The most prominent feature of Antichrist is lawlessness (2 Thes. 2). Those who have their eyes open to the world situation will know that lawlessness is very prevalent. Nearly everyone around us is lawless. Lawless ones exist in all walks of life and comprise the majority. Now it seems that everyone is only a thin line away from lawlessness. Once the restraint is taken away, nothing can be done anymore to help the situation. At this hour we who have believed in the Lord and who are purchased by the Lord's blood should stand in one accord in spirit, in prayer, and in will to resist Satan and his works. May God teach His church to clearly know the triumph of the cross so that she can have the experience of ascension. The world ripens in sin; it will soon be judged. The church of Christ must ripen in life that she may be raptured.
If we look at the last prophecy in Daniel (chs. 10—12), we shall see that this last prophecy coincides with the former ones. For now, we cannot consider it in detail. We can only study it in brief.
"And forces from him will arise and profane the sanctuary, the fortress, and remove the daily sacrifice; and they will set up the abomination that desolates" (Dan. 11:31). How this verse matches chapter nine!
"And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the water of the river, as He lifted up His right hand and His left hand to heaven and swore by Him who lives forever that there would be a time and times and half a time; and when the shattering of the power of the holy people is completed, all these things will be completed...And from the time that the daily sacrifice is removed and the abomination that desolates is set up, there will be a thousand two hundred and ninety days...the thousand three hundred and thirty-five days! But you, go your way until the end, and you will rest and rise again in your lot at the end of the days" (Dan. 12:7, 11-13).
Here again we see the period of three and a half years. 1,290 days are thirty days more than three and a half years; 1,335 days are forty-five days more than 1,290 days. When the three and a half years (1,260 days) are up, the Lord Jesus will descend to the earth. The extra thirty days will probably be used to judge the Gentiles (Matt. 25:31-46) or to cleanse the holy temple. Forty-five days later, it will be the time for Israel to obtain her glory.
What we have just studied shows us a few things:
(1) The time of the Gentiles, which is the time for the Gentiles to be kings, will suddenly terminate. There will be One like the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of heaven to establish a kingdom.
(2) The last Gentile power will be the Roman Empire, the king of which will blaspheme God and His saints and will eventually be punished.
(3) Antichrist will make a covenant with the Jews. The Jews in their unbelief will recover the holy temple and its sacrifices until the last three and a half years when Antichrist will break his covenant to cause the sacrifices to cease and will bring in the worship of idols. Then there will be great destruction until the predetermined three and a half years are up. Then God will deliver His chosen people, and the time of the Gentiles will be fulfilled with the sudden coming of the Lord from heaven. When we speak of the above Scriptural truths, there is no painstaking straining because we simply confirm the Scriptural verses one by another. We have seen how the period of three and a half years in which the little horn prospers (ch. 7) corresponds with the last three and a half years of the seventieth week (ch. 9) and how it also corresponds with the three and a half years in chapter twelve. All the different prophecies in the Scripture match one another. The only difference between them is that sometimes the latter explains the former and sometimes adds something to the former.
From the Old Testament prophecies, we see how the thought of the Holy Spirit is expressed consistently throughout. Now we can see how the prophecies in the New Testament correspond to those in the Old Testament. After that we will look again at Revelation, which we are now expounding, to see how it also corresponds with the previous prophecies. We can first look at the prophecies of our Lord Jesus on the Mount of Olives. For our present purposes we do not need to mention all the prophecies on the Mount. We only need to mention those prophecies on the Mount which concern the Jews. The prophecies on the Mount are recorded in the first three Gospels, but for now we will take Matthew 24 as the main one and will only make reference to the records in the other Gospels. All the prophecies in Matthew 24:4-31 concern the Jews. If we compare this section of the Word with what we have read in Daniel, we will be very clear.
The disciples asked the Lord Jesus two questions, one concerning the temple, the other concerning the Lord's coming back and the signs at the consummation of the age (v. 3). The Lord's answer to the first question concerning the temple, which naturally does not concern us, is recorded more in detail in Luke 21. However, Matthew pays more attention to the answer to the second question. In this question the disciples confused the Lord's coming back with the consummation of the age. Actually these two matters are separate. We do not need to speak of this here. It is enough for us to know for now that the passage up to verse 31 speaks of the Jews.
