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THE END OF ONE THING

Over the last several weeks, we’ve pilfered deep into the dirty diaper of the Democratic Party in our series, “Ten Reasons Why Voting For The Democratic Party Is A Sin,” and we’ve covered some extraordinary and damning evidence against them. We’ve peered into the dark recesses of Critical Race Theory and Marxism, exposing their roots and their reach. We’ve uncovered how the Democrats have actively and intentionally promoted the sexualization of our children—whether through education, entertainment, or in experiments conducted by pedophiles like Alfred Kinsey, who is heralded as a hero by the modern left. We saw how they’ve weaponized climate hysteria, turning it into a financial windfall, in the words of Bernie Sanders, for the “millionaires and billionaires.”

But perhaps the most damning revelation of all was the company that the modern Democrats keep. They surround themselves with a parade of perverts and predators—men like Anthony Weiner, the Podestas, women like Marina Abramovic, and kinky kingpins like Harvey Weinstein, Jeffrey Epstein, and others. Their disgusting roots have sunk deep into the septic tank of human depravity, implicating them as every bit as corrupt and perverse as those they associate with.

With this exposure, I am proud of the work that we have done. The evidence is irrefutable. Frankly, it’s shocking that this party still exists as a major player in American politics. In a just society, many of these people would be behind bars or hanging. So, it is with great satisfaction that I say: the case has been made.

I set out to expose ten reasons why voting for the Democratic Party is a sin, and we have done that thoroughly, unequivocally, and I believe, quite helpfully, in the first six episodes. The final four reasons I was going to cover—Religious Liberty, Transgenderism, the LGBTQ Agenda, and Abortion—are essential, but they’ve already been addressed in this series. We’ve referenced them, traced the history undergirding them, and shown how the Democratic Party has become the chief architect and peddler of a culture of death.

THE BEGINNING OF ANOTHER

So, today, I’m officially closing out that series. We’ve accomplished what we set out to do and it is time to move forward.

Now, as you know, we have been gearing up for our next series, which is a deep dive into the book of Revelation, which I have said will begin at some point in the new year. But, given that we just finished our current series on the Democrats, I see no reason for us to wait, so I am announcing today that this new series begins next week!

And just so you know, this is going to be an incredible series where we are going to walk through every verse in the book of Revelation, and show how every line of it has already been fulfilled in the past! Instead of approaching Revelation from the deluded posture of the futurists, we will see how this book is not a psychedelic vision of our twenty-first century present, but a visionary depiction of the end of the Old Covenant that occurred nearly two thousand years ago in Jerusalem’s past. That’s right I am going to argue that every image, every symbol, every prophecy in the book of Revelation has already been fulfilled in the destruction of that great city in 70 AD. From the locusts, to the mark of the beast, to Armageddon, and everything in between—I’m going to show you how it all took place during that tumultuous first generation of the church on earth and how this was precisely what God intended as He unleashed His Kingdom upon the world.

This series is going to challenge what many of you have been taught and what most of you thought this book was about. And, I believe that this series will give you an entirely new and optimistic perspective on what the book of Revelation is saying, why this view is the Biblical view, why it is good news for us Christians, and how it dispels the doom and gloom that is so typical on this topic. Again, I’m not going to ask you to take my word for it. I’m going to prove it.

A BIT OF A PREQUEL

But before we dive into Revelation chapter 1, we need to lay a solid foundation. And I believe that the foundation for the book of Revelation occurs in Matthew chapter 24, which will be where we kick things off, and it will serve as a bit of a prequel for where we are heading. Now, normally you would give a prequel after the fact, and expect the audience to tie it all together. But, because Revelation is so incredibly difficult, and because Matthew 24 is a much more straightforward, simpler, and clearer blueprint for understanding what the book of Revelation is all about, I am excited to begin here next week.

Now, in case you have never thought about Matthew 24 being the prequel to the book of Revelation, I will sum up that view briefly.

THE OLIVET INTRODUCTION TO REVELATION

Matthew 24 is what scholars call the Olivet Discourse. This is the discussion that Jesus had with His disciples after leaving the Temple Mount for the final time, just before His arrest and death, concerning what was about to happen to Jerusalem. Because the city rejected Him, would turn on Him and kill Him, and then would persecute His followers, God was going to bring the Old Covenant system that was stewarded by the Jews to a grand climactic finale. This means all of its trappings like the temple, the sacrificial system, the priesthood, and the festivals were all going to be coming to a turbulent and permanent end.

In the Olivet Discourse, which shows up in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21, Jesus answers the disciples questions by giving the greatest prophetic announcement He would ever give. It is explicit, detailed, and once you see it, it is undeniable what Jesus intended to say. It’s in this passage where Jesus foretells the destruction of the temple, the persecution of believers, the rise of false messiahs, wars and rumor of wars, famines and earthquakes, the abomination of desolation, and the “great tribulation” that will not only bring an end to the Jewish age, but will begin the unrivaled rule of Christ on earth that will eventually purge this world of all curse and rebellion.

This prophetic discourse is the key to understanding Revelation because it covers the same timeline, the same events, and even uses the same kind of language and imagery to make its point. Think about it this way, Revelation describes these events in wild visions, Old Testament allusions, and apocalyptic symbols, whereas Matthew 24 speaks about these same events in a more straight forward and conversational way. Both passages look at the same events but through drastically different genres.

Take, for example, events that have happened in the not too distant past. If you want to read about the rise of bolshevism and the Russian Communist Revolution, there are plenty of books and lectures on the topic to satisfy your inquiring mind. You can read about it in history books, you can watch a documentary about it on YouTube, and you can also learn about it through the allegorical work by George Orwell called Animal Farm, which presents the material in an allegorical way, describing real events that actually occurred in symbolic and highly metaphorical language. In this way, a masters level history lecture, a documentary made for high schoolers, and the book Animal Farm are all talking about the same time period and material, but doing so from a variety of genres, which is why studying both, and making sure to apply the genre rules for both, is so important.

