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The following is  provided by The Bible Study Center of Irvine,
Kentucky as a thought starter from one of over 2200 in-depth
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This is Chapter 1 of 25 in our book beginning the study into the book of
Revelation. The remaining chapters are found on the bbs.
****************** CHAPTER ONE - INTERPRETATION ******************

REVELATION 1:
 1:1  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him,
to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to
pass; and he sent and signified [it] by his angel unto his
servant John:
 1:2  Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony
of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
 1:3  Blessed [is] he that readeth, and they that hear the
words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written
therein: for the time [is] at hand.

MOST PEOPLE who profess to be Christians today either WANT to know
what the book of Revelation means, or believe that no one can
really be certain what it does mean. I would like to make it very
clear in the beginning of our study that this booklet will not
teach you the entire message of the Revelation. Instead, this
study is put together by combining small parts of several messages
that we have preached on the subject in years past. As we have
time, we will attempt to write more study guides on the meaning of
this MOST IMPORTANT of all the books in the Bible.

Since there are many opinions as to the manner of interpreting
this book, I feel that the best way to start a study is to
determine what method of interpretation that God intends for us to
use in order to understand it properly. In order to save time, we
will first show a few reasons why we follow the method of
interpretation that we use, and then we will further prove the
method as we study each chapter. If the chapters seem at times to
be disjointed from one another or self contained, please remember
that they were all originally taken from individual studies and
have only been put together for use in this booklet.

The best way to get started "rightly dividing" the book of
Revelation is to study carefully the first few verses of the
book. You will notice that this is "the REVELATION of JESUS CHRIST
and NOT the revelation of JOHN as many people call it. The word
"REVELATION" comes from a Greek word which means "to UNVEIL"
someone or something. Therefore, THIS BOOK IS THE UNVEILING OF
JESUS CHRIST. This statement tells us several things:

     (1) JESUS CHRIST IS VEILED OR HIDDEN UNTIL REVELATION IS
FULLY UNDERSTOOD.

     (2) Since TRUE, SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE of JESUS CHRIST is
essential to our experience of salvation, then understanding this
book of REVELATION is extremely important to the children of God.

     (3) Since the verse states that this is the unveiling of
Jesus CHRIST, then it has to be a picture of Jesus as he fulfills
the work of being the "CHRIST" or in other words, the MESSIAH.
Since the Bible teaches us that the church is suppose to function
as the SPIRITUAL "BODY OF CHRIST" (i.e. 1 Corinthians 12), then
the message of Revelation is very likely to be connected with the
revealing of JESUS as he is seen in his spiritual "body", the
CHURCH.

We are going to prove in this booklet that the only way to
understand the TRUE meaning of the Revelation is to study it as a
book of symbols or spiritual events as pictured by literal or
allegorical descriptions. There are many reasons why we believe
that this is true, and we will briefly describe a few of these
reasons as follows:

     (1)  Verse 1 of the first chapter of Revelation tells us that
it is "SIGNIFIED". All of the Greek reference works that I have
been able to obtain describe the word which is translated
"signified" as meaning to put forth in "sign" form. Since a "sign"
is an indication of something and not the thing itself, then
Revelation is written in "sign" language or prophetic imagery
which depicts events in the spiritual realm by using descriptions
of things which are literal or physical. For example, a SIGN which
says "GROCERY STORE" is not where you buy the groceries. It is not
the store itself, but rather an indicator pointing to the place
where the groceries are for sale. Also, a STOP sign "signifies"
that you should STOP, but it is not the act of stopping. It does
not actually stop as it was not moving in the first place. It only
indicates that a "stop" should take place. Even so, the "pictures"
painted by John in writing down the Revelation are not the actual
events portrayed, but rather symbolic indicators of the actual
events (signs).

     (2)  Notice the underlined parts of these verses from the
first chapter of the book of Revelation.

