Rev 1:1  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

Ver 1,0) The book of Revelation appears to be, by far, the most controversial and hotly debated and argued book of the entire Bible especially in these last days in which we are living now in 2025. There is a growing number of Bible teachers and pastors that are attempting to teach this book of the Bible because of the obvious seasons we are living. From the informed spiritual mind there has never been an hour in which humans have lived where things that were written 2000+ years ago could be happening all around us sooner than we think. But there are also too many pastors and teachers that ignore the book of Revelation because of its complexity, symbolism, controversy, and the wide variety of opinions of what things say and mean.

Today’s Bible lesson will be a general introduction to the Book of Revelation’s popular views. We will cover a very high-level overview of the traditional views that have been taught about this book in many of the Christian churches during the church age.

Currently there are at least 5 traditional views and a few other modern views. And all of these views can, and do have multiple variations of each of their teachings. In other words, there is more confusion than there is agreement. Why are there so many conflicting views and positions on scriptural texts that have never changed?  It is impossible for all of these opinions to be completely true.  Remember in 1 Corinthians 14:33, God declares, “He is not the author of confusion but rather “Peace” in all churches”. Therefore, when we find fighting and divisions within the church about scripture or any other matter, this is always authored by Satan.

Since this website has always been a seeker of finding God’s Truth as God intended us to know, we will be cooperating with God to be led by His Holy Spirit to discover His Truth on the subject of Revelation. And to reject and resist all of the devil’s deceptions that are trying to distract us away from knowing it. And yes, you heard right, there is one standard of Truth that is from God and all the rest of that are based upon human opinions are literal distractions sent from Satan to keep us from knowing the truth.

Thankfully, we are not searching for Truth independently. If we are born again by the Spirit of God, continually filled with His Spirit and submitted to Him being led by His Spirit, and continually learning His Word, we are not alone and easily deceived. Jesus when He ascended after His resurrection, left us the ultimate personal Spirit helper. He is the one Spirit we must have, to be kept from deception. Fortunately, being born-again we invited His Spirit to come in to be joined with our spirit. Now, we just need to mature spiritually to grow to hear, recognize, obey and follow His voice. He is with us, in us and for us. And if God is for us, who can be against us. We are going to trust Him to lead us into All Truth. Thank you, Lord Jesus!

In this series we will trust the Spirit of God to give us the direction to find all the keys needed to unlock the hidden mysteries of the Book. Understanding the details of the book, how they fit together, His purposes for why He wrote this book and why there is a promised blessing for reading it are some of these keys. These keys to right information will begin to lay the foundation of some of the simple important truths for us in the church to know for receiving the deeper truths later in the series.

Please let’s s be very clear. No one but God knows and understands the entire Bible. This includes the book of Revelation. Anyone teaching anything in the Bible like they are God’s expert on that subject is full of PRIDE and that is someone God resists. God gives Grace to the Humble. If we believe we know and understand the entire Bible we are deceived. If we are not willing to hear or listen to a message (from the Word of God) we are being led and influenced by the wrong spirit. So let me be blunt and to the point. I don’t know and understand the entire Bible or even the book of Revelation. But neither do you. I will endeavor to the best of my ability to with His help to teach this series using only the things He reveals to me and not speculate on what it might mean like I hear others try to teach.

Perhaps you have heard pastors and teachers who try to do a verse-by-verse series on the entire Bible or the book of Revelation. This is a warning sign of PRIDE and Overconfidence. Everyone I have ever heard teach this way overextends themselves to sound like they know what they are talking about when in actuality they know so little and are misleading people into potential deception and possible destruction.

I’ll let you in on a secret from my experiences with my Omniscient Lord and Savior Jesus. I have learned, “the more I learn from what He teaches me, the more I realize that I do not know, and still need to learn”. I have discovered that it is impossible to exhaust the complete Knowledge and Goodness of God.

Therefore, please make an attitude adjustment before continuing. If you believe you know everything about Revelation or the Bible you are potentially in the wrong place. I’m not going to fight you, argue with you or try to change you. I don’t have the time to argue and debate a billion plus people. No one does. That would be an example of an antichrist attitude and spirit of someone who is trying to force their agenda and beliefs.

I will only attempt to share the truths that I believe the Lord has shown to me, is showing and will continue to show to me. And I will also attempt to do it in Love as He also does to me. These Revelation teachings may not be in order or ever be verse by verse. However, they will be, I believe, where the Holy Spirit wants us to go to know exactly what we need to know right now to understand the entire book better later as we spiritually mature and are able to receive it and apply it.

