A fresh and inspired non-fiction Bible study guide to “Revelation”. Five keys and Jesus’ words from across the Bible unlock its mysteries. The result is a spiritual journey, a different interpretation, and a change in the dialogue about “Revelation”.
Excerpt
Chapter 1. Keys to Unlocking Revelation
Jesus’ Challenges
Ten-headed beasts, plagues, fire and brimstone, Armageddon, God’s triumph over Satan; this is the picture that many people have of the Book of Revelation. But, while much has been written about Revelation, people have struggled for nearly 2000 years to understand this last book in the Bible. This was certainly the case for me. I knew that Revelation describes what will happen in the future; the glorious return of Christ, the fate of this world, and the beginning of the next. But, the story is so filled with symbolism and is so hard to understand that, for a long time, I believed that Revelation is something that simply must be taken on faith. And yet, Revelation begins with the charge that it is a message to show Jesus’ followers “the things that must shortly take place”. This clearly says that we need to understand the revelation message, yet it seems unclear. Why would God send us a message that we could not understand and then expect us to follow it? How could I understand the truth? This was the first challenge of Revelation to me.
A second challenge comes from the book of Matthew. Jesus said, “See that no one misleads you”. An example of how I might be misled comes from the very next verse in Matthew 24:5; “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ’ and will mislead many.” This verse can be interpreted two ways. One can read verse 5 to say that many will come in Christ’s name claiming to be the Christ, or read it to say that many will come in Christ’s name (acknowledging that He is the Christ) and will mislead many. The first interpretation leads you to believe that many false Christs will arise, where the second means that people who acknowledge Christ as Lord will do the misleading. In other words believers could mislead believers without even knowing it. Therefore, it is not unexpected that people will interpret portions of the Bible in different ways. So whose interpretation should I believe and follow? And, if I become so certain of a particular interpretation could I be misled and set up for a fall when the end times come.
The bottom line, Jesus challenged me to try to understand the Book of Revelation and to not be misled. As I studied and prayed for a way to address these challenges a thought came to me; could it be that Jesus has left us the information we need to unlock the mystery of the Book of Revelation elsewhere in the Bible? This began my effort to assemble all the verses in the Bible that address the end times and, through the wonders of word processing, insert them into the Book of Revelations where they appeared to fit. As I began to bring similar subjects from across the Bible together, it occurred to me that similar subjects could be brought together within Revelation itself. This is what started me on the journey to write this book. Once begun, my spine tingled as each chapter finally fell into place. It is an amazing story that is different than what I expected when I began. Jesus has provided us what we need to unlock Revelation.
I have experienced a spiritual transformation by my interaction with the Bible while writing of this book and I think you will too by reading it. If you have struggled with the Book of Revelations let me be your guide. I will show you the keys that will transform Revelation into an easily understood message from God. I discovered these keys through a devotional journey to understand Revelation based on Jesus’ words in the Bible. I will take you along on my journey and share with you the understanding that Jesus’ words opened up to me. But first, let me introduce myself.
Read more about Jesus Reveals Revelation and Charles H. Huettner HERE.
Copyright 2008 Charles H. Huettner. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.
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