 1:4  John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace [be]
unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and
which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before
his throne;
 1:5  And from Jesus Christ, [who is] the faithful witness,
[and] the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the
kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from
our sins in his own blood,
 1:6  And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his
Father; to him [be] glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
 1:7  Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see
him, and they [also] which pierced him: and all kindreds of the
earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
 1:13  And in the midst of the seven candlesticks [one] like
unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot,
and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
 1:14  His head and [his] hairs [were] white like wool, as
white as snow; and his eyes [were] as a flame of fire;
 1:15  And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in
a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
 1:16  And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his
mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance [was] as
the sun shineth in his strength.
 1:20  The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my
right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars
are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven
candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

Though there are a few more things that we could have underlined
in this text, I am sure that you will notice from reading these
verses that some of these underlined statements can be proven in
this very context that they are symbolic in meaning. Please allow
me me to ask you two brief but very pertinent questions:

     (A)  If Jesus starts us out in this book of Revelation by
SHOWING US that some of these things are symbolic, is it possible
that he is giving us a key to the interpretation of the entirety
of the book?

     (B)  If:
"seven stars" symbolize "angels" (Greek = messengers or Pastors),

"seven golden candlesticks" symbolize the  seven churches,

the "sun" symbolizes Jesus' light or TRUTH (John 1:9, Malachi 4:2),

"sharp two-edged sword" symbolizes the WORD OF GOD...Hebrews 4:12,

"kings and priests" symbolize SPIRITUAL  positions (1 Peter 2:5),

then is it not possible that the other things that we have
underlined in the text are also symbolic, and the Bible provides
the scriptural keys that will help us to find out WHAT those
symbols represent IN TRUTH? We will not have enough space in this
small booklet to cover all of these symbols and their meanings. We
will however, make use of this basic principle in order to discover
the TRUE meanings of some of the very important but often
misunderstood subjects in Revelation.

     (3)  As a third means of proof that Revelation is a symbolic
book we would like to give you a BRIEF overview of the entire book
looking ONLY at a few of the symbols which are shown to be SYMBOLS
in their immediate contexts (excluding those we have already
mentioned):

(a) Revelation 17:1, "waters" symbolize "peoples, multitudes,
nations, tongues"...Revelation 17:15.

(b) Revelation 17:9, "seven heads" symbolize "seven mountains" and
"seven kings"...Revelation 17:9-10.

(c) Revelation 17:12, "ten horns" symbolize "ten kings" (verse 12).

(d) Revelation 5:8, "golden vials full of odours (incense)"
symbolize the prayers of "saints" (God's children).

(e) Revelation 4:6-10, the "four beasts" and "four and twenty
elders" symbolize the children of God who have been redeemed by the
blood of Jesus...Revelation 5:9-10.

(f) Revelation 12:14, the "time, and times, and half a time"
symbolize the same period as the "thousand two hundred and
threescore days"...Revelation 12:6 (same events described).

(g) Revelation 19:8, the "fine white linen" symbolizes the
"righteousness of saints".

(h) Revelation 21:10 the "heavenly Jerusalem" symbolizes the
"bride" of Jesus Christ, the TRUE CHURCH (Ephesians 5:22-
33)...Revelation 21:2 and 9.

     (4) As a final means of showing the symbolic nature of
the book of Revelation, I would ask the reader to prayerfully
consider the POSSIBILITY of the following uses of symbols. I am not
going to take the time to expound IN DEPTH the proof texts, but
only ask you to CONSIDER the POSSIBILITY of the following:

     (A) "Winds" such as we see described in Revelation 7:1
symbolize doctrines (religious teachings) of which ONLY ONE WIND is
the TRUTH (the ONE narrow way mentioned in Matthew 7:13-14) and the
others are FALSE (blowing from and towards the wrong directions) as
we see described in Ephesians 4:14;

 4:14  That we [henceforth] be no more children, tossed to and
fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the
sleight of men, [and] cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in
wait to deceive;

