Study of Daniel precedes
in-depth study of Revelation
Here we conclude our series on the book of Daniel as both signs of Christ's Return and the understanding of it as a sign in and of itself as the nearness of the end of days. This also sets up the student of prophecy nicely for the next vital adventure in understanding the enormity and importance of the time in which we live. The study of the book of Revelation is that adventure. The study of Revelation needs be preceded by a thorough look into the dreams and prophecies of Daniel for a very good reason. Daniel teaches the end times saints about the kind of faith they will need in order to truly understand and keep Revelation's profound message. Revelation can only be known and kept by a pure faith in God's holy word. Daniel is that part of God's word that directly exposes the antichrist (see chart on Profile of Antichrist person seen through the eyes of Daniel's reports) and his strategies (see religious timetable of Antichrist strategy during Tribulation) and gives us faith as an antidote to its powerful poisoning influence. To fully understand Revelation the student of prophecy must have a sound understanding of Daniel. Revelation and Daniel are sister books and, as we shall see, Daniel is Revelation's perfect helpmate.
In the very first chapter of Revelation the believer is challenged by Jesus Christ to read, hear (understand), and to keep the words written in its pages. A blessing is promised to anyone who takes that plea of Jesus Christ's seriously. The primary assertion of our study of Revelation is that it is not enough to know what is in Revelation, in fact it is not enough even to understand what is in Revelation, the end-times saint must keep the words written in the book, as well. We believe the blessing bestowed on the believers who keep this clarion call means they will be kept from the great deception that is coming on the earth in these final hours. The end result of the blessing of the book of Revelation will be that the obedient saint will be part of the rapture. Those who keep the words of Revelation (and we shall later emphasize what keeping the word means) will have the same testimony as the first man raptured, Enoch, who had as a testimony that he pleased God. (Hebrews 11) The bottom line of our study of Revelation is this: to read, hear and keep the words written in Revelation is pleasing, very pleasing, to God, and there is a great blessing - the rapture - awaiting those who, by faith, receive the message of Revelation.
Daniel laid the Groundwork for the kind of faith we would need
If our study of Daniel showed anything it showed that it is God's secret end-times weapon. It is a unique book of the Bible because it is the only book that had its meaning locked away until the last days. God has used the understanding created by the opening of Daniel to unlock Revelation's meanings. The angel, Gabriel, told Daniel to seal up the vision till the time of the end when travel and knowledge would be increased. Obviously, we are in the end times. We live in a Global Village where every city is but a few hours from another, thanks to jet travel. Computers, phones and televisions distribute knowledge to the world's literate masses at the speed of light. These are perilous and dark days, however, and Daniel has been given to the end-times saints to enhance and increase their faith and help them weather the storm of the rapidly approaching and all intrusive antichrist spirit.
The antichrist spirit is taking rule in the earth and is even hemming in and corrupting the Church. But Daniel can be an antidote and an elixir of health for our faith. In our study we discovered that the first half of Daniel (first six chapters) was a string of real life testimonies showing the Church the type of faith to which God wants His end times saints to aspire. He wants us to trust in Him totally and be holy and perfect in obedience (chap. 1). We are required to know that God has a master plan for the nations and that Christ's kingdom will ultimately defeat the antichrist kingdom and rule on earth (chap. 2). God has provided us, through the blood of His Son and the power of the Holy Ghost, with the means to live crucified lives, so that in godly fear and respect we may worship only Him regardless of the consequences (chap. 3). We are also to be acutely aware that no man or government rules but by His consent and that, forsaking social and political gospels, we should know that He is in control of man's destiny (chap. 4). We ought to keep in mind that a day or judgment is coming and every wrong will be righted, every man shall reap what he sows, and there is no respect of persons with God (chap. 5). And, lastly, we learned that if we trust in God, and never waver from worshipping Him in spirit and in truth, not conceding to the antichrist spirit, but living righteous in Christ, we shall be delivered from the "mouth of the lion" (chap. 6). Our study of Daniel discussed these deep matters of faith in detail and offered instruction to the end-times saint on how to attain to them by the New Testament of Jesus' blood. The purpose was to acquaint us with the necessary end-times faith. That is the faith needed and illuminated by Daniel. It is a faith that can quicken the understanding of Jesus' declaration that, “Anyone who does not take up his cross and
follow after me cannot be my disciple", and "anyone who finds his life shall lose it, and anyone who loses his life for my sake shall find it.”
