Revelation: More Resources |
Click on any of the topics below to get more information that will help you with your individual or small group study.
What is your worldview? What you think about the future depends a lot on your worldview.
Signs of the times. Take a quick “self-test” to see if the events and circumstances predicted in the Bible are already happening.
Why should we trust the Bible? Revelation is in the Bible, and Bible prophecy comes from the Bible. How do we know the Bible is truthful is all that it says?
Top Ten Terms for the Future. Here are definitions for the major end times events talked about in Revelation.
More about the Tribulation and the Antichrist. The central character of the Tribulation will be the Antichrist. What will he be like? Do we know who he will be?
The Battle of Armageddon. This “last battle” on earth is going to be horrific. Here are some details.
The Purpose of the Second Coming. Why will there be a Second Coming of Christ? Find out the real reasons.
All about hell. Here are some details about the world’s worst place. Many people prefer to think that there’s no such place. Think again.
Heaven: Our greatest hope. Yes, there is a literal place called heaven, and there are some misconceptions about what kind of place it will be.
What Is Your Worldview?
What is a worldview?
- According to Dr. Paul Cox, “a worldview is a conceptual framework or system of thought through which everything is given meaning and context.”
- A worldview frames and organizes everything we experience.
- A worldview gives you direction and purpose—whether good or bad.
Do you have a worldview?
- The question is not, “Should I choose a worldview?” What you should ask yourself is, “What is my worldview, and is it the right one?”
- If your worldview cannot form a coherent picture of life, a breakdown can occur.
- People often come to Christ after a breakdown in their worldview, which is inadequate to explain some piece or pieces of information they have come across.
- This breakdown can also happen to Christians if they have improper information or serious doubts about their faith.
Three worldviews
When you boil it all down, there are just three different worldviews:
- Theism: This view includes belief in a personal God who created the world, is separate from His creation, and is working in the world to carry out His plans and purposes.
- Examples of Theism: Christianity, Islam, Judaism
- Naturalism: This view denies the existence of God or any gods. The natural world, which came about on its own, is all that exists.
- Examples of Naturalism: Humanism, Marxism, Darwinism
- Monism: This view believes that everything is one all-inclusive reality. God is one with the world, not separate from it. God is in all, and all is God.
- Examples of Monism: Eastern religions, New Age beliefs
The world is filled with views and beliefs based on these three worldviews. Christianity is just one worldview. How do you select the best worldview?
How to choose a worldview
- The worldview must be reasonable and logically consistent. It should also be consistent with the way the universe operates, and it should be able to answer these basic “meaning of life” questions: Where did I come from? Why am I here? and What happens when I die?
- The worldview should be able to explain everyday experiences. It should have an answer for the good and the evil that is in the world.
- The worldview should make it possible to take what you believe and life it out in practical and fulfilling ways.
- Resources for further study on worldview
How Now Shall We Live? by Charles Colson
Signs of the Times
The Bible predicts many events and circumstances that will be “signs” that the world is nearing the end. Take this little self-test by answering “yes” or “no” to whether you have seen any of these “signs of the times. If you can, give an example of how these things are happening.
_____An increase in earthquakes
_____An increase in unpredictable weather patterns
_____Pollution of our planet
_____Cataclysmic events in the sky
_____Wars and rumors of wars
_____Territorial boundary disputes in the Middle East
_____Famines
_____Formation of the nation of Israel
_____The Good News gospel of Jesus Christ will be preached around the world
_____Instant worldwide communication
_____An increase in knowledge
_____Move toward a one-world government
_____Move toward a one-world economy
_____People claiming to be the Messiah
_____An increase in the wickedness of the human race
_____An increase in immorality
_____An increase in materialism and self-centeredness
Why Should We Trust the Bible?
Since the book of Revelation and all Bible prophecy comes from the Bible, we need to be able to completely trust what it says. How do we know the Bible is true? And how do we know the Bible is the infallible Word of God?
The Bible is God’s Book and It’s God’s Word
- The Bible is God’s revelation of Himself to people through the written word.
- The Bible isn’t just a story about God. It’s God’s personal message to us.
- When you read the Bible, it’s as if God is speaking directly to you
- (1 Thessalonians 2:13).
How did God do it?
- God spoke the Bible into existence by breathing His words into more than 40 writers over a 1500-year time period. This is what the Bible means when it says the Bible is inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16).
