Rediscovering Revelation looks at our past and future. This book reviews the claims of futurism, a view held by millions of Christians today, and shows that Jesus and His current reign is the centre of biblical prophecy, rather than date setting and end-times speculations. There is a better vision in the scriptures that "pan-millennialism" Get ready for a gospel centred discovery of the Prophets and the Revelation, which is changing the world today! Be prepared to rethink your views. Interpreting Matthew chapter twenty-four and the book of Revelation through the eyes of the disciples and churches that received these texts, and in the light of the Old Testament passages these texts drew upon, Rediscovering Revelation explains their meaning and relevance for our day. Rediscovering Revelation begins with a critique of the popular teaching of dispensationalism, showing how it misguides the church in understanding both the gospel and the times in which we now live. After reviewing the main themes and applications of Revelation, this book ends with a Postmillennial view of Christ's present reign. Revelation is a rich resource of encouragement concerning the current reign and victory of Jesus Christ and when properly understood it can be restored to today's pulpits to edify the church in the way God intended.

REDISCOVERING REVELATION

"I Will Build My Church"By Kent Hodge

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2011 Kent Hodge
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4634-1273-9

Contents

Introduction....................................................5A Dispensation of Error.........................................7? A Wrong Foundation.......................................7? Dispensational Error.....................................9? Not Knowing the Scripture................................11? God Does Not have Two People Groups......................15? Correctly Dividing the Word of Truth.....................22The Destruction of Jerusalem....................................32? The Opening of Revelation................................32? The Theme of Revelation..................................34? Behold, He Comes Quickly.................................37? Every Eye Shall See Him..................................39? The Date of Revelation...................................44? The Warnings of Jesus....................................49? Occupy...................................................54The Birth of the Church.........................................57? Old Out & New In.........................................57? The Bride................................................63? The Exodus...............................................64? The Temple...............................................66? Jerusalem................................................74? Not Replacement Theology.................................77? Babylon..................................................79? New Jerusalem............................................81? The Millennium...........................................85? The Feasts...............................................90Some Applications...............................................99? Interpretations of Revelation............................99? The Harlot Church........................................103? Our Deliverance..........................................108? Everlasting Punishment...................................116? The Mark of the Beast....................................121? Hyper Preterism..........................................127? What's Next?.............................................130? A Vision of Christ's Kingdom.............................132? A Post-millennial Vision.................................136Further Reading.................................................148

Chapter One

A Dispensation of error

A Wrong Foundation

Since the mid-nineteenth century futurism has, in some quarters, become a popular view in interpreting the book of Revelation. This popularity began with John Nelson Darby and became wide spread through the works of Scofield and Dake in their reference Bibles editions. Some popular forms of futurism teach that almost all the contents of the book of Revelation are yet to be fulfilled in the future. It is said that from chapter four of Revelation onwards the subject is about a seven year tribulation period that is still future. During this seven year period a man called antichrist will arise and cause everybody to receive a literal mark of 666 on their body. Some versions claim that half way through this seven year period the church shall be raptured out of the world. Then after a great tribulation Jesus will return and reign in Jerusalem for one thousand years.

This has produced constant speculation about the antichrist. All the theories proposed have proved abortive. Futurism has stimulated constant date-setting on the return of Jesus, while Jesus forbad this (Acts 1:7). This view of Revelation makes believers negative about the church's role in the world as salt and light, instead looking for the rapture to get out of the world: contrary to John 17:15 where Jesus prayed we be taken not out of the world, but kept from the evil. Escapism results in self-fulfilled prophecy regarding decay and falling away in our societies. The doctrine of a pre-tribulation rapture is not once mentioned in the scripture and has never before been mentioned by any church father, neither among the first apostles nor since. The doctrine was developed from a "prophecy" in Scotland in 1830.

This future seven-year idea is said to come from Daniel chapter nine, where Daniel states there will be seventy weeks of years from his day to the coming of Christ to establish the new covenant. This, read in context, has nothing to do with Christ's second coming. However, dispensationalists claim sixty-nine weeks (483 years) passed till Jesus' first coming and the prophetic clock stopped, so we are still waiting for the last week (seven years) to usher in the second coming of Jesus. Daniel does not state, nor even hint, anything about this gap between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks. It is wrong to build a system of belief on something that the scripture has not said.

"Gap teaching" is common in the Scofield and Dake Bible commentaries. They claim there was a gap of millions of years between God's creation in Gen 1:1 and a supposed second creation in Gen 1:2. Nothing in the Bible teaches this. They claim that before Gen 1:2 there was a pre-Adamic race of people that were all destroyed. They claim that millions of years later God started again and created Adam. This is not taught anywhere in the scriptures. The Bible states clearly that Adam was "the first man" (1 Cor 15:45).

They claim Satan rebelled and was cast down to earth after creation and this caused the first destruction on earth. Nowhere do the scriptures teach this. These ideas come from Jewish myths. Paul told Timothy to give no heed to the Jewish myths circulating in the churches of Ephesus (1 Tim 1:4-7). Dispensationalism (see below) itself is a Jewish myth, which predictably leads men back to the law and away from Christ. It wrongly interprets Isaiah chapter fourteen and Ezekiel chapter twenty-eight, which plainly speak of men and not of Satan. (We look at this in more detail in our book Christ in You: where it is shown that Lucifer is not a name for Satan.) Inevitably, these errors focus attention on the devil (which is his aim) and not on the Son. Satan was not cast down to earth before the creation of man. His role as accuser was cast down when Jesus brought us grace and the gospel through His death and resurrection. (Luke 10:18, Matt 16:17-19, John 12:31, Col, 2:13-15, Rev 12:9-10.)

There is a gap: the gap is not in the scripture, but in their understanding of it! Scripture must be interpreted through the finished work of the Christ in the new covenant. All the Old Testament looks forward towards this and all the New Testament looks back to this.

Dispensational Error

Associated with futurism are the teachings of dispensationalism. These teachings come in different forms and often teach that God saves people in different ways in different dispensations. The English word "dispensation" may be used in a valid way and may refer to a stewardship given or time fulfilled, an era or age – the new covenant and revealing of Christ came in the fullness of time. But it is the teachings known as "dispensationalism" we are speaking of here.

Forms of dispensationalism teach that in Abraham's time people were saved by following their conscience, but when the Law of Moses came people were saved by the law. The Bible consistently refutes this. Scripture shows (e.g. Paul in Romans and Galatians) that people are saved only one way, in all eras – by Jesus Christ through faith. No one has been or can be saved by the law:

For as many are of the works of the law are under a curse ......