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               The Revelation study presented in this month’s Journal will clarify the essentialness of understanding the book of Revelation with a spiritual mind and not with a carnal or earthly mind.  “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: who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.” - Revelation 1:1, 2. 

                John was exiled on the isle of Patmos, and while on the isle of Patmos, John wrote the vision which he saw and thus it is a blessing to those who read and receive understanding.  “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which were written therein: for the time is at hand.”  - Revelation 1:3.

                The Revelation book is symbolic.  If the full meaning and understanding was made known, this book would have been destroyed by the Roman Empire. 

                This book of symbols is not to be interpreted by any other means, but by the Spirit of God and the Word of God. No other book on earth is needed to decode the symbols in Revelation other than the Word of God.  Every symbol can be decoded by the other books of the Bible and including Revelation. 

                For example: In Revelation 20: 1, 2, the Bible states that the dragon was bound with a great chain.  Psalms 149:6-9 explains that the chain which binds is the Word of God.  The Word of God is as a chain which links beautifully together. 

                There is nothing in the Word of God that contradicts.  The Word of God does not teach Christians to live holy and live in sin simultaneously.  The Word of God would contradict itself and God would be the author of confusion. 

                “But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, snared, and taken.” - Isaiah 28:13

                When the Word of God is declared, it binds anything that opposes the truth.  Jesus used the Word of God to bind the devil while he was in the wilderness 40 days and nights.  A spirit can only be bound by the word of God.  There is no chain big enough or strong enough to bind a spirit.  The people of God possess the authority to bind that which opposes the truth.     

                The book of Revelations depicts things that happen before John wrote the book, things that were happening while John was writing the book, and things which would come to pass, as stated by Christ in Revelation 1:19.

                The last point to be made in the Revelation study is that every symbol cannot be interpreted literally.  For example: Revelation 12:1 says, “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.”  It is not possible for a literal woman to be clothed with the sun and  standing  on the moon which is 238,854 miles away from the sun. 

                There is a spiritual interpretation for every symbol in Revelation.   We will begin our next lesson with Revelation chapter one.