We know that between the sixty-ninth and the seventieth weeks, there is a period of grace. When the seventieth week comes the oblation and sacrifice in the temple will be restored until they will be suppressed again by Antichrist. What our Lord talked about is this period of time. He said, "When therefore you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let him who reads understand), then let those in Judea flee to the mountains; let him who is on the housetop not come down to take the things out of his house; and let him who is in the field not turn back to take his garment" (Matt. 24:15-18). Because the enemy is in their midst, their flight is urgent.
Furthermore, the godly saints will be the object of the wrath of Antichrist; this destroying army will come quickly, hence they should rather forsake some things to keep their lives. "But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days" (v. 19) because these ones will not be able to run. "And pray that your flight may not be in winter, nor on a Sabbath" (v. 20). This word is clearly for the Jews. The Lord Jesus continued: "For at that time there will be great tribulation, such as has not occurred from the beginning of the world until now, nor shall by any means ever occur" (v. 21). This statement is also a quotation from Daniel: "And at that time Michael, the great prince who stands for the children of your people, will arise; and there will be a time of distress, such as never occurred since there came to be a nation until that time; and at that time your people, every one found written in the book, will be delivered" (Dan. 12:1). That day will be a time of great distress. However, it will also be the day of God's salvation. Hence, the Lord said, "And unless those days had been cut short, no flesh would be saved; but on account of the chosen, those days will be cut short" (Matt. 24:22). We can see from Daniel that the time of those days will be three and a half years. Later the Lord spoke of the signs of false Christs and false prophets. This part was not spoken of in the Old Testament. "At that time if anyone says to you, Behold, here is the Christ! or, Here! do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen. Behold, I have told you beforehand. Therefore if they say to you, Behold, He is in the wilderness, do not go forth; Behold, He is in the inner rooms; do not believe it. For just as the lightning comes forth from the east and shines to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Wherever the corpse is, there will the vultures be gathered together" (vv. 23-28).
Daniel's testimony was that all the sufferings will cease once the Lord Jesus comes again. Matthew also said the same thing: "And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And at that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the land will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His chosen together from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other end" (vv. 29-31). This is good enough. We can see how the prophecies of the New Testament correspond to those of the Old Testament.
Now we can look at another portion, which are the prophecies of Paul. We want to see how this section of the Word corresponds with the previous words. "Now we ask you, brothers, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you be not quickly shaken in mind nor alarmed, neither by a spirit nor by word nor by a letter as if by us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way, because it will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or an object of worship, so that he sits in the temple of God, setting himself forth that he is God" (2 Thes. 2:1-4). This is the abomination mentioned in Daniel. In the Old Testament, "the abomination" means idol. The Lord Jesus also prophesied on this point concerning Antichrist (the man of sin, the son of perdition), how he exalted himself above all and opposed the Lord. All these things we have seen in Daniel already.
"Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I said these things to you? And now you know that which restrains, so that he might be revealed in his own time. For it is the mystery of lawlessness that is now operating, but only until the one now restraining goes out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed (whom the Lord Jesus will slay by the breath of His mouth and bring to nothing by the manifestation of His coming)" (2 Thes. 2:5-8). This refers to the end of Antichrist. When the Lord Jesus comes again, Antichrist will be punished and destroyed. Daniel's prophecies repeatedly speak of the second coming of the Lord to destroy the power of the nations. What he mentioned concerning the destruction of the little horn confirms the record here. The "little horn" is also destroyed by the second coming of the Lord: "The coming of whom is according to Satan's operation in all power and signs and wonders of a lie and in all deceit of unrighteousness among those who are perishing, because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved. And because of this God sends to them an operation of error that they might believe the lie, so that all who have not believed the truth but have taken pleasure in unrighteousness might be judged" (2 Thes. 2:9-12). What is this lie? "Who is the liar if not he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?" (1 John 2:22).
In this brief and short study, we can see how the prophecies in the New Testament are consistent with the prophecies in the Old Testament. They confirm each other and explain each other. Therefore, we must pay attention to Peter's warning that "no prophecy of Scripture is of one's own interpretation" (2 Pet. 1:20). The prophecies must not be interpreted out of context. We must look at the whole Bible and how the different portions confirm one another. Only then can we arrive at a correct understanding. Otherwise we will suffer a great loss.
