Skip Heitzig - You Can Understand the Book of Revelation: Exploring Its Mystery and Message

Never has it been more important for Christians to study the book of Revelation and understand Gods plan and purpose for Israel and the world in the last days. Thats why my friend Skip Heitzigs exploration of Revelation is a must-read! Skip is a first-rate Bible teacher. He has a great passion for helping people understand Bible prophecy, what it means, and why it should motivate believers to live more faithfully for Jesus Christ as we see the Day approaching.

J OEL C. R OSENBERG ,New York Times best-selling
author of The Last Jihad, The Last Days, and Epicenter

When I preached for Pastor Skip Heitzig some time ago I was amazed to find 12,000 people in attendance at his church. I knew this tall, lean, cowboy-looking preacher must be something specialHe is a warmhearted communicator of the Word of God who faithfully teaches divine truth with a practical application to everyday life.

T IM L A H AYE, author of the best-selling Left Behind series

Skip Heitzig has given us a very readable and accurate commentary on the book of Revelation. Throughout its 22 chapters, we are constantly reminded that this is the Revelation of Jesus Christ. If you are looking for a way to study the future, youve just found it!

D AVID J EREMIAH , senior pastor, Shadow Mountain Community Church;
founder of Turning Point Ministries

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Verses marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Verses marked AMP are taken from The Amplified Bible, Copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Verses marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189 USA. All rights reserved.

Verses marked PHILLIPS are taken from J.B. Phillips: The New Testament in Modern English, Revised Edition. J.B. Phillips 1958, 1960, 1972. Used by permission of Macmillan Publishing Company.

Cover by Dugan Design Group, Bloomington, Minnesota

Cover photos Adam Gryko, Amyn Hooda / Fotolia

Author photo copyright 2010 by Jeff LeFever, www.lefever.com

YOU CAN UNDERSTAND THE BOOK OF REVELATION

Copyright 2011 by Skip Heitzig

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97402

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Heitzig, Skip.

You can understand the book of Revelation / Skip Heitzig.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-7369-4331-4 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-0-7369-4332-1 (eBook)

1. Bible. N.T. RevelationCommentaries. I. Title.

BS2825.53.H45 2011

228.07dc22

2010051982

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 / LB-SK / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To my grandson, Seth Nathaniel Heitzig,
who for me represents the future.
May your life in this uncertain world be filled with fun and joy,
knowing that it will one day be eclipsed
by a far more certain and wonderful existence!

A fter journeying through the book of Revelation you probably feel bittersweet. There is joy and pleasure mingled with pain and sadness. Even the apostle John himself found this to be so. When he was told to take the little book, the disclosure of how bad the future was still going to get, he wrote, It was sweet in my mouth, but when I swallowed it, it turned sour in my stomach (Revelation 10:10 NLT ). Thats how most folks feel after reading this book. I know I certainly do.

So what now? How can we use what we have read to better our lives and the lives of others? Living in the light of the future should have a way of transforming usof making us better people. Thats because the book of Revelation is a book that reveals Jesus Christ. Any study of Christ should be transforming by its very nature. The clearer Christ becomes to us, the clearer should be His calling and claim upon our lives and the more defined our role becomes in this world.

In this book we have seen Christs majesty, His sacrifice, His rule over the church, His ownership of the universe, His coming judgment, and His future plans for both the earth and heaven. This book demonstrates these realities more clearly than any other book in Scripture.

So studying Bible prophecy helps us to understand whats coming down the road for planet earth. We realize that the events described in this final book of the Bible are real and will one day become history. But theres something more to studying Bible prophecy than just learning the schedule of future events so as to know whats next on the prophetic calendar. Studying prophecy should motivate us to live godly lives. To repeat what Peter said,

The day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment. Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live (2 Peter 3:10-11 NLT ).

Prophecy can and should become a wake-up call. We should think of it this way: If Jesus is coming back, and perhaps very soon, I cant just keep on living the same old way I always have! Everything around is going to melt away, Peter says. That means cars, computers, houses, bank accounts, vacation spots, pets, people, and toys! We should take a realistic assessment of our lives and begin to live godly and holy lives.

As you read this, you are in one of two places: You either belong to Him as a child of God or not. That means your final destination will either be eternally pleasurable or eternally miserable. If you are not a follower of Christ, then of course you should be fearful of the future and make the appropriate changes. When the final curtain closes, you want to make sure you are on the right side of the Director and Producer of the universe. But more about that in a moment.

If you are a believer in Christ, then consider how this book has pointed out some key issues of life and ask yourself some questions:

Has my understanding of God, His Son, and His plan deepened in the course of this study?

How will I use this understanding in the future?

Has my walk changed as a result?

Am I willing to take more risks in sharing my faith with others?

Has my worship of God been challenged by this book?

Could that worship stand to become more sincere and fresh?

Do I find myself anticipating Christs return?

If you answer these in the affirmative, then you are wisely growing in Gods Word and fulfilling the core goal of the book of Revelation (Revelation 1:3). Yes, future events will certainly cast their dark and ominous shadows, but until those future events are here, we can and should be about His business, living life to the brim by loving those around us and serving our great Christ.

But perhaps youre not yet a believerthat is, a real follower of Christ. If thats the case, now is the time to think clearly and soberly. If you are looking for the kind of hope youll need for difficult days, the only place youll find it is in God. Paul called God the God of hope (Romans 15:13), and he assured us that this is the kind of hope that does not put us to shame (Romans 5:5).