- Because of this foolproof process, you can have complete trust in the Bible, whether it’s talking about history, prophecy, or the way you should live your life right now.
How do we know the Bible isn’t filled with mistakes and contradictions?
- There are three “links in the chain” from God to us:
- Inspiration: The process God used to breathe His words into the human authors
- Canonicity: The process by which church leaders recognized individual books of the Bible as being inspired by God.
- Transmission: The process of transmitting—or copying—the Bible from the early writers to us today.
- Josh McDowell argues that only God could have created a book that:
- Has been transmitted accurately from the time it was originally written
- Is correct when it deals with historical people and events
- Contains no “scientific absurdities”
- Remains true and relevant to all people for all time
Conclusion
You can read the Bible with confidence. Even if you don’t understand everything (none of us do), you can trust the Bible to deal with you honestly. And you can trust it to speak about our world—from eternity past to eternity future—in a way that’s meaningful and true.
Resources for further study on the reliability of Scripture
Top Ten Terms for the Future
Antichrist: This world leader, referred to in the Bible as the Antichrist, will be used by Satan to achieve his evil purposes as the world comes to an end. The Antichrist will be aided by his cohort in crime, the false prophet, who will be able to perform miracles through satanic power.
Armageddon: This battle will be the last world war, and it will be worse than all previous wars combined. A coalition of nations under the leadership of the Antichrist will prepare for battle against a 200-million-soldier army from the east.
Great White Throne Judgment: All people from throughout history who rejected God and His Son, Jesus, will be brought to this judgment. Their sins will not have been forgiven because of their unbelief. As a result, their punishment will be the same as that of Satan and his demons: torture in hell forever.
Heaven: Heaven is a real place. There are more than 500 references in the Bible to heaven. Descriptions include streets of gold, mansions, and the absence of pain or sorrow. It’s greatest characteristic is that it will be the place where God dwells, and to live in heaven for eternity means that you will be in the presence of God forever.
Hell: This is a real place of eternal torture and suffering. The greatest defining characteristic of hell is that it represents total and complete separation from God.
Judgment Seat of Christ: This judgment is reserved for people who believed in Jesus. It is not a proceeding to determine guilt or innocence. Instead, this is a judgment where God gives rewards for faithful service to Him.
Millennium: This is a period of a thousand years when there will be peace on earth. Christ will reign as King in all His splendor and glory and Satan will be bound. This will be a time of peace, prosperity, and spiritual renewal such as the world has never known. At the end of this thousand year time period, Satan will be released from captivity and make one last, desperate effort to sway human allegiance and seize the throne of Christ. His rebellion will fail, and he will be thrown into hell’s lake of fire forever.
Rapture: At an unknown time, Jesus Christ is going to appear in the sky and all Christians, living and dead, will be transported to meet Him in the sky. All of this will happen in the time it takes for an eye to blink.
Second Coming: As the battle of Armageddon is about to begin, Jesus Christ will return to earth to take His place as the rightful King. Incredibly, the battling armies will join forces to oppose God, but Christ will have with Him all of the armies of heaven. Christ and His army of angelic hosts will prevail against the armies of the earth. The Antichrist and the false prophet will be captured and cast into hell forever, and Satan and his demons will be bound and gagged for the duration of the millennium.
Tribulation: The Great Tribulation is a seven-year period that will have calamities and catastrophes greater than the world has ever known. Some will be natural disasters, and others will be caused by mankind. Earthquakes, floods, disease, warfare, and persecution will mark this time. It is believed that all of these events will cause people to believe in God. The tribulation will have two distinct halves. For the first 3½ years, there will be relative peace and harmony on the earth (except for the natural disasters). But this peace will be an illusion created by the Antichrist. The second 3½ years period will be disastrous for everyone as the Antichrist begins a campaign of horrors.
Resources for further study on Bible prophecy
More About the Tribulation and the Antichrist
The Antichrist plays a key role in the tribulation. Here is how the scenario plays out during the first half:
- The Antichrist serves as a mediator between the Arabs and Israel. He takes the side of the Jews, claiming that the land of Palestine belongs to the nation of Israel. The Antichrist is instrumental in negotiating a peace treaty with the nation of Israel and its Arab neighbors. The signing of the seven-year peace treaty will mark the beginning of the tribulation (Daniel 9:26,27).
- The Antichrist rises in popularity, becoming a leader in the ten-nation confederacy that will end up ruling the world during the tribulation (Daniel 2:42-44; Revelation 12:3; 13:1; 17:12,16).