     (B) The "woman" in Revelation 12 pictures the TRUE CHURCH as
the SPIRITUAL MOTHER of those who have the "testimony of Jesus
Christ (Rev. 12:17)". Notice the following scriptures found in
Galatians 4:26;
     But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the MOTHER of
us all. (caps mine)

In the context Paul is contrasting the people of God under the OLD
COVENANT (LITERAL Israel and Jerusalem) with the people of God
under the NEW COVENANT (SPIRITUAL Israel and SPIRITUAL Jerusalem).
Whereas LITERAL Jerusalem was the center of the worship and the
administration of the Word of God under the Old Testament (i.e.
covenant...same meaning), SPIRITUAL JERUSALEM or the TRUE CHURCH
was the center for the worship of God and the administration of the
Word of God under the New Testament (covenant). Every true CHILD OF
GOD is conceived (begotten) by God (James 1:13), and is "brought to
birth" by the SPIRITUAL MOTHER, the church (even as we see typified
or symbolized in the LITERAL HUMAN process which God "created").

Matthew 12:50;
     For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in
heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and MOTHER. (caps mine)

For a more complete study of this "type", please study our booklet
called "THE CHALLENGE", which teaches the symbolism pictured by the
literal VIRGIN BIRTH of Jesus Christ, and the symbolic picture of
the "MOTHER" position of the church.

     (C) The "EARTH" mentioned in Revelation 12 which helps the
"woman" is also symbolic, and represents something which we shall
cover in detail in a chapter of this book.

     (D) If the "earth" is symbolic, then it is possible that the
term "heaven" (which in the Greek from which this is translated
means a HIGH PLACE) is also used in a symbolic sense in this
context.

     (E) If the "earth" and "heaven" are symbolic here, then the
"sun" which would shine in this "heaven" (Jesus...Malachi 4:2), and
the "stars" which shine as lesser lights in this "heaven" (God's
messengers or MINISTRY...Revelation 1:20, Matthew 5:14, Daniel
12:3, 1 Corinthians 15:41, Galatians 4:14, etc.) would ALSO be
symbolic.

     (F) If the things mentioned in "C", "D", and "E" are symbolic,
(and we will deal with them more in this booklet), then is it
possible that the "GREAT RED DRAGON" mentioned in Revelation 12,
and spoken of as being "called" the "devil" and "satan", IS ALSO a
symbolic picture? IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THE DEVIL (BEELZEBUB), THE
"GOD OF THIS WORLD" AND "PRINCE OF DARKNESS" IS NOT LITERALLY A
BEAST WITH SEVEN HEADS AND TEN HORNS AND SEVEN CROWNS UPON HIS
HEADS? A chapter in this booklet will cover the TRUTH of this
subject. Please NOTICE that even after he is cast "to the earth",
he is STILL able to persecute the "woman" who is in "heaven".
Revelation 12:13,
     And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he
persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.

     The context shows that the "woman" WAS NOT cast out of
"heaven", but rather provided for by God.

     (G) The "blood...unto the horse bridles" in Revelation 14:20
is shown in the context to be GRAPE JUICE if you literalize the
text. Obviously, to literalize the text is to teach error.

 14:16  And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on
the earth; and the earth was reaped.
 14:17  And another angel came out of the temple which is in
heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
 14:18  And another angel came out from the altar, which had
power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the
sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather
the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully
ripe.
 14:19  And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and
gathered the vine of the earth, and cast [it] into the great
winepress of the wrath of God.
 14:20  And the winepress was trodden without the city, and
blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles,
by the space of a thousand [and] six hundred furlongs.

Other scriptures in the Bible refer to the "BLOOD of the GRAPE":

     Genesis 49:11 "BLOOD of grapes"
     Deuteronomy 32:14 "BLOOD of the grape"

In order to understand what the "blood" represents, we must consult
the context for more information. This shows us that the grapes are
produced by the "vine of the earth". We must determine from the
scriptures WHAT this vine symbolizes before we can know more about
the "blood of the grapes" which come from the vine.

