The End Times In Revelation

This is a good follow-up to the previous post, IMHO.

It comes from my Lutheran Study Bible and includes both a brief summary of the Book of Revelation and a handy chart/timeline. I wanted to share it with all of you, because this was significant in helping me to properly understand what the Word of God has to say about this controversial subject (and because students of Bible prophecy absolutely love charts and timelines -- except this one's truly Biblical).

I hope this helps those of you who are struggling with this topic the way it helped me.

The End Times In Revelation 

Though Revelation can be difficult to understand because it uses so many symbols, it actually provides a very simple description of the End Times as the early Christians noticed. For example, after reading Revelation and the rest of Scripture, the early Christians summarized the End Times as follows:

"[Jesus now] sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead ... We believe in ... the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting" 

The Apostles Creed

For centuries this simple summary of the End Times -- rooted in Revelation -- guided Christian teaching. Today, however, false teachers have created many confusing and complex interpretations of Revelation. They have added false doctrines like the Rapture and the Millennium to Revelation's summary of the End Times. As a result, many Christians are confused about what will happen i the future. For a simple, clear understanding of how Revelation differs from modern, false opinions, study the timelines below. Be sure to look up the Bible references and see how Revelation agrees with the rest of God's Word.

Revelation's simple timeline clearly shows that no "Rapture" or "Millennium" must take place before Jesus returns. He could reappear for Judgment Day at any time! Therefore, "blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book" (Revelation 22:7). Study Revelation and joyously look forward to the return of your Savior.

That's one of the things that really made this understanding of End Times Bible prophecy "click" for me -- the sheer simplicity of it all!

In addition, it's like we stated in the previous post, it's a Christ-centered understanding as opposed to an Israel-centered one, and that is the most glaring observation that makes this perspective the right one.

Revelation 1:1-3 As John begins relaying the prophetic word that God gives through Him, he pronounces a blessing upon all who will listen and take to heart this revelation. Despite this promised blessing, however, people are resistant to hearing unsettling prophecies, let alone acting upon them by making changes in their lives. But take heart! Jesus Christ stands at the center of this and every other Scripture. His first coming resulted in forgiveness and life for you, and His second coming will perfect the new creation. Lord Jesus, lead me to read, hear, and keep the message You revealed through John, for it tells about my final hope, even life eternal in Your presence. Amen.

In a Lutheran layman's terms, this is the proper (a.k.a. Biblical) understanding of the End Times in Revelation...and it's distinctly Lutheran.




NOTE: Please understand that I'm not a called and ordained minister of God's Word and Sacraments. I'm a layman or just a regular Christian, Corporate Recruiter, Husband, Father, Friend who lives in the "City of Good Neighbors" here on the East Coast. As another Christian Blogger once wrote, "Please do not see this blog as me attempting to 'publicly teach' the faith, but view it as an informal Public Journal of sorts about my own experiences and journey, and if any of my notes here help you in any way at all, then I say, 'Praise the Lord!' but please do double check them against the Word of God and with your own Pastor." To be more specific, and relevant to the point I want to make with this disclaimer/note, please understand that I'm a relatively new convert to Confessional Lutheran who recently escaped American Evangelicalism a little more than 3 years ago now. That being said, please contact me ASAP if you believe that any of my "old beliefs" seem to have crept their way into any of the material you see published here, and especially if any of the content is inconsistent with our Confessions and Lutheran doctrine (in other words, if it's not consistent with God's Word, which our Confessions merely summarize and repeatedly point us back to over and over again) so that I can correct those errors immediately and not lead any of His little ones astray (James 3:1). Also, please be aware that you might also discover that some of the earlier/older pieces I wrote for this blog back in 2013 definitely fall into that "Old Evangelical Adam" category (and they don't have a disclaimer like this) since I was a "Lutheran-In-Name-Only" at the time and was completely oblivious to the fact that a Christian "Book of Concord" even existed (Small/Large Catechism? What's that!?!). This knowledge of the Lutheran basics was completely foreign to me even though I was baptized, confirmed, and married in an LCMS church! So, there are some entries that are a little "out there" so-to-speak since the subject matter was also heavy influenced by those old beliefs of mine. I know that now and I'm still learning. Anyway, I decided to leave those published posts up on this website and in cyberspace only because they are not blasphemous/heretical, because I now have this disclaimer, and only to demonstrate the continuing work of Christ and the Holy Spirit in my life (Hebrews 12:2; Philippians 1:6). Most importantly, please know that any time I engage in commenting on and/or interpreting a specific portion of the holy Scriptures, it will always closely follow the verse-by-verse footnotes from my Lutheran Study Bible and/or include references to the Book of Concord unless otherwise noted. Typically, I defer to what other Lutheran Pastors both past and present have already preached and taught about such passages since they are the called and ordained under-shepherds of our souls here on earth. Finally, I'm going to apologize ahead of time for the length of most entries (this disclaimer/note is a perfect example of what I mean! haha). I'm well aware that blogs should be short, sweet, and to the point, but I've never been one to follow the rules when it comes to writing. Besides, this website is more like a "Christian Dude's Diary" in the sense that everything I write about and share publicly isn't always what's "popular" or "#trending" at the time, but is instead all the things that I'm studying myself at the moment. For better or for worse, these posts tend to be much longer than most blog entries you'll find elsewhere only because I try to pack as much info as possible into a single piece so that I can refer to it again and again over time if I need to (and so that it can be a valuable resource for others -- if possible, a "One-Stop-Shop" of sorts). Thank you for stopping by and thank you in advance for your time, help, and understanding. Feel free to comment/email me at any time. Grace and peace to you and yours!  

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