I will say today’s introductory lesson on Revelation will probably be different than most of the rest of the lessons to come. Later it may be rare if anything is taught because it was learned from another Bible teacher. However, today will address the wide variety of things taught in the church about the book of Revelation. But please note that there are too many beliefs and variations for us to spend all of our time to examine in detail all of them.

It is not wise to be focused on things the Holy Spirit did not inspire. Satan’s strategy is to overwhelm humans and Christians with so many lies so that some of them take root in our hearts to be believed. This is exactly why there are so many beliefs being taught about Revelation.

Christians must verify with scriptures and the witness of the Holy Spirit whether anything they hear or read is true or not. Most deception is not going to require you to search scripture for yourself. But this website recommends strongly that you verify everything. We would require it if we could. However, because we love you as God does, He does not force us to believe His word and we cannot do that either.

If the Holy Spirit does not bear witness within me that anything is the truth, it will not be presented as truth in this series. It still may be presented, but only for you to know what others think is the truth. This too is never an approach of a deceiver. A deceiver cannot place their beliefs up against God’s Truth because it will always expose the weaknesses of other beliefs. And if and when it is mentioned in this series it will only be present to help others not fall for a deception being taught as truth.

Like I said before, I freely admit honestly that that I am NOT GOD, and I do not know and understand the entire book of Revelation or the Bible, right now. I have never heard another teacher say that because it casts doubts upon anything else they say. But I still believe humility and honesty admits they don’t yet know everything. I have never met or heard or read a human that does know and understand the entire Bible. The only one I know that does is God. But I DO trust Him always to show us what we need to know right now. This is called walking and living by faith. If we knew everything, we would not need Him, or our faith, and that does not please Him (Hebrews 11:6).

Church Teachings on Revelation

There are too many problems in current church teachings on the book of Revelation to mention them all. But hopefully with the Lord’s help we will cover the most problematic ones. To begin the section let’s list the most popular views of Revelation currently being taught by the theologically trained Seminaries and Teachers. Here are the most popular traditional interpretative views on the book of Revelation:

• Preterist View
• Historicist View
• Futurist (Premillennial) View
• Idealist (Spiritual/Amillennial) View
• Postmillennial View (often overlaps with partial Preterism or Idealism

First, notice the technical and theological labels given to each view. These are all non-Biblical Labels designed and given by scholars in Seminaries and Schools of Theology to Categorize, Identify and Reference any particular view or subject found in the Bible. While these are great identifiers for use in conversations and for use in determining a specific or general position or view, it may also be used to shun disparage, restrict, or even attack a view as evil.

Labels are used and abused constantly in politics as deception and as weapons. For example, one party calls a person within another party, a Nazi or Racist whether they are one or not, and this is always an attempt by the name caller to make themselves to appear better than they actually are. Another popular tactic and strategy occur when a politician mislabels an evil act like abortion as a good name like “women’s healthcare” when we all know in actuality that it is a death by dismemberment of a developing living child.

Therefore, Labels have both positive good or negative evil purposes. Also, there is another major problem in many teachings in the Bible with usage of Labels. For example, the word Trinity a triune quality of God used in Churches almost everywhere is not found in the Bible. However, is this a sound doctrinal belief based upon scriptures? Of course it is.

But many people will take the identifying Label “Rapture” describing a scriptural event of the Father sending His Son to receive His bride as a false doctrine just because the word Rapture (a Label) does not occur in the Bible. Therefore, Labels have potential positive and negative implications.

For example, I recently had a pastor inform he was for the most part a “Futurist” concerning the Book of Revelation. This was taken positively because this view appears to be the most accurate scripturally speaking. However, we must not assume because two people identify as the same category of belief, that there cannot remain dramatic conflicts between them in the details. Let’s go through the general beliefs categories:

Preterist View

A Preterist View is based upon a teaching that all or most of Revelation was fulfilled around 70AD, with the Roman Empire’s destruction of the temple and Jerusalem. This view is popular in some reformed churches like some Presbyterian and Anglican.

Did you notice how many labels there were in that last description? Did you realize this is a designed strategy of Satan? Satan’s strategy is to deceive and divide the church so that we fight each other, rather than come against him. These are the very negative reasons why categorical labels exist. Remember Jesus prayed in John 17:11, “Make them one, as we are one”. However, here are a few major problems with this belief.

Most Bible scholars believe the book of Revelation was written 25 years after the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem. This would make the book of Revelation a Historical reflection and not a prophetical book. This realty does not align with literal interpretation of the words presented to us in the book. You see the book of Revelation says more than once it is a prophecy. This would make John a Liar and a Deceiver since the destruction of Jerusalem happened 25 years before he wrote the book and he wrote it was a prophecy.