- With a false sense of security from the peace treaty, Israel rebuilds the temple in Jerusalem. The whole system of ritual sacrifices is reinstated by the Jews (Revelation 11:1,2).
- There are 144,000 Jews (12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel) who become Christians and spread the message of Jesus Christ around the world during the tribulation (Revelation 7).
- God appoints two people to be His special witnesses to the Jews in Jerusalem and in Israel. They preach about God’s salvation, which is available only through belief in Jesus Christ. God supernaturally empowers these “two witnesses” to perform miracles which bring credibility to their claims (Revelation 11:3-6).
In the second half of the tribulation, the Antichrist reveals His true nature:
- The Antichrist breaks his treaty with Israel, and the Jews are the subject of great persecution (Daniel 9:27; Isaiah 28:18).
- The Antichrist is killed, but he is raised back to life by the power of Satan in an attempt to counterfeit the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Revelation 13:3,4).
- After his death and resurrection, the Antichrist carries out the assassination of the leaders of three countries in the ten-nation confederacy. The leaders of the other countries immediately relinquish their power and position to the Antichrist, who is now perfectly positioned to carry out Satan’s plan for world domination. More and more the world moves toward a single government and economy (Daniel 7:24; Revelation 17:12,13).
- In a public display, the two witnesses are murdered by the Antichrist for their allegiance to God. Their dead corpses are left in the street as an example for the world to see. However, after 3½ days, the two witnesses are resurrected by the power of God and are taken to heaven in the sight of the entire world (Revelation 11:7-13).
- The Antichrist puts himself forward as a god and demands the worship and adoration of the people of the world (Revelation 13:11-15).
- The false prophet administers the issuance of the “mark of the beast.” Without this identification, no one can buy or sell in the world’s economy (Revelation 13:16-18).
- The Antichrist sets himself up in the temple in Jerusalem and performs perverse acts of desecration (Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:15,16; 2 Thessalonians 2:4).
- The Antichrist attempts to annihilate every Jew. It may be Satan’s belief that he can divert God’s plan for the world if the Jews are eliminated (Revelation 12:1-6).
- The Antichrist leads a military alliance of the western world powers. They prepare to battle against a might army of 200 million soldiers from the east in the battle of Armageddon (Daniel 11:40-45; Revelation 16:14-16).
Resources for further study on Bible prophecy
The Battle of Armageddon
The last event of the tribulation is the battle of Armageddon, predicted by John, Daniel, and other Old Testament prophets (see Joel 3:9-17 and Zechariah 14:1-3). The battlefield will be a large plain in northern Israel. Because the land of Palestine and the capital city of Jerusalem will become the center of world power by the end of the tribulation, it is not surprising that the final battle of the ages will occur here.
Armageddon is going to be a battle unlike anything the world has every known. At the same time, military powers from the four corners of the globe will converge upon Israel to battle for world domination. The Bible doesn’t describe the events of Armageddon in order, but there are clues. Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum has compiled the various Armageddon passages of the Bible to arrive at this sequence of events:
- The Antichrist’s allies assemble. The ten-nation confederacy assembles with the intent to wipe the Jews off the map (Revelation 16:12-16).
- Babylon is destroyed. While the Antichrist is with his armies at Armageddon, the invading forces from the east destroy his capital city of Babylon (Jeremiah 50-51; Revelation 18).
- Jerusalem is destroyed. Instead of moving eastward to protect his capital city of Babylon, the Antichrist will move his forces south to the city of Jerusalem. The Jews will resist, but the Antichrist will prevail. There will be devastating loss of life (Zechariah 12:1-3; 14:1,2).
- The Antichrist moves south against the remnant. After he has captured Jerusalem, the Antichrist will disperse his armies to the south in an attempt to capture and kill the Jews who are hiding in the outlying areas (Jeremiah 49:13,14).
- The regeneration of Israel. When the forces of the Antichrist descend on the Jews in the wilderness, the Jews will turn back to God. Two-thirds of the Jewish population will have been killed during the tribulation, but the remaining one-third, “the remnant,” will acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah (Jeremiah 3:11-18).
- The second coming of Jesus Christ. The repentant Jews will plead for the Messiah to rescue them from the attacking Antichrist. Their prayers will be answered when Jesus Christ returns to earth with His angelic army and the Christian saints to battle the Antichrist (Jude 14,15; Revelation 19:11-16).
