Revelation

Revelation 13: The Antichrist and the False Prophet  v1-10: The Antichrist As mentioned in the blog for Revelation 12,  NIV said "The dragon a stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea." that seems to indicate that the "dragon" is a different creature than the "beast."  Many translations follows the NIV choice.  In NKJ however, it says: "Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea." (v1a), meaning that John was the one at the shore.   It does not mention the dragon at all.   Apparently different manuscripts used different words here and translations had been using different manuscripts.  The "dragon" in NIV, refers to Satan, which was mentioned last chapter. The "beast" from the sea refers to the anti-Christ. The “sea” is often used to symbolize “peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues.”  It emphasize that this "beast" is a human.  The anti-Christ ha...

Revelation 12: The Woman and The Dragon  v1 - v6: The Woman and the Dragon A "sign" happened in heaven, where a woman clothes with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and wearing a crown with twelve stars. She was pregnant and crying out in agony of giving birth. A red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, and on the heads are seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them down to earth. (v1-4a)  In Genesis 37:9-11, Joseph dreamt that the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to him. This represent the tribe of Israel, where the sun was Jacob, the moon was Rachel. and stars were his brothers. The woman described here, with the same description, represents Israel.  Israel was "pregnant" with a male child that will "rule all the nations", symbolizing Jesus. The red dragon have seven diadem, which is a type of crown or headband worn as a symbol of sovereignty or authority. The ancient Greeks and Romans used diadems...

Revelation 11: Two Witnesses and Seventh Trumpet  v1-2: The Temple during Tribulation John was given a measuring rod and told to measure the temple of God and the altar, and to count the number of worshipers there. He is to exclude the courtyard outside the temple, which has been given to the nations whom will trample the city for 42 months. (v1-2) This temple does not exist today. The second temple built by the Jews after being freed from Babylon, and renovated and expanded by King Herod. However the Romans destroyed in during a Jewish rebellion in 70 AD. Today, only a wall remains where the Jews visit to pray.  The temple mentioned by John is not the temple that was measured in Ezekiel 40 as well, for that is the final temple that was built by Jesus after his return. Therefore, John is referring to a temple that was built before or at the beginning of the 7 year tribulation. This is the temple where the antichrist will proclaim himself as god:  “He will oppose and will ...

 Revelation 10: Mighty Angel and a Little Book v1-7: The Mighty Angel This chapter is an interlude before the seventh trumpet will be describe in Chapter 11:15.  John saw a mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud with rainbow over his head. His face was like a sun and his legs like pillars of fire.  (v1) Some believe that this 'mighty angel' could be Jesus. as the description are not applied to other angels before. In Revelation 1:15-16, John described Jesus' face that looks like the sun, and his legs like burnished bronze. Also the rainbow is over God's throne. Only difference is that he did not say that Jesus' legs are pillars of fire (which does not mean real fire, but "like" it.)  However, I think John recognized who Jesus is, and did not call the angel Son of Man as he did in chapter 1. Hence, there is a possibility this is really a high-level angel.  Pinterest The angel had a "little" scroll in his hands, and he stood with ...

 Revelation 9: Fifth and Sixth Trumpet v1-11 - Fifth Trumpet: Locusts Army John saw a star that had fallen from heaven to the earth, when the fifth trumpet was sounded. The star ("he") was given the key to open up the pit of the Abyss. Smoke rose out like a great furnace, and the sun and air were darkened by the smoke.  (v1-2) This star sounds similar to the Wormwood star in Chapter 8:10. However, in this case, John used the word "he" to refer to this star, which are interpreted as a person. He is probably and angel; however, some think that he is a good angel whose task it to open up the abyss. Others think that he is the "king" or leader in verse 11, who came to release his demons from the abyss. When the Abyss was opened, out came the locusts, which has the power of scorpions. They were told not to harm the plants, but only to those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. These were the seals placed on the 144.000 Jews in  Revelation 7.  The...

 Revelation 8: The Seven Trumpets v1-5: The Seventh Seal and Golden Censer. When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for half an hour. Then seven angels were given trumpets. Another angel came with a golden censer with incense to offer the prayers of the saints at the altar in front of the throne. The prayers rose with the smoke before God. Then the angel filled the censor with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there was an earthquake with thunder and lighting. (v1-5) The seventh seal will bring great destruction to the earth, through the trumpets, so much so everyone in heaven was in solemn for half-an-hour, which is a long time. As mentioned the incense symbolize the prayers that was offered to God. Trumpets were used for war and calling for an assembly. It is used here to declare war on evil forces on earth.  v6-13: The First Four Trumpets The first angel blew his trumpet. hail and fire, mixed with blood, are thrown upon the earth....

