Walk With Me

Revelation, Without Fear

• JJ

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Hello, everybody, and welcome to today's episode of Walk With Me. I am your host, JJ. It's so good to have each and every one of you here. So good to have another episode, another day that the Lord has made. We should all rejoice and be glad in it. Uh, and we're going right on along, and we're gonna go right into our episode. But before we do, um, big shout out to True Bar's lyrics and the squizzive creations, uh, the sponsors of the program, and pretty soon we will probably be opening it up for more sponsors, but uh for right now, just these are just enough for what we need. Uh big shout out to all you listeners liking and sharing the program, listening to it on the various platforms, uh YouTube, Facebook, um, and other platforms, uh, iHeartRadio, uh, SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts. There's so many different so many different platforms now. I really do appreciate each and every one of you. If you are listening to this on YouTube, please drop a like, a share, or a comment. I do try to get back over to um respond to comments. Uh, and as a matter of fact, that's how some of the questions come. Uh, speaking of questions, if you have any question or anything that uh we talked about, uh email us at walkwithme at bible study.com, walkwithme bible study at gmail.com. I say it's us, but it's really just a one-man operation here at the JJ Studios as it is. Um but oh yes, and before I forget, when you do email your question, if you want to be addressed in the question, um make sure you put your name in the subject line so that I know. I mean, if you put it down in the the email body, I'll assume that you want to remain private. A lot of people like the the questions to remain private, but we do um broadcast the question and the answer. We just don't put out who sent it because a lot of people have the same questions that you have or I have. And so, but that means there's no silly question. As a matter of fact, uh, like we talked about a couple weeks ago, this entire series came about a couple of questions. So there's no silly question, there's no redundant question, debates not so much, but questions are good. Okay, questions are good. And we're gonna get right into today's episode. Now, just a small recap. Um, we have been spending a lot of time in Daniel uh when it comes to prophecy of the end time, because prop uh the prophecy in Daniel and the prophecy and revelation are the same exact prophecies, that's why there's a lot of similarities. Daniel was uh Daniel's perspective was you know what is to come, and John's perspective in the book of Revelation is to as to what has happened, but these are still books of prophecy. So with that, and we spend a lot of time in Daniel, but I do think I need to come along and kind of catch up with Revelation, so to speak, um, so that we have a balanced study to the question. Are we living in the end times and where are we in the end times? And that's a lot of people are are beginning to become concerned about where are we in the grand scheme of end times, and I don't want people to be deceived um as far as where we are, because there are a lot of people that are out there that are grifters out there, that are people who just don't know. Um, and there are some people who are kind of using this as a kind of a way up, you know what I mean? So, so and I don't want to use the word scam, but for the definite lack of definition, that's pretty much what it is. Um, there are people that are using that like that, and some people really are concerned about where we are in the end times, and we are the latter, walkers. We are, and I appreciate each and every one of you who join, like, share, comment, all of that. It it helps a lot because it gets it gets the the word of God, the truth of God out to more people. Alright, so now we're gonna get right into the let um this week's episode, and you gotta understand that the book of Revelation is prophecy, just the same way that part most of Daniel is prophecy, the book of Revelation is purely prophecy. So, um, and there are three different interpretations on how Revelation or any kind of prophecy is. So, and these are methods that people use to interpret the book of Revelation, and I would suggest um kind of looking at all three because you have to know where the writer is when when you're reading it, because otherwise it gets confusing. So, you have the what's called the praetorist, which is a claim that um a large part of the book has already been fulfilled in the new uh and sorry in the early uh early history of the church. So that's saying that um the prophecy that John saw has already been fulfilled, and a lot of because you'll hear a lot about persecution and stuff like that, and the early church did go through it, but then you have the historic interpretation, which a lot of people are trying to say now. Um, that they're saying that the book of Revelation deals with the entire um period of church history from the John's time to the end of the world, and this is generally why a lot of preachers I have noticed, and I believe I've said this before or some other time, I have noticed that a lot of preachers don't preach past Revelation 5. Um, I I maybe it's because it's it's really kind of scary and uh symbolic after that point, but they generally try to stay between Revelations 1 and 5. Now, um then you have the spiritualist interpretation, and this sort of spiritualizes the entire teaching of the book and separates