Disciples Digital Library

The biblical faith is forward-looking and integral to its doctrine of salvation is the future resurrection of the righteous dead, an event that will also mark the commencement of the New Creation. In the New Testament, this hope is linked to two events. First, the past resurrection of Jesus, and second, his future arrival at the end of the age. Moreover, the church’s salvation will remain incomplete until Jesus raises the dead, transforms all those still alive, and then “ gathers ” all his saints to himself.

Final judgment scenes occur several times in  Revelation . The sevenfold series of “ seals ,” “ trumpets ,” and “ bowls of wrath ” all culminate in the final judgment, and each time it is punctuated by terrestrial and celestial upheaval. And these three “judgments” are in addition to the one that occurs as the “ Great White Throne of Judgement ” when the wicked are cast into the “ lake of fire .”

The Book of  Revelation  describes how Satan is bound in the “ Abyss ” for the “ thousand years ” until his release at the end of the period. During his imprisonment, he is prevented from “ deceiving the nations .” Only after he is released is he free to mislead the nations of the earth and to wage war without restraint on the church – in modern parlance,  Full-Spectrum Dominance .

Three Jewish exiles are cast into the fiery furnace for refusing to render homage to the great image set up by the king  - Daniel 3:8-30.  In the second chapter, the “ Chaldeans ” are demoted because of their failure to reveal the king’s dream. But in the wake of Nebuchadnezzar’s construction of his “ great golden image ,” they exploit the opportunity to inflict vengeance on three of the Jewish exiles for their earlier loss of face. Although loyal to the king, these three men cannot bow before the king’s idolatrous image.

The “ Beast from the Earth ,” the “ False Prophet ,” uses economic coercion and religious deception to induce men to “ render homage to the Beast ,” and to erect an image to honor it. All those who give allegiance to the “ Beast ” will take its “ Mark ” and “ Number .” In the  Book of Revelation , the descriptions of this “ Number ” and the “ image of the Beast ” use language and imagery from the third chapter of Daniel.

The  Book of Revelation ’s first paragraph declares its purpose is to show God’s servants “ what things must come to pass ,” and it specifies the timing of those “ things ,” namely, “ soon ” and the “ season is near .” The “ things ” referred to are detailed in John’s visions, including information about Satan’s war against Jesus and his “ saints ” that is waged through his earthly agents, the “ Beast ,” the “ False Prophet ,” and “ Babylon, the Great Whore .”

The first “ four bowls ” destroyed the economic infrastructure used by the  World Empire  to dominate the “ inhabitants of the earth ” and wage war on the “ saints .” This undermined the very global commerce on which the “ Beast ” system depends for wealth and power. Now, the “ fifth bowl ” targets its political power and prestige.

Chapter 15 introduces the seven angels who unleash the “ seven last plagues on the earth ,” and chapter 16 describes their effects. These plagues are labeled “ last ” because they complete God’s “ wrath .” The “ seven bowls ” comprise the third sevenfold series of the book. Each series concludes with “ flashes of lightning, voices, and claps of thunder .”

Acts documents how the gospel first came to Samaria. After the martyrdom of Stephen, Saul of Tarsus began persecuting the fledgling church, causing many “brethren” to be scattered “throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria.” God used this to advance the gospel as the scattered saints preached wherever they went.

Revelation moves inexorably from the death of Jesus to the final day when God judges the wicked and vindicates the righteous .  At the conclusion of his ‘ Olivet Discourse ,’ Jesus gave his parable of the Sheep and the Goats. On the day when the “ Son of Man arrives in glory ,” his angels will gather all nations before him for judgment, and he will divide them into two groups. One will receive “everlasting destruction,” and the other, “ everlasting life .”

In the  Gospel of Mark , Jesus first appears when he is baptized by John the Baptist. He is identified with his hometown of Nazareth, a village of no consequence, though its very insignificance plays an important role in the story. He is the “ Servant of the LORD ” anointed by the Spirit who does not conform to popular expectations about the Messiah,  BOTH THEN AND NOW .

Both Revelation and Daniel proclaim the absolute sovereignty of God over the course of history and the fate of nations.  In  Revelation ,  the “ beast ” is “ GIVEN ” the authority to operate for a period of “ forty- two months ,” power over the nations, and the right to “ wage war against the saints and overcome them .” Satan’s creature cannot wreak havoc upon the earth or against the church until authorized to do so, and only for the time allotted.

All four gospel accounts apply the passage in the  Book of Isaiah  to John the Baptist, the messenger who called men to repent “ for the remission of sins ” in preparation for the arrival of the Messiah. The passage identifies John as the forerunner who was expected before the “ Day of Yahweh ” to summon the faithful - “ The voice of one crying, in the wilderness, prepare the way of the LORD ” - (Isaiah 40:3-5).