Jesus used a very simple parable or symbolic "type" in John 15:1
when he said that he was the "TRUE VINE". This statement implies
that there is also a FALSE VINE. In order to determine which of
these is shown in Revelation 14, we need only to notice two things:

     (a) Jesus is the vine from heaven and not of this earth.

     (b) In Revelation 14, the "vine of the earth" is cast into the
"great winepress of the wrath of God". Although some people might
want us to believe that this pictures when Jesus went to the cross
and bore our sins, the entire context of Revelation 14 shows events
which can be proven to take place AFTER CALVARY. Therefore, the
vine of the "earth" cannot be a picture of Jesus as he will never
again experience the "wrath of God".

Since we can rightly and Biblically symbolize Jesus as the VINE
of heaven, and TRUE CHILDREN OF GOD ARE THE "BRANCHES" OF THE VINE,
then we must surely see that the "vine of the earth" is just the
opposite. The "vine of the earth" is the FALSE "JESUS" that Paul
the apostle spoke of in 2 Corinthians 11:

 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I
have espoused you to one husband, that I may present [you as] a
chaste virgin to Christ.
 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled
Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted
from the simplicity that is in Christ.
 11:4  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we
have not preached, or [if] ye receive another spirit, which ye
have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not
accepted, ye might well bear with [him].

 11:13  For such [are] false apostles, deceitful workers,
transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
 11:14  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an
angel of light.
 11:15  Therefore [it is] no great thing if his ministers also
be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end
shall be according to their works.

Even as the TRUE VINE and its branches produce "grapes" of the TRUE
WORD OF GOD, even so the "vine of the earth" produces "EARTH"
gospel or fleshly religion which is designed for the "natural man"
since he cannot understand the things that are SPIRITUAL which are
the TRUE "BLOOD" of the "TRUE VINE".
1 Corinthians 2:14 says:

"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of
God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned."

If you are enjoying this study, you may access the next chapter
(filename =REVSTUDY.TXT or .ZIP in Library "A") using the password:
"PURE". This helps us to present the studies in a manner so they
will be less confusing. You need thefoundations laid in the earlier
chapters to understand the latter ones.

Since the "natural man" or non-spiritual (lost) person cannot
understand the TRUTH, the devil produces his own "grapes", and God
WANTS them to be "pressed" so the "blood" can go forth from false
churches and false preachers in order to deceive those who do not
LOVE the TRUTH. Notice 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12;

 2:9  [Even him], whose coming is after the working of Satan
with all power and signs and lying wonders,
 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them
that perish; because they received not the love of the truth,
that they might be saved.
 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion,
that they should believe a lie:
 2:12  That they all might be damned who believed not the
truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

For this reason WE DO NOT BELIEVE IN TRYING TO PREVENT THE WORK OF
FALSE CHURCHES, but rather we strive to warn HONEST HEARTS (GOD'S
TRUE ELECT) so they will not be deceived.

"Wine" (grape juice or "blood") is used to symbolize the word of
God in Isaiah 55:1-2.

Jesus referred to the grape juice which he and the disciples drank
at the "LAST SUPPER" (passover; Luke 22:15) as "the new testament
in my blood". He was therefore speaking of the blood of the grape
as representative of his blood which he taught in John 6:53-63 was
symbolic of his "WORDS", or in other words, THE WORD OF GOD.

Obviously, if the "blood" of the grapes produced by the "vine of
the earth" is symbolic in Revelation 14, then the horses and their
"bridles" are ALSO symbolic. Therefore, this helps us to see that
symbolic consistency requires that the four horses in Revelation 6
also be symbolic. We will deal with those symbols in another study.

