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There are a total of 66 books in our Bible, but there is only Book that promises some kind of a special blessing for those who will attempt to try and read and keep the words, revelation and knowledge that is contained in it - and that Book is the very last book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation.
Why would God single out the very last book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation, as the only Book that He will actually say that "blessed" is he who "reads" and "hears" the words of this Book?
For those of you are not aware of this profound verse, here it is, word for word:
"BLESSED is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near." (Revelation 1:3)
Notice this statement is being made right at the very beginning of this Book. Right at the very beginning of this last Book in the Bible, God is officially making the statement that "blessed" will be the man or woman who will attempt to try and read and keep what is in this Book.
If all 66 Books of the Bible are highly anointed by God, and they are are all coming directly from Him through the Holy Spirit to all of the authors who wrote all of these Books, then why is God purposely singling out the Book of Revelation as the one Book that will cause someone to become blessed in some way?
When God is purposely making this kind of statement right at the very beginning of this Book, He is trying to tell all of us something - and that something is that He is really wanting all of us to try and read and assimilate what is in this Book. Otherwise He would have never made this specific statement right at the very beginning of it.
Many Christians, including some pastors, are afraid to try and get into this Book and make an attempt to try and fully understand it. For some, they feel it is too hard to try and fully understand.
For others, it is just too frightening and scary to try and read due to the extreme events that will be taking place in the end times. They would prefer to keep their heads buried in the sand due to the severe and extreme judgments that will be taking place, as God will be releasing His wrath and His fury on this world in a way that the world has never seen before and will never see again.
Not even Hollywood, with all of its special effects capabilities, could even begin to duplicate on the big screen what is going to happen to this world once we enter into the Great Tribulation, which will be the last 7 years on this earth before Jesus comes back to set up His Millennium Kingdom from the city of Jerusalem.
I believe there are three main reasons why God is really wanting all of us to read this Book, and then make an attempt to try and fully grasp and assimilate the knowledge and revelation that is in this Book.
1. The first main reason that God is really wanting all of us to read this Book is due to the fact that it is the very last Book of the Bible. It is the very last chapter. It is the climax to our whole story in the Lord. As such, each and every Christian should know exactly how everything will eventually play out and exactly what our final ending is going to be.
Can you imagine reading a good fiction novel, and then all of sudden you quit reading as you get to the last chapter, never finding out what the final ending came out to be? Can you imagine watching an exciting motion picture on the big screen, and then all of sudden you walk out on the last 10 minutes of the movie never finding out exactly how the movie was going to end?
It's the exact same way in our walk with the Lord. There will be an eventual end to all of the bad things that keep occurring on this earth on a daily basis. As Christians, we all should know exactly what our final ending is going to be in the Lord and how everything will eventually play out.
Once again, this information and knowledge should be basic 101 knowledge and revelation that should be taught in every good Christian Church - especially with the Lord Himself singling out this Book and the revelation that is contained in it as something that will cause all of His own to become blessed in some way.
If you ask many Christians what the final end of their story in the Lord is going to be, they will tell you that when they die and depart from this earth, they will go straight to heaven and live with God, Jesus and all of their saved loved ones forever and ever up in heaven.
Unless you have read from the Book of Revelation and all of the other Scripture verses that pertain to these coming end time events, you will not know that there are two more chapters that will play itself out after you had already died and entered into heaven.
After you have died and entered into heaven, the next thing that will occur is that all of the saints who have been living with Jesus up in heaven will be coming back down with Him to rule this earth during His Millennium Kingdom. This Millennium Kingdom will last 1000 years.
After this 1000 years has passed, the next, last and final event will be God the Father creating a brand New Heaven and a brand New Earth where He will then bring Himself and a brand new city of Jerusalem down upon our new earth where He and Jesus will then rule this new earth from this new holy city of Jerusalem for the rest of all eternity.
The Bible tells us that our world is a world that will know no end. Unless you have studied from the Book of Revelation, along with all of the other Scripture verses pertaining to these coming end time events, you would not be aware of these two remaining chapters.
The heaven where God and Jesus now live in is not going to be our final abode. The New Heaven and the New Earth will be our final abode and resting place with the Lord, and this information and knowledge can only be found in the Book of Revelation.
2. The second main reason that each and every Christian should have basic knowledge on how everything is going to eventually play out and end up is so they can share and transmit this knowledge and information to other Christians who do not have this knowledge and information under their belt.
Until more churches start to preach and teach on this subject matter, you are going to have many Christians, especially in the times we are living at right now, who are going to be very hungry for information on this topic and they will seek out teachers who can educate and feed them on this topic.
3. The third main reason that every Christian should be fully armed with knowledge on this topic is because we will never know which generation will be the one to start to really live through these end time events. And once these end time events start to take place, your knowledge on this subject matter and your faith in the Lord will be the only two things that will help get you through some of these horrific events.