We have seen how the Old and New Testament prophecies correspond and coincide with one another. Now we will return to the book of Revelation to see how it corresponds with the prophecies above. After reading Peter's word, we all know one thing, that the prophecies in the book of Revelation surely correspond with all the previous prophecies. We cannot take Revelation out of context from the other prophecies in the Bible and give it some special interpretation. Earlier we have seen the outline of the Old and New Testament prophecies. In Revelation, except for the first and second sections (chs. 1—3) which are spoken to the church, the third section (chs. 4—22) must correspond with our previous study. Of course, Revelation, being the last book of the Bible, contains many things which are not found in the preceding books. However, as a rule, Revelation must not be of "one's own interpretation," but must be confirmed by other portions of the Word. According to the method of interpretation given to us by the Holy Spirit, we can see that the words in the third section of Revelation truly speak of the things to come.
Now we can come back to our theme, to see how this section of Revelation and the previous prophecies confirm one another. The prophecy of the image in Daniel indicates the periods of the reign of the Gentile nations. We know that the golden head, silver breast, brass belly, iron legs — Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome — have all come to pass. Only the ten toes, part of iron and part of clay, have not been manifested. The ten toes here are the ten federated nations of the to-be-restored Rome. When the time comes, the great stone from heaven (referring to the Lord Jesus) will smite them to pieces and will fill the whole earth. Similarly in Revelation we see the ten horns (Rev. 13:1) which are the ten kings (17:12), representing the last power of the nations. However, "These [the ten horns] will make war with the Lamb [the stone], and the Lamb will overcome them [smite to pieces], for He is Lord of lords and King of kings [filling the whole earth]" (17:14). How they correspond one with another!
Daniel 7 speaks of the vision of the beast, how among the ten horns grew a "little horn," how he speaks of great things, persecutes the godly saints, that is the Jews, and how he shall speak great words against the Most High and change times and laws. His time is three and a half years. When we read Revelation, we see a beast (Daniel's little horn): how he is greater than the ten horns (17:12-13), how he speaks great things and blasphemies (13:5), how he persecutes the Jews (v. 7), how he opens his mouth in blasphemies against God (v. 6), and how power is given unto him to continue forty-two months (v. 5). Here again we have the correspondence.
Of the seventy weeks revealed to us in Daniel, sixty-nine weeks are past, and the seventieth week has not yet come. When the seventieth week comes, Antichrist will make a covenant with Israel, but after three and a half years he will break the covenant and will establish the idol, which is the abomination. Not only chapter nine of Daniel records this, but chapter eleven speaks of him who will establish this abomination, and chapter twelve also mentions it. Not only Daniel said this, but the Lord Jesus also quoted this word. Not only the Lord Jesus said this, but Paul also said that he will set himself forth that he is God. When we come to Revelation we can see how it corresponds with the previous portions of the Bible. Revelation records how the false spirit deceives the people, causing them to make an image of the beast and worship him (13:14-15, 4-8).
Daniel 9 says that in the middle of the week he will break the covenant. Hence, there is another half week remaining, which is three and a half years. This corresponds with chapters seven and twelve. He will reign in those three and a half years.
When we come back to Revelation, we see that it says the time of Antichrist is forty-two months (13:5), which is also three and a half years. It is in these three and a half years that the fierceness and idolatry of the beast will prevail. It is also in this period that Jerusalem will be trodden, that the two clothed in sackcloth will witness, that God will care for the persecuted godly saints who flee to the wilderness, and that the reigning of the nations will come to pass. All these things will happen within the three and a half years. After that in a very short moment, the reigning of the Messiah will come.