Everyone who professes to be a Christian today believes that they
are getting the TRUTH preached to them in their churches and that
they are therefore "drinking" of the "blood" of the "vine" from
heaven; Jesus Christ. However, as the scriptures have shown us, the
devil (Beelzebub) "transforms (the Greek word means "disguises")
himself and his "ministers" do the same. They PRETEND to be
preachers of "righteousness" (see text already quoted from 2 Cor.
11:13-15). They do not go around trying to get people to take
drugs, to drink liquor, to commit adultery, to murder, to steal,
etc. They stand in the pulpits of the churches of the land and
PREACH RIGHTEOUSNESS.

You might ask, "but how can we know who are true preachers of the
TRUE WORD OF GOD"?

There are several characteristics that the Bible pictures which can
help us to know for certain if we are hearing the TRUE WORD OF GOD.
I will only list them for now, as there is not enough room in this
booklet to detail and prove them all. However, we do have other
study booklets which cover each of these subjects in detail.

     (a)  True God sent preaching will be centered on the study of
the scriptures and NOT just some well presented "good words and
fair speeches" which tickle the "ears" and entice the natural mind,
but do not "feed" and bring spiritual understanding to the spirit.
Such false preaching will USE the Bible to "read from", yet will
not expound its depths. Romans 16:18 says:

 16:17  Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause
divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have
learned; and avoid them.
 16:18  For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ,
but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches
deceive the hearts of the simple.

     (b)  True God sent preaching will not be short "sermonettes"
of 20 or 30 minutes intended for the comfort and benefit of the
"FLESH", but will consume however much time is necessary in order
to detail the meaning of the scriptures that God desires to be
brought with understanding for that particular time. Such spiritual
"feeding" will often seem rather short to honest hearts (time
passes quickly when you are enjoying yourself), yet will
usually  require an hour of more (sometimes several) in order to
fully study into the depths of the subject which the Lord is
leading the preacher to teach.

     (c)  True preachers will not concern themselves with their
"style" of delivery, but will only desire to bring the word in a
manner so as to make it very clear and understandable to those who
are spiritually capable of receiving it. They do not strive to
appeal to those who have "itching ears", but only desire to "feed
with knowledge and understanding" (Jeremiah 3:15). They have a God
given task to expound the deep and hidden things of God so the
people of God may receive SPIRITUAL nourishment from them. THEY ARE
NOT CALLED BY GOD TO SIMPLY PLAY ON MEN AND WOMEN'S EMOTIONS TO
MAKE THEM "FEEL" RELIGIOUS OR "SAVED".

     (d)  Contrary to many people's beliefs or understanding, TRUE
GOD CALLED AND SENT preachers ARE NOT to preach so-called
"evangelistic" sermonettes" that basically just admonish men and
women to turn to God (i.e. "get saved"). Acts 20:28, 1 Timothy
4:11-16, and other texts show us that a true preacher must FEED the
people of GOD; not just try to make them to become such. Since the
"word of God" is the means of spiritual life (through "conception"
spiritually...James 1:13), anyone who is honest hearted and comes
into contact (spiritually) with the preaching of the "word" may be
conceived without the preacher trying to "pry them toward Jesus"
through some special "call" or "pull". However, for saved people to
hear over and over these "calls to come to Christ", there is no
benefit. They need "feeding" with SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING.

     (e)  TRUE preaching of the word is just expounding the meaning
of the text, but must also show the application of the meaning to
our lives today. I do not just refer to the teaching of "DO" and
"DON'TS". I realize that we must have some teaching along the lines
of how we should live and what we should and should not do.
HOWEVER, the preacher must remember that INSTRUCTION is not FOOD
no matter how true that it is. God's people need SPIRITUAL FOOD as
well as instruction on Christian living.

This should give the reader a basic idea as to the proper method of
interpreting the Book of Revelation. In the next chapter, we will
study how that using this method enables us to "rightly divide"
some of the commonly misunderstood and erroneously taught portions
of the book.