 Revelation 7: Chosen People v1-8: Sealing of the 144,000 Israelites After the 6th seal was open in last chapter, John saw four angels standing at the corners of the earth and they were holding back the four winds. Another angel rose from "the rising of the sun", i.e. from the East, and he has the seal of God. He called out to the 4 angels not to harm the earth and the sea, until the servants of God are sealed on their foreheads. (v1-3) The four angels had the power to harm the earth and the sea (v2), but they were instructed to hold back the winds first until the servants of God are sealed. The word "wind" had been used to represents the destruction force of God's judgement. (See Hosea 13:15).  David Guzik proposed that the 4 winds are the 4 horsemen in Rev 6. An example is in Zechariah 6:1-8, who was describing four chariots with the same colors, and he called them the four spirit of heaven. Guzik said: "Spirits in that passage translates the Hebrew word ...

Revelation 6 : Opening the Seals   v1-6: The Four Horsemen The Four Horsemen in Revelation 6 are often interpreted as symbolic representations of four disastrous occurrences that will take place before the second coming of Jesus Christ. The horses' riders are not real people, but rather metaphors for the forces of war, famine, death, and judgment that will afflict humanity. However, some scholars tried to assign someone, either devils or angels to them. Nevertheless, the purpose of the seals are part of the God's judgement on earth, regardless of the instruments He used to bring them.  When the Lamb open the first seal, one of the cherubim said "Come!", and a white horse with a rider with a bow came out. A crown was given to him, and he came out to conquer. (v1-2)  Jesus will also ride a white horse when he comes, but this rider is not Him. This rider carries a bow and has one crown; while Jesus has a sword and multiple crowns. (Rev 19:11-16). Some even said that th...

  Revelation 5 - The Scroll and the Lamb John, whose spirit is still in heaven, saw God carrying a scroll written on both sides, sealed with seven seals on his right hand. An angel asked “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals? ” (v2) But no one in heaven or earth was able to open the scroll, and John weep loudly as nobody was worthy to open the seal. (v4) Traditionally, under Roman law, wills were sealed with seven seals, each from a witness to the validity of the will. William Barclay believe that the content of the scroll was  “God’s will, his final settlement of the affairs of the universe.”   One of the elder told John to stop weeping, and said " behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”  (v5) John saw a Lamb standing in the midst of them. He appeared to have been slain, and had seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God sent out to all the ...

Revelation 4 - The Throne in Heaven v1-11 John saw an open door in heaven, and the voice of Jesus asked him to come up, so that He can show him the future. John went up in his Spirit form. He saw someone sitting on a throne.  The person on the throne had the appearance of jasper and carnelian (ruby in NIV; sardius in NKJ), and a rainbow around the throne that looks like emerald. (v3)  John couldn't describe God himself as he were not able to see Him clearly, as "no one can see God" (Exodus 33:20). He only described Him in color of jasper (white) and ruby (red). It is interesting that the high priest's breastplate's first gem is ruby and the last gem is jasper! It may mean something, or just a coincidence.  The rainbow is a reminder of God’s commitment to His covenant with man (Genesis 9:11-17). Spurgeon said: "Thy heavenly Father in his sovereignty, has a right to do with you, his child, as he pleases, but he will never let that sovereignty get out of the lim...

Revelation 1 - Revelation of Jesus Note: It is advisable to read the Revelation Overview first. Over there you can get some history about the book, and it also It explains that the events are not sequential from early chapters to later chapters. I have attempted to line up the chapters and verses according to when they happen. It would be good for you to understand it, to reduce any confusion as you read the blog chapter by chapter.   v1-9: Introduction In Chapter 1, it said that the book is the revelation of Jesus Christ, from an angel sent by God to John, to show what must soon take place. (v1)  It is a book of prophecy, much like the book of Daniel. Most of Daniel's prophecy has been fulfilled in the past ages, but Daniel also have similar prophecies that matches or support those of Revelation. Revelation 1:3 said: "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." ...