In this way, we see how the prophecies in Revelation correspond with those in Daniel of the Old Testament. Now we see how Revelation and the prophecies of the Lord Jesus correspond. In Matthew the signs of the end of the world are recorded: first, the false Christs (24:5); second, wars (vv. 6-7); third, famines (v. 7); fourth, pestilences (v. 7, KJV); fifth, martyrs (v. 9); and sixth, the signs of the sun, the moon, and the stars (v. 29). If we compare what is written in Matthew with the record of the six seals in Revelation 6, we see that there is not the slightest difference between the two books. The order of the six seals is the same as that of Matthew. Not only so, Matthew says that there will be an idol standing on the holy place. Revelation says the same thing. Matthew records the Lord's warning to the Jews: when they see the setting up of the idol, they must flee. Revelation shows us that they will indeed flee (12:6). In Matthew it is recorded that these days will be shortened for the elect's sake. Revelation says, the devil knows "that he has only a short time" (12:12). Matthew 24:24 records, "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen." Revelation reveals that he "deceives those who dwell on the earth on account of the signs" (13:14). Matthew records that people are seeking an earthly Christ (24:26). Revelation records that people are following an earthly beast (13:3). Finally, Matthew records that the Lord comes from heaven. Revelation also records that the Lord and His armies come in glory and power from the heavens (19:11-16).
We must also pay attention to the similarity between Revelation and Paul's prophecies. Paul said, "The man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition" (2 Thes. 2:3). In Revelation it speaks of the appearing of Antichrist (13:1). Paul says that he opposes the Lord. Revelation says he blasphemes against God (13:6). Paul says he calls himself God and is worshipped by men. Revelation says he made an image and was worshipped by men (13:14-15). Paul said he acts according to the working of Satan. Revelation says the dragon (12:9) gives him authority (13:4). Paul says he is with power and signs and wonders. Revelation says his deadly wound was healed (13:3). Paul says that the Lord Jesus will destroy him with the brightness of His coming. Revelation says that when the Lord comes again, he will be taken and thrown in the lake of fire (19:20). Now we see how the prophecies in Revelation correspond with those of the Old and New Testaments. The Lord's words are really consistent. We know that the fulfillment of the prophecies in the Old and New Testaments which we have quoted is in the coming days. Therefore, the fulfillment of the corresponding prophecies in Revelation is also in the future.
All that we have spoken concerns how Revelation corresponds to the prophecies of the Old and New Testaments. We have talked about how Revelation and all the other prophecies in the Bible confirm one another. Revelation, however, does not only repeat what has been said in the past or declare again what was spoken of by the prophets before. In Revelation there are many new areas which have not been revealed or touched before. Although it includes some messages preached by the prophets before, it expounds and develops them. In the foregoing paragraphs we mainly spoke concerning Antichrist, proving how the prophecies concerning him correspond with previous prophecies.
Now we can see the miraculous judgment of God in Revelation. The Bible always says that real miracles, not the false ones, are the characteristic of the last days. In those days, "great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven" (Luke 21:11). "And I [God] will show wonders in heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord comes" (Acts 2:19-20). Revelation speaks of how God performs all these miracles. God made a covenant with the house of Jacob to do marvels. This covenant will be fulfilled in the third section of Revelation. Jehovah said, "Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation" Hence, they are greater than the wonders done in Egypt. "And all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the Lord: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee" (Exo. 34:10). The Jews are scattered among the nations. Hence, these miracles are spread throughout the world. Revelation tells us about how God performs these miracles and saves the Jews.
The evils of the worldly people worsen day by day. A day will come when God cannot help but grace them with punishment. By then, the most gracious way of God will be His punishment to man. "Howl, for the day of Jehovah is near! / Like destruction from the Almighty, it comes. / Because of this all the hands will drop, / And every human heart will melt... / Now the day of Jehovah is coming — / Cruel and with overflowing wrath and burning anger — / To make the land a desolation; / And He will destroy its sinners off of it" (Isa. 13:6-9). Not only will we see God destroying sinners in this way, but having seen how Antichrist will perform miracles, God will also perform miracles to oppose the devil and to manifest His own Godhead. It is God who is God, not Satan. Hence Revelation speaks of sores that Satan cannot heal, earthquakes that Satan cannot stop, and resurrections and raptures that Satan cannot prevent. Satan cannot break the chain that binds his hand. He cannot compete with God to the end. The miracles in the heavens are much more powerful than the hellish wonders. What a comfort to know this!