Daniel also taught us about the all-pervasive antichrist spirit
The second half of the study of Daniel (chapters 7-12) is the earliest Biblical revelation of the Antichrist's career and his kingdom's development. It lays the groundwork for Revelation's eye opening disclosures and awesome warnings. It pinpoints the motives, times and actions of the Antichrist. The last six chapters of Daniel show the ultimate goal of the antichrist spirit and the antichrist collusion between man and devil. The Antichrist's personality was discussed and we became educated about the spirit of antichrist in a spiritual way that only the searing truth of God's Word can do. Through Daniel's graphic illustrations we also peered into our own fleshly inclinations and worldly hopes and the necessity to crucify them with the "old man" by the faith offered the saints in the first six chapters of Daniel.
All this has paved the way for a study of the final book of the Bible: Revelation. After studying Daniel we should not only know the antichrist spirit in the world but the antichrist spirit that is prone to dwell in our own heart. Now Revelation's mysteries may not be so mysterious to us because we know the enemy and his strategy. We also found out that we are inclined by nature to be accomplices with the antichrist spirit.
We all need help understanding Revelation
When it comes to reading and understanding the prophecies and words written in the Book of Revelation we all need help. The finest teachers of Revelation, Joseph Siess, E. W. Bullinger, Arthur Bloomfield, Gordon Lindsey, and others more recent like Hal Lindsay, have relied on those who labored in the word before them. Though none of these men have the luxury of hindsight by the advantage of fulfilled prophecy as we do, we owe them a debt of gratitude.
The understanding of Revelation has been building for the past one hundred years. It has been more than twenty years of the study of God's Word, of reading and hearing from these former teachers, and of watching prophecy unfold that has culminated in this study and its understanding of Revelation. Our purpose is that the student who hears the words of this study will acquire the faith to keep the words of Revelation and thereby obtain its blessing. Our purpose stems from the words spoken to John by Jesus Christ in the third verse of Revelation: "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.”
Many of our readers, we fear, have a knowledge of Revelation without true understanding and faith for its fulfillment. Their view of God's plan of salvation is disjointed, because their understanding of Revelation is incoherent and not cohesive. They don't know God's goals or purposes. Arthur Bloomfield in his book Armageddon: before the Last Battle noted how important it is to understand that a study of prophecy is really a study of the entire Bible and God's overall plan. He wrote: “God had something in mind - a very definite goal - when He created the world. All the Bible points toward that goal. It is the development of one master plan. It always looks ahead. In that sense, the entire Bible is prophecy. A study of prophecy is a study of the Bible. A study without the prophetic forward look is merely a study of certain aspects of history. Prophecy is history from God's viewpoint."
Prophecy is important because it and history - His story - are one and the same. All important history is fulfilled prophecy. All Bible prophecy is simply history waiting to happen. It is unfortunate but many believers have a hard time seeing how all of the events, promises and judgments of Revelation relate to one another and fit in with the gospel of Jesus Christ. This study hopes to bring things into focus for those people. It should help them see that God does not do anything by the seat of His pants. His plan of redemption for mankind has always had a clear beginning, a definite middle, and an explicit end.
Our study of Revelation will show you how Revelation relates to your personal walk of faith, that it is a living testimony for today's Christian and an anchor for the end-times saint.
Before going on to study Revelation, one final statement is worth making about Revelation. Revelation is not the Revelation of St. John the Divine, as some Bibles title it. It is not John's revelation at all. The very first verse of Revelation declares whose revelation it really is, it says; "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:"
God gave the revelation to Jesus who had it delivered to John. When we understand that the Book of Revelation is noted by the Father to be the revelation of His Son, Jesus Christ, then we know it is a special and extremely important book. We shall ask every question, study the whole gospel, and look the Bible through from Genesis 1: 1 to Revelation 22:21 for understanding of this Revelation of Jesus Christ so we may keep the words that are written therein.