AP: Revelation Studies-Pt 1

Ashton writes:

Revelation. When you first read this book it looks like something only the scholars can master. But revelation is for the weak, the humble, the ordinary person. Everything in this book is explained almost in the next sentence. Revelation is the revelation of Jesus Christ. (Rev. 1:1) If we want to know Jesus, we should read this book. It reveals his heart, power, and leadership in preparing the nations for God's glory. The more I study about eschatology, the end times, I get more and more excited! I can't wait for the day when He comes to rule the earth as the Bridegroom King and Judge. Even though it will be a terrible and dreadful day, my soul still cries for His return. (Joel 2:11 and Malachi 4:5) It will be very terrible to the rebellious who will witness the most severe outpouring of God's judgements ever seen. They will receive the fullness of His wrath. (Rev. 14:10) But it will be a great day to those who call on Jesus' name because they will experience the greatest outpouring of the Holy Spirit in history. (Joel 2:28-32) The end times is the most written about subject in the Bible. There are over 150 chapters about the end times. If you put all of the Gospels together there are only 89 chapters. This clearly shows us how important God thought it was to warn us about the coming days. We must study the end times because they reveal Jesus' heart and leadership. The scriptures in the end times are literal unless specifically indicated as symbolic by the scripture.

While I was studying Revelation, I came across Revelation 14:19-20 which says, "The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath. They were trampled in the winepress outside of the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses' bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia." This is talking about Jesus returning as the Bridegroom King and Judge conquering the earth. It confused me how a God of love, mercy, kindness, and compassion could be so cruel to kill so many people where the blood ran in the streets as high as a horse's bridle for almost 180 miles. I couldn't fathom a God who wipe so many people off the face of the earth without the blink of an eye. I knew that they were evil but I didn't know why He chose to do it this way. I kept asking Him to show me this side of himself and thankfully He did. He showed me He must do it this way because He is righteous. I knew that He is full of justice and justice must be paid by evildoers. He showed me that He hates injustice. How He hates sex slave traffickers, abortionists, and many more unjust things. He told me that He is a lover of justice, a lover of truth, and a lover of humility. He said to imagine how I felt about sex slave traffickers, abortionists, and other injustices. He showed me how I want to do everything in my power to make them right. That is how Jesus feels and how he has felt since the beginning of time. He talks to them to get them to stop but they have hardened their hearts and do not listen. So He must wipe them out. It all became clear to me after he explained it to me. Now when I read the passages about him wiping evil men off the planet I get excited that He is showing His justice and restoring those who have had injustice done to them. Even though a lot of people will be slaughtered to reach the goal it is all done out of love. He slaughters the evil people out of love for those suffering injustices.

I hope this makes sense. If you have any questions or want to challenge what I wrote or correct me please feel free to do so. I love you guys! I hope this wets your appetite to want to study more about Revelation.

I will be doing a lot on Revelation as I go through the Omega course with the Intro group so keep watching to see when I post another on Revelation. God Bless!

His forever,
Ashton :)