the the teaching of the book from any historical event. Now, I I generally don't believe that you should separate um the book of Revelation from historical events because there are things that will actually come to pass, and there are things that actually will sort of deal with the spiritual aspect of what has happened. Like when uh the the when the book is written to the seven churches. We're not talking about that there's only seven churches, but it's like the spiritual definition of each one of these churches. So it's very important that we don't separate it, but some people do. Then you have the futurist interpretation. Now, this to me is the most accurate interpretation, and the reason why I say that is because it it confirms the major part of the book and it deals with things that are still to come. Now, apart from like the like the first three chapters, now this book deals with the coming and the judgments and everything that are yet to take place. Like we have not seen a mountain fall out of the sky and poison the water. However, every time you turn her on, you hear things about a uh you know a comet or asteroid hitting the water. We make movies about it and and stuff like that. So I do believe that in a in a way God is still warning us that these things will happen, not can happen, will happen. So the the book should be given um as much as you can uh to be a liberal uh literal uh interpretation with the understanding that things will unfold in chronological order. God is not going to be a god of chaos, he is going to, if he says this is gonna happen, and then there's space in there's silence for a space of a half an hour, there will be a space of a space of silence for about a half an hour in heaven. So, and and we don't know what that is, but these things will happen the way it's going to happen. All right, so how is the book written? What is the what was the plan? How was how was it organized? Now the key to revelation is spelled out in Revelation 119. Oh, by the way, before I move on, we have a rule on this podcast. Um, most podcasts don't have rules, this one does, because we are often running against time constraints. But I may give you a scripture. What I do not want to do is let you think that um scriptures cannot be read in context. So whenever you whenever I give you a scripture, always read a verse or two above, verses two below, but preferably the entire text because context is key. I I really don't even want you to take this as face value. I want you to go back and study it for yourself and read it for yourself. This is just a guideline. So that being said, Revelation 119 says, Write the things you've seen and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter. So there's three divisions of the book. You have the things that you have seen, the things that you that which are, which are the things that you are seeing now, and then the things that shall be hereafter, or the things that are to come. So if you keep to these clear divisions of what God was telling uh John to do, then we have to study the book of Revelation and by dividing it into these three parts: chapter one, the things you've seen, chapters two, maybe three, the things which are, and chapters four through twenty two, the things that shall come to pass afterwards. And this is generally why you I you don't see people preaching a lot as Revelation 5, because it really gets into prophetic things, and and most people just don't want to be exposed to not knowing what the prophecy meant. I say that there's gonna be a little lion walking down your main street two days from now, and there isn't, you're gonna look at me like, well, JJ, um, you lied to me, and no one really wants to be called a liar. That's why I do think that a lot of people who are engaged in this in-time ology are not doing it out of maliciousness. A lot of people aren't, some people are, and not people aren't. So if you keep this clear outline, we're gonna go through and we we won't have any difficulty kind of studying and understanding this book that is literally the boogeyman's book. Um, and and I say it's the boogeyman's book because some people use it in a wrong way. So understand that there is a promise of blessing to begin with. Now, this has been given to read and study and understand. The the book is to remain unsealed. It's not like Daniel, where part of it was sealed for a time. In Revelation 22 10, he said unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book. Revelation 22.10. God planned for that book to be an open book of understanding. In fact, um, there's a component that uh where Jesus is saying, Hey, listen, you're gonna get a blessing if you read here and obey the words of the prophecy. Now, how are you gonna obey the words of the prophecy or read it, um, or hear it if it's hidden to you, or or if it's being sealed away from you? Revelation 1 and 3. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written therein. And then it comes back and he says the same thing in Revelation 22:7. Blessed is he that keeps the sayings of the prophecy of this book. So he puts it at the beginning and he puts it at the end. Now, God would never promise a blessing if Revelation was some mystical book that that cannot or should not be understood. Um, so and he understood uh and he actually planned it for us to read it, understand it, and live it the way it is going to be. So, what is the the entire point? The entire point of this book, um, Genesis sort of gives like an understanding concerning the beginning of everything. Revelation sort of teaches the uh consummation or the the way things are gonna get wrapped up. So we can even compare Revelation to Genesis, even though we spend all this time comparing Revelation to Daniel, but there are some similarities between Genesis and Revelation. In other words, um in Revelation in Genesis, you had the time where paradise was lost, when Adam and Eve was kicked out of the garden, you had paradise regained in Revelation, where you have the thousand-year reign, and it speaks about lions laying down next to lambs. You have um in Genesis the first city, which was a failure, and then in Revelation you have a city of the redeemed. Uh in Genesis, you have like the beginning of the curse, and then Revelation, where all the curses were taken off. Um, and in Genesis, you have marriage of the first Adam, and then in the Revelation, you have marriage of the second Adam, where it talks about the bride of Christ. You have in Genesis first tears, how people started being miserable and uh and being you know having a lot of hardship. In Revelation, you have where it says every tear is wiped away. Genesis, you kind of have we are introduced to Satan, we are introduced to Satan, even though if you really study it out, Satan had been around for a long time. He had just made his step onto the scene. Revelation, you have where Satan finally gets his come up in. Um Genesis, you have old creation and revelation, you have new creation. In Genesis, you have where the communion of God was broken with man. Remember where uh God said, Adam, where art thou and why have you hid yourself? In Revelation, you're gonna see that communion restored. And by communion, we're not talking about eating a little piece of bread and drinking a little bit of grape juice, we're talking about being able to have a conversation or walk with Jesus the same way uh he intended to back in the garden when he walked with Adam in the pool of the day, and things were over for the day. I mean, could you just imagine that? Being able to just walk and talk with God the way you hear my voice talking to you right now. I mean, that's that's amazing, right? So understand that Revelation does give a total revelation, that is nothing to be added or taken away from the estate. Please don't do that. If you see someone trying to add to it or take away from it, avoid them at all costs. Um, and because the reason why, because there's a curse that's pronounced uh upon those who are going to add and take away from the book. I believe it's in Revelation 22, 18 and 19 to be exact. If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life. So not only do you add, if you try to add something to Revelation, you're gonna get a whole bunch of problems. Um, and then if you try to take something out of it, you actually lose your soul by taking things out of it. That's why I am very, very, very, very careful. Make sure you talk about the entire thing, not just, and and not just the parts you don't like. And a lot of times we talk about um the the revelation of this book or taking away things out of this book when we talk about oh, well, that means holiness and things of that nature. No, no, no. We're right now, we're just talking about revelation, only the book of Revelation. Now, uh, should we take anything else out of the Bible? Absolutely not. It is very important that those things are in there, but I don't want to get sidetracked on that because a lot of people say, Well, that means you should take anything out of the Bible. Well, yes and no, but in context, it's only talking about revelations, is why context is key. Okay, now let's talk about the the the happily proclaimed number seven. And I say that because a lot of people are always talking about seven, and we talk we covered uh the number seven extensively, kind of low-key, in when we talked about the uh in the book of Daniel and how the prophecies are written out. The number seven appears quite a few times, um, and it's it it literally is God's number of perfection. Took God took seven days to build the earth and put everything in it. Um in Revelation, uh we talk about in Revelation 2 and 1, talk about the seven churches. Now, the seven churches is literally seven spiritual conditions of churches. You got seven seals in Revelation 6 and the Revelation 8. Got seven trumpets that came from eight to eleven. You have seven uh personages, which is from the 12 to 13, you have seven vials from 15 to 18, 7 judgments, 17 to 20, and seven new things, Revelation 21 and 22. So even in the book of Revelation, you will see that number more times. You will probably rarely pick up on in the entire book of the Bible, and believe it or not, God already set this precedent by setting up the seven years of Jubilee. Um, you will go back all the way back to Leviticus and Deuteronomy, where you will see God laying the the precedent of um the number seven. And all the way back, all the way back to Genesis, God started off with this number seven, he carries it right through the book of Revelation. And come on and think about it now. We're no one, no one of us is very um well, what's the word I'm looking for? Persistent when it comes to a lot of things, but see how seeing how God is very perceptive and very persistent about the number seven, we have to pay attention to it. So, how do we read and understand Revelation? Now that again, there is there are people who who really want to do the right thing and and just not doing it correctly, and then some people are some people are unfortunately using people um to kind of get around it. Now we gotta keep in