You will need to know how everything is eventually going to play out. If you do not, you could easily lose your faith in the Lord due to the extreme activity that will be occurring during these times. This is why the Lord goes more than overboard in the Bible on this entire subject matter. He wants to give all of us more than enough fair warning on exactly what will be coming down the road so we can properly prepare ourselves to be able to handle all of it once it does start to come our way.
Many teachers who are anointed by the Lord to be teaching and preaching on this subject matter in this day and age believe that there is a very good possibility that our current generation may be the generation that will see the return of our Lord back to this earth.
No one obviously knows the exact date of our Lord's return back to this earth, but there is no question that the end time events prophesied to occur from our Bible are all starting to form out. Only time will tell if our generation will be the one to see our Lord's visible second coming back to our earth.
But sooner or later, all of these end time events will eventually occur because our Bible tells us so. As such, each and every Christian should have some basic and fundamental knowledge on this part of their walk with the Lord so that they cannot only have it for the themselves and their own knowledge base in the Lord, but so they can also have it to be able to teach and educate others about it.
Recommended Authors and Teachers
In the End Times section of our site, we have 15 good basic articles giving you the basic information and knowledge on all of the main end time events that will be occurring leading up to our Lord's second coming to this earth, and then all of the events that will take place after He sets up His Millennium Kingdom from the city of Jerusalem.
We have tried to keep all of these articles very basic, simple and straight to the point so that you can fully grasp and fully understand what specific events will actually be taking place, along with the possible chronological order of all of these events.
For those of you who would like more detailed information on this topic, below is a list of what I believe are highly anointed authors and teachers on this subject. You simply cannot go wrong with most of their teachings on this topic. Though there are some minor differences between some of them on the possible order of some of these events, most of them are all on the same page in their interpretation and understanding of these end time events.
I believe that Hal Lindsey's best seller book, "The Late Great Planet Earth," published back in the seventies, was the door opener for the Body of Christ in being able to fully understand this part of our Bible.
The prophet Daniel was told by an angel of the Lord that this part of our Bible would eventually be opened up at the end of time so that the flock could fully understand what the Lord was trying to tell all of us with this specific information. And I believe that Hal Lindsey was one of the first ones that God really anointed to be able to teach on this particular subject matter in this current day and age.
From there, God has raised up and anointed many of the following men to be able to teach on this subject matter to the rest of the Body. Again, I believe these great men of God are some of the best of the best in being able to teach on this subject matter to the rest of the Body. I simply cannot recommend these men highly enough.
Tim LaHaye
Perry Stone
Jack Van Impe
Grant Jeffrey
Mark Hitchcock
Hal Lindsey
John Hagee
Ed Hindson
Thomas Ice
J. R. Church
Hilton Sutton
David Breese
John Waalvord
Many of these men have their own websites. They have different books, CD's, DVD's and audio tapes that you can order from their websites or from Christianbook.com or Amazon direct. Some of them also have their own radio and/or TV ministries. Below is a list of some of the better books that some of these men have written to date.
Recommended Books on End Times
Here are some of the better books written to date by some of the above authors and teachers. Again, you cannot go wrong with some of their solid teaching on this subject matter.
Are We Living in the End Times?
By Tim LaHaye / Tyndale House
Revelation Unveiled, softcover
By Tim LaHaye / Zondervan Corp.
Understanding the Last Days: The Keys to Unlocking Bible Prophecy
By Tim LaHaye
The End Times Controversy
By Tim LaHaye & Thomas Ice
The Popular Encyclopedia of Bible Prophecy: Over 150 Topics from the World's Foremost Prophecy Experts
By Edited by Tim LaHaye & Ed Hindson / Harvest House Publishers
The Late Great Planet Earth
By Hal Lindsey / Zondervan Corp.
Planet Earth: The Final Chapter
By Hal Lindsey / Oracle House Publishing
Prince of Darkness
By Grant Jeffrey / Random House, Inc
From Daniel To Doomsday: The Countdown Has Begun
By John Hagee / Thomas Nelson / W
Jerusalem Countdown
By John Hagee
Prophecy at Ground Zero: From Today's Middle-East Madness to the Second Coming of Christ
By William James / Faithworks Publications
101 Most Asked Questions about the End Times
By Mark Hitchcock / Multnomah Publishers Inc.
The Second Coming of Babylon: What the Bible Says About the End Times
By Mark Hitchcock / Multnomah Publishers Inc.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (End Times Answers-Book #7)
By Mark Hitchcock
Is America In Bible Prophecy
By Mark Hitchcock / Multnomah Publishers Inc.
The Truth Behind Left Behind: A Biblical View of the End Times
By Mark Hitchcock & Thomas Ice / Multnomah Publishers Inc.
