The book of Revelation has been one of the books of the Bible that so many people have been having difficulties in understanding because of the figurative method of messages and interwoven nature of events that are recorded in it. This has presented two problems: some people avoid reading it, while those who read it, many of them have not been able to give it the proper interpretation. The article in this my column which will be in series every fortnight, is written to solve these problems. It is time that all Christians, Christian workers and ministers have proper understanding of this last book of the Bible and be able to decode all its mysterious and figurative contents.
Revelation is the last book of the Bible and the only prophetic book in the New Testament. It was written about 2000 years ago by Apostle John, one of the 12 disciples of Jesus Christ. John wrote the book while he was on banishment on the Island of Patmos by the Romans (Rev 1:9) The book derived its name from its very first verse – “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”. So the progression of the message in Revelation is this: God gave the message to Jesus Christ, who gave it to an angel to be delivered to Apostle John for all people of God.
Through Bible records, man came to know all about the creation of all things and everything about his own existence on earth. These events are perfectly recorded in the first book of the Bible called Genesis.
God is caring, righteous, just and faithful to man. Therefore, He would not want man to be ignorant of his future. For this reason, He presented a perfect and clear picture of man’s destiny to him in the last book of the Bible called REVELATION. With the book of Revelation, man is not ignorant of his future. The book of Revelation stands as the only prophetic book in the New Testament.
Revelation is a record of the future destiny of man based on the choices he makes. Man has a choice of determining his own future. He cannot claim ignorance of what the devil did in the Garden of Eden at the beginning. With this knowledge and that of what lies ahead for him in the future as revealed in the book of Revelation, the choice is now left open for man to decide his own fate; his final destiny. Revelation is a compass that points to us the direction where our destiny lies at the end as a result of our actions, desires and decisions in this world. Through it, we get a very clear picture of where all we do in this world will lead us at the end of our journey here on earth.
The book of revelation contains both good and bad news. It presents bad news, a horrible and disastrous future for all unrepentant sinners and all who choose to follow Satan. However, it has good news, a wonderful world and exciting future for the righteous that follow Jesus Christ by doing the pleasure of the Almighty God whose name is Jehovah.
Of all the sixty-six books of the Bible, only Revelation promises blessings for anyone who reads it. This blessing extends to all those who also hear the words of the Book and keep them. “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things that are written therein; for the time is at hand” (Rev 1:3)
Through the articles in this column, all the messages, mysteries and symbols in Revelation will be unlocked and expounded in a way that will put end to all the ignorance, confusions, misunderstandings, anxieties, fears and misunderstandings that had been generated by the symbols and mysterious messages in the book. In my next article in this column, we shall begin to expand and unlock the Book of Revelation verse by verse.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
PASTOR DR. OLUWASINA ADEWALE OLUMUYIWA Msc, DD
Pastor Dr. Oluwasina Adewale Olumuyiwa is a pastor, teacher and preacher of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ with blessings of the teaching anointing. He has been in ministry as a pastor since 1993; first with Epic International Ministries, Lagos for 15 years (1993 – 2008) and as a member of the faculty of Epic Theological Seminary and College ketu, Lagos where he served as a lecturer in Eschatology and the Book of Revelation for about 23 years (1997 – 2020).
He holds the Diploma of the Association of Business Executives, London and the Diploma of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, PGD/Msc Public Relations from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Honorary Doctorate in Divinity from Intercultural Open University, USA. Presently, He is the presiding steward (General Overseer) of Jesus Proclaimers International Ministry, Imota, Ikorodu, Lagos. He is the author of four books; one on the Book of Revelation titled, God’s Agenda for the End-Time – The Book of Revelation Explained, Miracles in the Streets, The Catalogue of Wealth and a textbook of Public Relations for higher institutions – The Basics of Public Relations. He is married to a lovely and virtuous wife, Evangelist Patience and they are blessed with children.