In the same way, Revelation and Matthew 24 are speaking about the same events. One is doing so through conversational language between Jesus and His disciples. The other, through a vision that the apostle John received on Patmos. So, in order to understand John’s vision even better, I am arguing that we should first look at Jesus’ straight forward conversation about this topic, and use it as a key for unlocking the meaning that will come in the book of Revelation.

Also, interestingly, every Gospel has an Olivet Discourse except for John. I believe this is because John did not want to write a single chapter in his Gospel about it, but instead wanted to write an entire book. With that, let me take a moment and make this connection even clearer for you, showing just a couple of examples, so you can see that John’s aim in Revelation is the same aim that the synoptic Gospel writers have in their Olivet Discourse.

1) The Time Frame of Judgment: Immediately before the Olivet Discourse occurs, Jesus says that Jerusalem was going to be left desolate, that the temple was going to be annihilated, and that the generation of Jews would come under the might and terrifying wrath of God (MATTHEW 23:36-38). The starkness of this covenantal curse language startled the disciples, who asked Him something to the effect of “How can these things be?” (MATTHEW 24:3). Then, after giving one proof after another, Jesus tells them that EVERYTHING He just spoke to them would occur within a single generation (MATTHEW 24:34), marking “ALL THESE THINGS” as a near-term prophecy about a near-term fulfillment concerning very imminent events.

Similarly, the book of Revelation opens with the phrase, “The things which must SOON TAKE PLACE” (REVELATION 1:1), that “THE TIME IS NEAR” (REVELATION 1:3), and “BEHOLD, I AM COMING QUICKLY” (REVELATION 3:11). The book also ends with Jesus saying, “YES, I AM COMING QUICKLY” (REVELATION 22:20) and reiterates that these things “MUST SOON TAKE PLACE” (REVELATION 22:6). These passages not only establish that EVERYTHING in the book of Revelation was slated for NEAR-TERM fulfillments, but that the book of Revelation and the Olivet Discourse were operating on the SAME TIME FRAME.

Here is another example:

2) False Messiahs and Prophets: In Matthew 24:5-11, Jesus warns of false messiahs, false prophets, and those who would deceive many. The same theme appears in Revelation, where false teachers like Jezebel (Revelation 2:20) and the infamous beast (Revelation 13:11-18) perform many signs and wonders to deceive people and lead them astray. The repetition of theme shows how Revelation is describing the same time and events as the Olivet Discourse.

But let’s not stop there. There are plenty of other examples.

3) Persecution of the Saints: Jesus tells His disciples in Matthew 24 that they will be “delivered to tribulation” (He actually uses that word) and that they will be “hated by all nations” (Matthew 24:9), which paints a terrifying picture for the disciples in the years ahead. Revelation mirrors this, describing the saints under the altar who have been “slain because of the word of God” (Revelation 6:9) and the “great multitude” who “came out of the great tribulation” (Same word that is used in Matthew is being used here in Revelation 7:14). Thus, both books forecast a period of terrible suffering for the early church and what they must walk through in their immediate future, not ours.

4) The Abomination of Desolation: Jesus points to the Abomination of Desolation standing in the holy place (Matthew 24:15), symbolizing the profanation of the temple by the Roman armies (Luke 21:20). This same event is described in Revelation 11:2, where the holy city is “trampled underfoot for forty-two months,” which is precisely the amount of months that Rome besieged Jerusalem. Do we think that is a coincidence? I think not!

5) Cosmic Catastrophe and the End of the Age: Both Matthew 24:29 and Revelation 6:12-14 use the same apocalyptic language—the sun darkened, stars falling, and the heavens shaken—to describe the end of the old covenant order and the phoenix like rise of the New Covenant world out of its ashes. This language symbolizes the political and spiritual upheaval that was unleashed upon the world at the coming of Christ, how the former way of knowing God was being put away by Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and how all of world history will eventually bow their knee to Him! To magnify His supremacy, every rival kingdom and religion would eventually be put under His royal feet. This began with Old Covenant Judaism, whose job was to bring Christ into the world, not to be a counterfeit Gospel trying to dissuade the world from joining Christ. Both Matthew 24 and Revelation describe how Jesus put away that Old Covenant system, so that His unrivaled rule would reign upon the earth until there was no rebellion left.

6) The Coming of the Son of Man: In Matthew 24:30, Jesus speaks of the “sign of the Son of Man” appearing in heaven and His coming on the clouds. This is not a literal return, but a coming in judgment, where Jesus would pour out the wrath of God on the rebel city and end her reign of terror once and for all. Revelation uses the same imagery in Revelation 1:7, where it says, “Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him” (Which is a clear reference to the first century Jewish leaders who turned Him over to be crucified). Both of these passages are talking about the vindication of Christ over the generation that rejected Him, albeit, they are using different genres to accomplish it.

More examples than this could be given, but I think the point is clear. In both passage, the same events, and the same timelines are in view. So, if we want to understand Revelation (which is a fundamentally harder book) then beginning with Matthew 24 will make our journey much much easier. It will be like turning to the answer key in the back of the Calculus text. Sure, we could figure it out without it, but with it, we can be assured that we have understood it correctly!

COME BACK NEXT WEEK

For this reason, next week, we are going to begin our series on the book of Revelation by first jumping into the Olivet Discourse. We will examine that chapter verse by verse over the next several weeks, and we’ll uncover its meaning, its context, and its fulfillment, which will help us as we turn the page into the book of Revelation. So, buckle your seat belt! This is going to be a ride that all of us will remember!