FROM OUR ASK THE LIFE DR. SECTION -
QUESTION:
Hello Dr. H,
I have a question about the book of Revelations in the Bible. Our Pastor and Sunday School Teacher say that the book of Revelations is not something Christians have to learn. They say that we will not be here when the rapture happens and all of that takes place. My personal opinion is that if God thought it important enough to put in the Bible, as Christians we are meant to learn it be it for us to witness to the unsaved or that it will pertain to us in our lives before we are called to heaven. I was wondering what your opinion was on the topic?
ANSWER:
Thank you for your question… I will try my best to explain in a condensed version. The reason I say that is the book of Revelations is a very complex and prophetic book in the Bible. It is the first book of the Bible I read before and after I gave my heart to God and was a big influence on why !!
Let’s take first things first.. I love the fact that people dedicate their time and energy to being part of a church and fulfilling the needs of people to be taught and trained in the houses of God.. Eph 4:11. However, I think it is beyond important that qualified people teach people !!! (A workman who need not be ashamed..RIGHTLY dividing the Word of Truth ) It is imperative that if someone who is instructing in the Word of God and the Doctrines of Christ are not solid with Scriptural backing.. THEY NEED TO ADMIT THEY JUST DON’T KNOW !! Which I might add is a rarity!! Most just dismiss stuff they don’t know or understand…ergo your question….
To begin with you are exactly right that if God thought enough to put it in the Bible for us we should have enough sense to read and study it also. Now granted there are many of the other books in the Word that should be studied first or at least at the same time.
The Word of God as a whole and especially the prophetic books, because it is a spiritual book, has many layers of meanings. There are more relevant issues in the book than I can write about without writing a book. The symbolism can be understood with in depth study of the whole Bible (THEOLOGY) this is where the Word interprets the Word!!
However to make this as short as possible…Parts of the book of Revelations has absolutely happened when it was written and used to tell and predict what is coming or has already occurred in our lifetimes. ( ex. the 7 churches..they were actual churches then and symbolize what churches will be in the end times! This is for us to watch and learn not to be these churches and what God considers an acceptable church to be..He doesn’t care about the excuses of culture and time and shows us that in this one particular point) Beyond that over the past 30 years I have preach untold amounts of messages from this book!!
Let me break it down.. There are many beliefs on the rapture (which by the way is not a Bible word it means “to be caught up”) some believe pre tribulation, mid trib and post trib. I have heard it all for years… All with some scripture and alot of conjecture. Let me just say this there is no way the Church.. The Body of Christ who are the end time believers as stated in the Word.. There is no way we will be here when the last of the Trib occurs… We would not allow it by the authority we are already given and there is much scripture to back that those who could have will not be around. There are whole belief systems that say we will be here through it all and reign when it is over.. I do not find validating balanced scripture for that… BUT for someone to say that we will not be here for any of the book of Revelations is CRAZY.. Almost everything that has been occurring in our world (events in the middle east and europe especially) in the last few years.. twenty years and even 50 years is all in there !!! Loud and Clear !!! So much has happened and very little is left to occur before the rapture!! This is truly the end of the end times !!!! Now how long will it take to fulfill none of us know.. But I will tell you that if you truly study all the world events and the Word of God….Let’s just say we should all be like John the Baptist crying in our wilderness to people around us ….Prepare ye the way of the Lord.. for His arrival is eminent and probably not generations away!! As the clock is ticking down the events or being fulfilled more and more rapidly.. this last administration is at a full run towards it…BUT ONE GREAT THING FOR SURE HAS NOT OCCURRED BEFORE WE ARE OUT OF HERE AND THIS IS WHERE WE SHOULD FOCUS!!!
“THE GREAT HARVEST OF SOULS”
Until we see this none of us are going anywhere… It is starting to occur in other countries but not yet our own..
So I don’t know if I told you exactly what you were looking for but when it comes to that book I would have to explain everything in layers for you to get the full understanding..
LET ME SAY THIS…. We had a Bible College for years and when we moved to FL we had to close it.. I PLAN ON HAVING THE BIBLE COLLEGE AVAILABLE ONLINE BY THE SPRING… WITH CLASSES IN THEOLOGY, HISTORY, SOCIOLOGY, PHYSIOLOGY AND BUSINESS. THESE ARE ALL AREAS WE HAVE OUR Phd’s and have full curriculums we have written from first year to Doctorate levels!!
Most questions are very easy to answer but the generalization about the validating need of the prophetic version of the end is just too big for this format. I do however have 8 weeks of teaching and assigned reading that I will be glad to walk you through in the spring!! I will teach what all the symbols mean and everything!!
To sum it up… I don’t like the scare tactic of the end to get to someone!! However, it is all the truth and knowing the truth gives people a real view to make decisions from… There is a real Hell to shun and a real Heaven to GAIN !
I hope this helped..
Dr. H
Thank you so much for your response! I do appreciate you taking the time to answer questions for us. I did understand what you were saying! Sometimes I wonder if some members of my church are what they say they are or even if it’s their own thoughts instead of what God has led them to say that they speak about. I realize I should change churches before I get completely torn apart but we are making changes finally so we will see what happens.
I cannot wait to see what you are going to offer this spring! I would also like to say thank you for doing the Question section and taking the time to do the blog. I read it daily and always come away with a smile and a little more knowledge.
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