This Preterist view and belief doesn’t harmonize with other Biblical End Time prophecies of Daniel, Ezekiel, and Jesus in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21, etc.

Historist View

The Historist Core View believes Revelation is a symbolic overview of Church History from the 1st Century to the Second Coming. In the Protestant Historist View the papacy is often identified as the antichrist/beast.

Key proponents of this view were Reformation-era figures like Luther, Calvin, Knox and later Adventists like White. Some Puritans and is still common in the Seventh Day Adventists to name a few groups. Here are some of the major reasons why this view like Preterist View is significantly disconnected from a God intended understanding.

• This view violates the law of no prophecy is of any private interpretation according 2 Peter 1:20. This law teaches us the Bible interprets itself. The omniscient God is able to reveal the meanings of prophecy for himself, independent of human reasoning and contribution. This God source supply of interpretation determines and ensures God will get all of the glory for the fulfilling the words and not any human.

Futurist (Premillenial) View

This perspective of Revelation espouses chapters 4 through 22 are all future events and have yet to be fulfilled. This belief has generally labeled the chapters from 6 to 18 as the 7 Year Tribulation but it is also labeled by the Old Testament term as Daniel’s 70th Week. It is this final 7year week of Daniel that God divides into two 3.5 year periods with an event called the Abomination of Desolation. During this period of time this belief believes in the literal rise of a Satan empowered Antichrist human figure that will fight and resist God by deceiving people, forcing a mark placed on people using wars, plagues and famines with great wrath because he knows his time is very short. Then after Jesus returns to the earth with the church to defeat all the enemies and lock them below the earth, we will reign with him for 1000 years. After this is Judgment and a new heaven and a new earth.

This belief is largely held and taught by the majority of Evangelical, Pentecostal, Baptist, and non-denominational churches. Most of these believe in a pre-tribulation rapture event, God’s separate dealings with the church in an age of Grace being separate from God’s dealings with natural Israel and the remaining finale 7 years (70th week of Daniel) of Judgment, and a very literal timeline of events. Key modern proponents of this belief are David Jeremiah, Hilton Sutton, Perry Stone, Jimmy Evans, Rick Renner, Greg Laurie, Les Feldick, John McArthur, and literally too many others to name them all.

The major argument against this belief comes primarily from people who are not believers in the existence of God created different Dispensations (periods of time) of God’s dealings with humanity. For example, how God dealt with humans pre-sin versus post-sin, pre-law versus post-law, pre-Christ (Birth) versus post-Christ (resurrection). These people for some reason do not place enough significance upon major works of God and the effects that they brought upon humanity.

Idealist (Spiritual/Amillenial) View

This belief system of opinion treats the book of Revelation as completely symbolic disparaging any literal interpretation of events or any application to prophetic future timings. It takes the millennial reign of Christ in Revelation 20 as happening now with Christ in Heaven ruling through the church on earth.

Major proponents of this belief are Augustine, William Hendrickson, G.K. Beale, Sam Storms, and is common in Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, mainline Protestant (Lutheran, Presbyterian) and many reformed amillennialists.

• The greatest opponents to this belief is its ignoring of direct statements of the book being a future prophecy in violation of Revelation 1:3 and 22:7.
• This interpretation is also in violation of 2 Peter 1:20 stating no prophecy can be of any private interpretations. If further takes the symbolic aspects of part of Revelation to an extremism position of error by making the entire book symbolic.
• Are there any verses that confirms the definitions of their symbols?
• Are there any verses that that repeat in the Bible to confirms the interpretation?

Post Millennial View

This view often overlaps in part with Preterism and Idealism. The belief espouses the Gospel will gradually triumph leading to a “golden age” of the Christian Church dominance before Christ’s return. This belief states the millennium is just a long period of peace caused by the church. This belief like the Preterist think the judgment events of Revelation were largely fulfilled in the first century 70 AD or some are just symbolic happenings in the church age.

This belief’s key proponents are Jonathan Edward’s, B.B. Warfield, Loraine Boetner, Doug Wilson, and some other modern thoenomists. It was common in some reformed thomonic and Presbyterian circles but has become less common today. Here are some of the potential problems with this view.

• This view appears to interpret Revelation independent from the common related prophecy in Daniel, Ezekiel, etc. including the Words of Jesus in Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21.
• This interpretation appears to ignore all the verses quoted from the Old Testament that establishes direct connections.
• This belief appears to suggest an almost independence from God in human flesh form. This doctrine appears to have the elements that humans in their flesh will triumph over spirits.