mind that John recorded. The things that he saw and heard as they unfolded. Um, so you're gonna see a lot of things that's gonna happen in chronological order, and we have to accept it as literally as possible. Now, the moment we start trying to spiritualize and explain away the meaning, we are in difficulty because when we try to add our understanding, we generally end up confusing the subject. Um, and then the reason why you say that is because it is very clear the way John is explaining things, that even he doesn't even understand what he's writing, but he's just being told, write this down. And just like sometimes we go through things, things in in our lives right now, we don't understand why it's happening, but these things are happening. We don't understand why certain countries, certain politics are going a certain way, but they are going that way because it has to happen. Um, and to illustrate that, to kind of kind of nail home on the point, and then we'll we'll end for the day. Um, we might refer to um maybe look at the sixth seal. And and the reason why I say that is because we can we can talk about any of these other things, but let's look at the sixth seal, Revelation chapter six. This is the description of an atomic war, if you really look at it. Look uh look at Revelation 6 and 12. Um, for the sake of time, I I ask that you go back and read it. If you look at Revelation 6 and 12, it can only really describe what is considered an atomic war. But John would have no way of understanding what an atomic war is, just think about it in our own lives. Um, if you were in the 70s or 60s, you would have no idea what a cell phone was, you would have no idea what AI really is. But we know what that is today because we we have it all around us. So if you were to try to explain, or someone was gonna try to explain um these things to you, they would use terms that you would understand. You would uh and it would be easier to say, um, like we saw in some of the prophecies where it talked about a great eagle. Well, that'll be because Isaiah or Daniel or any of these prophets back there would have no idea what a Boeing 747 looks like, or 757, or what's 777, they would have no idea what that is, they would have no idea what an airplane is. So they would literally explain it in terms that they would understand. And then knowing that this is a prophecy, you know, then it would it would it would make sense when we see it because we said, hey, that's what they were talking about. For instance, if I said if I was living back in in the biblical days, and I said a great arrow launched itself from the ground and and went towards the enemy. Now, in your mind, because I only know what an arrow looks like, you might say, Well, it's a huge arrow. But nowadays, if you if you read that I wrote that at some point, you would say, Wow, that might be a missile, that might be an uh ICBM, that would be uh a rocket or a tomahawk cruise missile, because those things generally come from out of the ground, out of the ocean. The same way that we are we have to correlate there the writer, not the conceiver, the writer's perception of what he is seeing. We have to kind of put it into what we understand. Really good example of this, and what we will see in Revelation um a great mountain was thrown into the sea. These guys would have no idea what a comet was, they would have no idea what an asteroid is, they would have no idea, but it to them, it would literally look like a mountain on fire coming out of the sky. So when we look at some of the prophecies that we're gonna talk about, and you keep these sort of principles in mind, it becomes an exciting uh book rather than such a scary book, and just as God promised, we can be blessed if we study it as a wonderful prophecy and things that will happen, and things that will happen literally. Um and it's it it sort of takes the fear out of it. And let me tell y'all something right now, and I will wrap up with this. Let me tell y'all something right now. If the book of Revelation scares you, if the end time scares you, then you need to examine your walk with God. There's no other way to really sugarcoat that. You have to examine your walk with God because there's something in your soul, something in your spirit telling you that you're not quite ready to meet this. Now, I'm not saying um, that's not saying that these individual concepts can be scary. Like, oh my god, if you if someone told you that an asteroid was going to land in the middle of the ocean and half of the population was gonna be wiped out, that would be scary. But if you are understanding that this is part of the uh the pop the prophecy that God said was going to happen, that you know that God is in control, and if God is in control, then you know that uh that God is whatever happens is in God's will. And I know that that sounds a little vague. I know it sounds a little vague, but it you gotta understand that these things are not randomly happening, these things are not uh being being done maliciously because it's a judgment, these are there are judgments that are coming, and this is where I get the idea that I believe that God's true church is going to be gone because I'm not sure why God would judge his church, but again, I'm not God, God is God. So, that being said, we're gonna wrap up for today. I love each and every one of you. Remember to like, share, comment. Um you can share the iHeart app, you can share the episode on iHeart. Thank you all so much. Love each and every one of you. See y'all on the next one. God bless you.