The many things (i.e., miracles) recorded in Revelation are the direct works of God's hand. All these things are supernatural; they are all done by God; they are all miracles. Since they are miracles they must be actual happenings. Hence, we cannot spiritualize their interpretation; they must be taken literally. In order to understand the present things, we must compare the prophecies in Revelation with the conditions of the "day of Jehovah" or the "day of the Lord" prophesied by the Old Testament prophets. What the prophets said concerning the day of the Lord is similar to the things recorded here in Revelation. Concerning this, I would like the reader to research for himself.
Other than God's miraculous judgments on the world, which take up a major part of the third section, there is still a small portion concerning future events. These matters are related to the time after the millennium, which we do not intend to cover at this time.
The first thing is the rapture of the overcoming believers. All those who have the cross working profoundly in their life will be raptured. Those who are saved generally but who are mingled with the world and who go along with sins will remain on the earth and will pass through the great tribulation. Only the overcoming and watchful saints will be raptured. The remaining saved believers will pass through the great tribulation until the trumpeting of the seventh trumpet. Then they will be caught up. All these relate to Christians. At that time the Roman Empire will be restored; a strong and mighty one will be her king. Satan will give to him all kinds of powers that he may perform wonders and miracles. He will call himself Christ and gain the hearts of the Jews. At that time the Jews will have returned to their land. The majority of them will be unbelievers. They will rebuild the temple and will recover the worship and sacrifice of the old times. Because they are fearful of the interfering of the powers without, they will be allied with Antichrist and be protected by him. This covenant is for seven years. To be sure, at that time there will still be a remnant who believe in God's word and oppose this false messiah's name. In the middle of the seven years there will be a sign in the heavens: the red dragon, Satan, will be cast to the earth. His heart will be filled with hatred against the saints of God, that is, the Jews who witness for God. He will provoke Antichrist, the emperor of Rome, to oppose them. Satan will persecute those who belong to God, and God will punish those who belong to Satan. The trumpets and bowls in Revelation are the expression of the wrath of God toward Antichrist and the world. God's punishment of the world is with the hope that they will repent. But alas, the world is incorrigible. Antichrist, by the power of Satan, will break the covenant, stop all the sacrifices and the oblations, and will establish an idol, the overspreading of abomination, ordering the people to worship it. The false prophet will come forth to help him and persuade the people to worship the image. When the image is erected, the remnant will flee to the wilderness. Although Satan will try his best with all his plans to destroy them, God will care for them during these three and a half years. Satan, therefore, will have no way to direct his wrath. Instead, he will persecute the believers who are not yet raptured. At that time, there will be many who will be martyred. At the seventh trumpet, those saints who remain on earth, having learned obedience and being perfected because of suffering, will also be raptured. Antichrist will gather the nations to attack the Jews. This is the war of Armageddon. The Jews will flee from the city (Zech. 14:3-5). This will be the time when the seventieth week in Daniel is finished. The Lord Jesus and His saints will descend from heaven and will stand on the Mount of Olives. He will save the Israelites and will destroy those Gentiles. After this, the millennial kingdom will come. This is the general sketch of Revelation. We believers who are faithful, watchful, prepared, overcoming, and praying will not have to pass through the great tribulation but will be caught up to the heavens before all these things happen. Hence, we must first have the spirit of rapture today. We must first have the experience of rapture in spirit. It will then be realized in our body. Our spirit must be in the heavens first; our bodies will follow. May we not be entangled with the affairs of this life so that when the time comes, we will be free to go. The power of the coming age must be expressed in the life of the saints in this age. But alas, many cannot attain to this point. O Lord, be gracious to us. May the Lord guide and lead us and keep our hearts, that we would seek after the truth, that we may gain the coming light which brightens our present path, that by knowing the coming judgment we would examine ourselves today, and that by a taste of the coming heavenly joy we would be led into a spiritual fellowship with the Lord today. May we not treat the exposition of this most blessed book as a kind of mental investigation. Rather, may our life and work be changed as a result of the study of this book. Amen!
I. "The Things Which You Have Seen" — (ch. 1)
Chapter One
II. "The Things Which Are" — (chs. 2—3)
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
III. "The Things Which Are About to Take Place" — (chs. 4—22)
А. The Scene around the Throne — (chs. 4—5)
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