Conclusions

As we can clearly see there are many major conflicting views of Revelation with only a few overlapping common beliefs. Christian religious theologians have given most views a name for topic and subject reference and identification. By giving each view a Name, it has made it far easier to teach differences between views. This approach of subject classification allows one particular view to be separated from all other views by use of different names.

Are you seeing why there are names given to Bible subjects? But a name given to any subject also has both positive and negative connotations. For example, when a wife is married, traditionally and publicly speaking she received the name of her husband and this symbolically represented the two becoming one flesh as stated in Genesis 2:24 and Ephesians 5:31-32. This is a prime example of positive renaming effect to become the same unified partners.

But there are also the negative aspects of newly given subject names. By giving a new name to your interpretation to a general subject like understanding “Revelation”, you could be dividing yourself away from God’s Truth. We can learn this from the labels and names Preterist, Historist, Futurist, Idealist, etc. Once someone identifies as one of these labels, they have shunned themselves from every other labeled view. What am I saying? I refuse to label, limit and restrict myself to any one label other than to be called a Christ Follower and a Seeker and Teacher of TRUTH.

Does that mean my positional view does not closely align with anyone else that studies and teaches the Bible? Of course not! But they might also be different! My Bible clearly says “Those that are led by the Spirit, they are the son’s of God”. This simply means those that are NOT led by the Spirit are NOT sons and daughters of God. If we are living independently from God’s Spiritual guidance we are following after someone else. Therefore, find out what God calls you, names you as and identifies to be and confess that only.

Renaming things is a very popular strategy of Satan to divide Christian, we could call it the divide and conquer strategy. You see Jesus began the church in Acts 2:46 as one body of unified believers. I personally believe this is how she will end. This belief is based primarily upon the prayer Jesus made to the Father in John 17:21-22. In this prayer Jesus asks for the church to be made One! This is the motivating factor why the Church is so divided and against each other through Satan’s massive efforts to deceive. Just FYI there are few Christians, if any in the church today that are not potentially deceived in some area or subject in the Bible. This is simply based upon ignorance of scripture. No one but God knows and understands every word, scripture, chapter and book.

We could spend years analyzing the teachings of each Revelation View. In this study we would want to learn how each view hits or misses what God intended to say and what He wanted us to know from what was said. We would need to compare and balance with all of scripture and not just those words in Revelation.

Does that sound like a plan that redeems the best use of our time? I don’t believe it does. I do not ever study theological study books, commentaries or any other religious biased and human reasoning interpreted writings, unless I need to. If I get a question from a reader using terms, names and descriptions having religious terminology I am willing to address them at the same level, but only as the Lord desires and leads. My personal study time is almost always 100% only in the Bible. Then I trust the Holy Spirit in me to lead me to all the verses I need to teach the subject under review.

Because this lesson series is intended to address a self-proclaimed Futurist Viewpoint from a minister it will contain certain points of scripture that will counter their new belief. This unnamed minister who had not long ago shifted from teaching a pre-Tribulation Rapture View now moving to a pre-Wrath modern theory Rapture view. This view is nothing but a mid-tribulation viewpoint changed with the shifting and re-labeling of periods within in the book of revelation that have never existed or been taught before. They only now believed this new view due to reading an unnamed book written on the subject that was written first in 1990. This minister said they studied it out and could not find anything in scripture to refute it. However, I read it over and can see so many problems with it, that it amazes me why they can’t?

Next, we will be moving to some new foundational subjects that are absolutely essential in understanding the Book of Revelation.  We only focus upon the topics that I believe the Holy Spirit is directing us to go and in the order that I believe He desires them to be taught.

I pray this series will be of interest because I believe you will not be disappointed in studying this subject. Revelation is still the only book that I know of that promises a blessing to everyone that reads and/or hears it taught. This blessing has become so real in my study of the book for the past years and especially more pronounced in the last months since June 2025.

Thank you for reading and studying the Bible with us. You are always a blessing to us whether you like, share or comment or not. God Loves you, Jesus Loves you and we Love you! Be blessed, share the Love of God to all that you encounter because Jesus Christ is coming very soon.

What does the Holy Spirit say to you about these beliefs? Which one are you at peace with? And Why? Please share what you think and use scriptures. The remainder of the lessons in this series will be heavily weighted with essential scriptures to help us understand the truth.

Please keep reading and I will do my best to keep the lessons shorter and to the point. For example, todays lesson on the Introduction is less than 5000 words. Very manageable for those that are of limited time constraints.

Thank you for reading and studying the Bible with us. You are always a blessing to us whether you like, share or comment or not. God Loves you, Jesus Loves you and we Love you! Be blessed, share the Love of God to all that you encounter because Jesus Christ is coming very soon.