- The final battle. Jesus Christ will battle alone against the Antichrist and his armies. The Antichrist will be killed and his forces will be destroyed (Habakkuk 3:13; Revelation 14:19,20).
- The ascent to the Mount of Olives. At the defeat of the Antichrist and his army, there will be a tremendous earthquake and hailstorm. As these calamities subside, Christ will assume His role as rightful King and ruler of the universe on the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:3,3; Revelation 16:17-21).
- Resources for further study on Bible prophecy
The Purpose of the Second Coming
Is there more to the second coming that conquering the enemies of God? Certainly that’s part of the reason. But there are other reasons why Christ is coming back to earth for a second time:
- To reveal Himself and His own. Ever since Jesus ascended to heaven, no one has seen Him. All that will change when Jesus comes again (1 John 3:2).
- To judge the beast, the false prophet, and their armies. Jesus won’t merely defeat his opponents. He will swiftly and completely judge and condemn them for all eternity (Revelation 19:19,20).
- To bind Satan. Satan, God’s mighty foe, will be captured and imprisoned for a thousand years (Revelation 20:1-3).
- To save Israel. When Jesus came to earth the first time, He came for His people, the people of Israel. But they rejected Him as their Messiah (John 1:11). Does this mean that God has rejected Israel? Not at all (Romans 11:2,11,12).
- To judge the nations. After Christ has dealt with the Antichrist and his followers, He will gather all the nations before Him for judgment.
- To deliver and bless creation. The earth will be in bad shape after the tribulation and Armageddon. One of the purposes of the second coming will be for Jesus to remove the curse of sin from the earth and restore creation to its original glory (Romans 8:19-22).
- To set up His kingdom. Jesus will set up His earthly millennial kingdom, and he will also usher in the eternal kingdom (Isaiah 9:6,7).
Resources for further study on heaven
All About Hell
Have you ever wondered what hell is really like (not that you want to find out personally)? We can learn about hell by looking at how the Bible describes it, as well as the condition of its inhabitants. Here’s a list
- Outer darkness (Matthew 8:12)
- Furnace (Matthew 13:42)
- Weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:42)
- Eternal fire (Matthew 25:41)
- Eternal punishment (Matthew 25:46)
- Terrible punishment (Romans 2:5)
- Everlasting destruction (2 Thessalonians 1:9)
- Bottomless pit (Revelation 9:1,2)
- Tormented with fire and burning sulfur (Revelation 14:10,11)
- The lake that burns with fire and sulfur (Revelation 21:8)
- The second death (Revelation 21:8)
There are three more characteristics of hell worth noting:
- Hell will be the absence of the presence of God (2 Thessalonians 1:9)
- The verdict imposed at the great white throne judgment is final. There is not a single verse in the Bible that indicates that anyone will have an opportunity to change his or her belief after the final judgment (Matthew 25:41).
- An unbeliever’s sentence to hell is not only final and irreversible, but it is also eternal. It is a death sentence that doesn’t end with death, because those in hell never die. Instead, they suffer for eternity.
Resources for further study on Bible prophecy
Heaven: Our greatest hope
Heaven will provide several conditions we can only dream about now. Even though we experience each of these in some measure now, we always fall short of being able to enjoy them completely. Here are five images from the Bible that help us to see what it might be like when we experience heaven:
- We will have complete peace (Psalm 23:1-3). Everyone longs for peace in this world, but we can never achieve permanent peace in our world, peace in our relationships, and peace of mind. In heaven we will experience total, wonderful, blissful peace because God will take care of our every need.
- We will have complete rest (Psalm 91:1). In heaven we will have complete rest—from stress, pressures, and physical weariness. Because God will remove our burdens, our bodies will be continuously fresh, our minds always sharp, and our hearts forever light.
- We will have complete security and protection (Psalm 92:2). How would you feel if you were totally protected from harm of any kind, whether inflicted by people, animals, diseases, or disasters? That’s what we’ll have in heaven.
- We will have complete beauty (Psalm 19:1). Heaven will provide a feast for the sense as we find ourselves surrounded by the natural beauty of the “paradise of God” (Revelation 2:7).
- We will have complete fellowship (Matthew 26:29). The King of kings wants to sit down with you for a meal in heaven. Not only that, but when you are in heaven you will have the luxury of spending time with the people you love and care about, not to mention the incredible people in history you can only wonder about. Jesus said that we would be able to “sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 8:11).