Every single one of these books will provide you with up-to-date solid teaching on this subject matter for those of you who would really like to further your education into this specific area.
Conclusion
Over the years there have been many pastors, churches and Christians who have argued that they simply could not even begin to understand what God was trying to reveal to the apostle John when he was given these incredibly profound and powerful visions on what would eventually be coming our way in the end times.
But the prophet Daniel was specifically told by an angel from the Lord, when he was receiving his own visions and knowledge on specific end time events that would eventually be occurring, that this part of our Bible would eventually be opened up so that God's people could fully understand what He was trying to convey not only to the apostle John, but also to some of the other Old Testament prophets who were also given visions and information on these end time events, such as Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Joel and Zechariah.
In order to be able to piece together what the Lord is really trying to show us from His Word on this subject matter, what you really have to do is search and locate all of the specific Scripture verses pertaining to these end time events.
God has purposely scattered all of these verses throughout the Bible. The Book of Revelation puts much of it together for us, but in order to be able to get a very clear and concise view into all of these end time events, you really need to put all of these verses together on this subject matter just like you would pieces to a jigsaw puzzle. And many of these verses are located back in the Old Testament, especially with some of the above named Old Testament prophets.
But once you put all of these Scripture verses together, and then match them up with the visions and revelation that was given to the apostle John in the Book of Revelation, then you can see quite clearly see what the Lord is trying to show us. And all of the above authors and teachers have done a very good job in putting all of these puzzle pieces together for you.
Any Christian, and any Christian pastor can quickly educate himself in a very short period of time on this subject matter if they will just take the time to read and study from some of the above anointed teachers and authors. These men and their teachings on this subject matter can save you years of trying to find and match up all of the Scripture verses on this topic for yourself.
The other reason that many Christians are afraid to try and tackle this subject is because of what I call the "fright factor." I have personally met many Christians who have told me that they are simply too scared and too afraid to try and read the Book of Revelation due to the intensity and severity of all of the action described in it.
The Book of Revelation tells us that there will be three sets of 7 judgments released upon this earth. These three sets of judgments are called the Seal, Trumpet and Bowl Judgments. What will occur in these 21 judgments is so horrific, so intense and so catastrophic, that many Christians can hardly even begin to read what is going to happen in these judgments, much less really meditate and assimilate this specific knowledge into their minds.
But the above verse from the Lord tells us that not only must we "read" and "hear" the words in the Book of Revelation in order for us to be blessed, but that we must also "keep" these words in us.
To "keep" these words in us means that we have to grasp the full meaning of these words, and have committed the basic facts of this revelation into our minds so we cannot only keep it for our own storehouse of knowledge in the Lord, but also to be able to use it to help educate others in this area.
As frightening, as scary and as intense as this revelation and knowledge really is, God is still wanting all of us to really make an attempt to try and understand it. We not only need to know what the final outcome is going to be, and all of the specific events that will lead up to this final outcome, but we also need to know exactly why all of this is going to happen in the first place, and exactly why God is going to release such severe judgments on this earth.
At the beginning of my article on the 7 Seal judgments, I give you the specific reasons as to why God the Father will be releasing His fury and His wrath on this earth with these 21 judgments in a way that the world has never seen before and will never see again. There are specific reasons for everything that will be occurring, and you need to know exactly what those specific reasons are so you can perfectly understand why all of this has to play out the way it has been prophesied to occur from our Bible.
Once you know what the final chapters are going to be in our walk with the Lord, it will just help give you deeper insight and deeper knowledge into this awesome God of ours.
The Book of Revelation is without question, the icing on the entire cake. This Book will tell us exactly what is going to happen in these 21 specific judgments, what exactly is going happen to Satan and the rest of his demonic horde, what will happen to all of the unsaved who have ever lived on this earth, and then what the final glorious end will be for all Christians who have stayed true, loyal and faithful to the Lord.
This information and knowledge is so vital and so important for all of us to have, that the Lord Himself has promised that "blessed" will be the man or woman who will take the time to try and read from this powerful final Book of our Bible.
It is my own personal belief that we are at the beginning of many of these end time events starting to form out. And sooner or later, there will be some incredible end time events that will start manifesting on this earth. And when it does, you will have hordes of both the saved and the unsaved coming after Christians who will have knowledge and understanding of this subject matter.
If you will allow the Lord to help build up your knowledge base in this area, then He will be able to use you to help educate these other people once they start looking for answers to help explain all of the incredible end time events that will start occurring on this earth.
The Lord has now officially opened up not only the Book of Revelation, but also the rest of the Scripture verses pertaining to the end times. Many of the puzzle pieces have now been put together. It is now all there for the taking for those of you who want to dive in and further your education into the Lord and all of His incredible ways. |
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