REVELATION FOR “DUMMIES” – CRACKING THE “CODE”

The other day, someone thanked me for the sermon series on Revelation.  He called it “Revelation For Dummies,” which meant (I hope) that I was making it understandable.  Well, that’s my goal, anyway.  The key, of course, is making sense of the numbers and symbols in the book.  So, let me share with you what we’ve discovered so far.  Hope this brief two-page summary of Revelation 1-13 helps keep the “Big Picture” of the book before your eyes so you will not get lost in the details or caught up in the “last days” hype and frenzy.

We know that Jesus is making a return trip in person to this planet; (Rev. 1:7) and not if, but when He returns, it will be “with the clouds” (in glory and in judgment against sin) to bring Heaven down to earth (Rev. 20). 

We know that between the 1^st and 2^nd coming of Christ, the church is going to struggle.  (Rev 2-3)  In fact, every church is going to struggle w/internal problems and w/external enemies.  In fact, B/C of the stand the true church takes during these “last days” (beginning with Christ’s birth and ending with His  personal visible return to this planet) will be days of “Great Tribulation.”

We know that all the natural disasters and all the man-made wars we see going on all around us are what the Bible calls birth pains reminding us that this world we live in is a world in labor, a world that will one day give birth to a perfect baby called the New Heavens and the New Earth. 

We know that the LORD has a special people (The 144,000) set apart – a special people marked & monogrammed w/their souls protected forever.  Some of those people are in Heaven right now.  Some of those people are still here on earth.   The 144,000 represent every believer in every age saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

There is a force @ work in this world.  This force is personal, he  hates Jesus Christ, he’s is angry b/c he knows his defeat is a done deal, and this force hates anybody and anything in this world that’s connected to Christ in any way.

This “force” is called the dragon, (12:3 ).  His “Plan A” was to destroy Jesus.  Well, in the birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, “Plan A” failed, so now the dragon has gone to “Plan B,” (12:17 ), which is to go after those who follow Jesus through 2 allies 2 other forces the Bible refers to as 2 “beasts” – one from the sea, and one from the land.

The “Beast From The Sea” (13:1) refers to ANY government that assumes absolute control, authority, and the right to intrude into our lives in a way that interferes w/our freedom to live under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

The “Beast from the Earth/Land” (13:11) is any and all false religion -- especially religion that promotes the agenda of the state.  It’s attractive. It dazzles and delights and attracts w/plenty of splash and dash and bling-bling.  But it’s false religion b/c it’s not Christianity.

Sometimes, governments persecute people who don’t “go w/the flow” of false religion & the government working together (13:16-17) The “mark of the beast” is a symbol, the roots of which go deeply into the soil of the Old Testament.  In Deuteronomy 6:8, God tells us You shall bind God’s Law as a sign on your hand, and God’s Laws  shall be as frontlets between your eyes (on your forehead), 

Throughout history, God’s people bear God's law on their hands and foreheads to signify God’s authority and control over what they did and what they thought.  God’s people allow God’s Word to structure both their thinking and their behavior.

Neither beast will allow that kind of control and authority, because they want their  laws and beliefs and expectations to shape the character of all people.  That’s one reason it’s difficult to be a Christian In business, @ school,  in politics, in life. 

When it comes to “666,” the right question is not WHO?  but WHAT?  After all, in the Original Greek, there’s no definite article!  Literally, it reads that 666 “. . . the number of MANKIND . . . “ 

If you think it through, 7 is the number of completeness.  6 is a number that’s almost there, but falls short.  6 is always 1 less than 7.  And no matter how many times you repeat the #6, it’s still the #6!

But why is 6 mentioned three times?  When the Bible refers to God as Holy Holy Holy, it’s shorthand that God is completely holy!  And when the Bible refers to mankind as 666, this 3-fold repetition tells us that controlling governments & man-centered religion is completely incomplete!  Therefore, whatever an anti-Christian government  OR an anti-Christian religion or philosophy tries to do will be doomed to failure upon failure upon failure! 

Here’s proof.  There was a dark day in history when man-made religion  and man-made government joined hands as allies to try w/all their might to do away w/the Grace of God in Jesus Christ.  The day was Good Friday, and on that day, the dragon-manipulated political power of Rome and the dragon-manipulated religious power of the established Jewish religion took their best shot at Jesus. 

They failed.  Jesus death secured the forgiveness of our sins, and His resurrection secured our justification – the RIGHTEOUSNESS we need to be acceptable to God.   And now . . . there is NOTHING that can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ!  So, WHY worship something INCOMPLETE?  Why serve something that is INCOMPLETE?  Why be driven by ANYTHING other than the GRACE of God in Christ?