40 Days Through Revelation. Uncovering the Mystery of the End Times

263 Pages·2013·1.32 MB·English

by  Ron Rhodes

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
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40 DAYS THROUGH REVELATION
Copyright © 2013 by Ron Rhodes Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rhodes, Ron.
40 days through Revelation / Ron Rhodes.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p.).
ISBN 978-0-7369-4827-2 (pbk.) ISBN 978-0-7369-4828-9 (eBook) 1. Bible.
N.T. Revelation—Devotional use. I. Title.
BS2825.54.R49 2013
228'.06—dc23
2012026063
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic,
mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief
quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
To Kerri with love and appreciation
Acknowledgments
After I became a Christian, I read one prophecy book after another. I could
not get enough, gravitating toward those written by professors at Dallas
Theological Seminary—John F. Walvoord, J. Dwight Pentecost, Charles Ryrie,
and others. I found their books to be intelligently and persuasively written.
Little did I know then that in the not-too-distant future, I would actually
enroll at Dallas Theological Seminary and take courses under these men,
obtaining master’s and doctoral degrees in theology. As I now write about the
prophetic book of Revelation, I want to acknowledge my personal indebtedness
to these teachers of the Word. Their work continues to bear fruit in my life.
I also want to offer continued praise to God for the wonderful family He has
blessed me with—my wife, Kerri, and my two grown children, David and Kylie.
With every year that passes (much too quickly!) I grow in appreciation for these
three.
Thank You, Lord! I am grateful.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. John’s Introductory Prologue (1:1-8)
2. John’s Awesome Vision (1:9-20)
3. The Churches at Ephesus and Smyrna (2:1-11)
4. The Churches at Pergamum and Thyatira (2:12-29)
5. The Churches at Sardis and Philadelphia (3:1-13)
6. The Church at Laodicea (3:14-22)
7. God’s Majestic Throne in Heaven (4)
8. He Who Is Worthy: Jesus Christ (5)
9. The First Four Seal Judgments (6:1-8)
10. The Fifth and Sixth Seal Judgments (6:9-17)
11. The 144,000 Jewish Evangelists (7:1-8)
12. The Great Multitude of Believers (7:9-17)
13. The Seventh Seal Judgment (8:1-6)
14. The First Four Trumpet Judgments (8:7-13)
15. The Fifth and Sixth Trumpet Judgments (9)
16. The Message of the Little Scroll (10)
17. The Ministry of the Two Prophetic Witnesses (11:1-6)
18. The Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of the Two Witnesses (11:7-14)
19. The Seventh Trumpet Judgment (11:15-19)
20. The Outbreak of War (12)
21. The Rise of the Antichrist (13:1-4)
22. The Blasphemy of the Antichrist (13:5-10)
23. The Rise of the False Prophet (13:11-14)
24. The False Prophet’s Exaltation of the Antichrist (13:15-18)
25. Announcements from Heaven (14)
26. Prelude to the Bowl Judgments (15)
27. The First Four Bowl Judgments (16:1-9)
28. The Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Bowl Judgments (16:10-21)
29. The Fall of Religious Babylon (17)
30. The Fall of Commercial Babylon, Part 1 (18:1-8)
31. The Fall of Commercial Babylon, Part 2 (18:9-24)
32. Shouts of Hallelujah and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (19:1-10)
33. The Second Coming of Christ (19:11-16)
34. The Campaign of Armageddon (19:17-21)
35. Christ’s Millennial Kingdom (20:1-6)
36. Satan’s Final Rebellion and the Great White Throne (20:7-15)
37. The Descent of the New Jerusalem (21:1-8)
38. A Description of the New Jerusalem (21:9-27)
39. The Delights of the New Jerusalem (22:1-5)
40. John’s Epilogue (22:6-21)
Postscript
Bibliography
Notes
About the Publisher
Introduction
Thank you for joining me in this exciting journey through the book of
Revelation. You are in for a spiritually uplifting time! My hope and prayer is that
as you read 40 Days Through Revelation, you will attain…
• a thorough understanding of God’s sovereignty and control over human history,
• an assurance that God will one day providentially cause good to triumph over
evil,
• a yearning for the soon coming of Jesus Christ at the rapture,
• a joyful anticipation of our future in heaven, where we will not only be reunited
with Christian loved ones but also dwell face to face with God Himself,
• an exalted view of the true majesty and glory of Jesus Christ,
• a deep appreciation for the wondrous salvation we have in Jesus Christ,
• and an increased conviction of the trustworthiness of the Bible in general and
the prophecies in the Bible in particular.
The book of Revelation is the only book in the Bible that promises a special
blessing to those who read it and obey its message: “Blessed is the one who
reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who
keep what is written in it, for the time is near” (Revelation 1:3). “Blessed is the
one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book” (Revelation 22:7). So be
encouraged. Blessing awaits you as you study this fascinating prophetic book.
As we begin our journey together, I want to address a few things that will lay
a foundation for better understanding the book of Revelation. Let’s look at the
big picture first, and then we will zoom in on the details in subsequent chapters.
The Author and Recipients of Revelation
The author of the book of Revelation is the apostle John (see Revelation
1:1,4,9; 22:8). This is confirmed by second-century witnesses, such as Justin
Martyr, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, and Tertullian.
John had been imprisoned on the isle of Patmos, in the Aegean Sea, for the
crime of sharing the message about Jesus Christ (Revelation 1:9). This island is
where John received the revelation. The book was apparently written around AD
95.
The original recipients of the book were Christians who lived some 65 years
after Jesus had been crucified and resurrected from the dead. Many of these were
second-generation Christians, and the challenges they faced were great. Their
lives had become increasingly difficult because of Roman hostilities toward
Christianity.
The recipients of the book were suffering persecution, and some of them
were even being killed (Revelation 2:13). Unfortunately, things were about to get
even worse. John therefore wrote this book to give his readers a strong hope that
would help them patiently endure amid relentless suffering.
At the time, evil seemed to be prevailing at every level. However, Revelation
indicates that evil will one day come to an end. Sin, Satan, and suffering will be
forever banished. Believers will no longer know sorrow or death, and fellowship
with God will be perpetual and uninterrupted. This was good news for the
suffering church in John’s day.
A Contextual Outline of Revelation
John provides a contextual outline of his prophetic book in Revelation 1:19:
“Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to
take place after this.”
• The “things that you have seen” is a reference to Revelation 1, where we find a
description of Jesus in His present majestic glory and an introduction to the
book of Revelation.
• “Those that are” relates to the then-present circumstances of the seven churches
of Asia Minor recorded in Revelation 2–3. John directed his book to these
seven churches.
• “Those that are to take place after this” refers to the futuristic prophecies of the
tribulation period, the second coming, the millennial kingdom, the great white
throne judgment, and the eternal state, which are described in Revelation 4–22.
The book closes by informing God’s people that they will enjoy His presence