Welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the book of Revelation. This will be study #4 in chapter 1, and we have been looking at the word "revelation," and we saw how God has also spoken of the "mystery of the revelation," indicating the hidden truths of the Bible, that within the "revelation" of God, which is the whole Bible, including the book of Revelation: all Scripture is given by "revelation" of God.

Within this divine "revelation" is the "mystery" of God. It is plainly placed on the pages of the Scripture; and God had a plan to reveal some of the "mysteries" throughout the ages, as He gave prophets His divine word and they penned these things.

And as the divine revelation was compiled and the book of the Bible was put together, this did answer some of the mysterious questions of the nature of God and His Person, especially as God moved prophets during the New Testament period to record certain things, including the Apostle Paul; then the "mystery" of the Gentiles was revealed to him, that they would be fellowheirs.

And there were other things as well. The New Testament quotes of Old Testament passages pointing to the Messiah resolved the "mystery" in those places concerning the Lord Jesus Christ as the embodiment of the Messiah, the One that was to come! So of that great "mystery" of God concerning the entry of Emmanuel into the human race, the answer came about when Christ became man and lived amongst mankind.

But there were many other "mysteries." God gave the prophet Daniel a lot of information regarding the End of time, and He told him to "seal up" the word until the time of the End. So that "mystery" was never solved during the Old Testament period or during the New Testament church age. But it was to be stored up, kept in reserve, until the time of the End would come, and the Great Tribulation would arrive, and the church age would end. Then it was God's plan to open up the Scriptures, and He has done this. We are living in the period after the Tribulation now, and God opened up the Scriptures in May of 1988, at the beginning point of the Great Tribulation, and that word, the Bible, has remained open ever since!

It has been the Lord's plan not to reveal all the information that He had hidden, at once, but to gradually reveal these things over the period of years. For instance, the Bible was unsealed back in 1988, but the truth of the end of the church age did not come to light, really, until 12 or 13 years later, when God's people began to see these things in the word of God, the Bible. Then it was as if God activated His command for His people to come out of the churches and to "flee" before they were destroyed along with the churches, bundled as tares for the burning.

And other doctrines and teachings of God also, slowly and gradually, came to light over an extended period of time over the latter years of the Great Tribulation, and all the way up to the Day of Judgment itself, May 21, 2011. God, of course, revealed that date just a few years before the actual date was arrived at. God's people began to "see" and understand that would be the Day of Judgment.

But was that the complete "revelation" of the "mystery" of God? No, it was not, and verses, like Romans 2:5, are now giving us some insight into God's plan concerning the Day of Judgment itself. Again, I will read Romans 2:5:

But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;

The "day of wrath" and "revelation of the righteous judgment of God," meaning that Judgment Day is a day of "revelation," and it is the "revealing" of the judgment of God. That is, God's plan to judge the world at that point, and only at that point, comes into clearer focus.

And it was exactly our experience that once we reached, and now have passed, the Day of Judgment, we are learning a great deal of information about it: that the Judgment of God on the world is spiritual, at first, until the very end of this day of judgment, which perhaps will last 1,600 days. And then He will physically destroy the world and universe and everything tainted by sin. But the period of Judgment Day, up until its final last end, is a spiritual judgment of the shutting of the door to heaven, of the putting out of the light of the gospel, so that no one is being saved throughout this period of time.

We did not know that before. We did not know that it would be spiritual, completely spiritual. We had thought it would be physical. Since the world lives in the physical realm, perhaps, this is why we assumed that God would deal in a physical manner with them, and He would cause them to "see" their judgment. But this has not been the plan of God at all.

Just as God dealt a spiritual judgment to mankind in the Garden of Eden, and they died spiritually, not physically, in the day that they rebelled, and just as God dealt a spiritual judgment to the Lord Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (where He drank of the cup of the wrath of God), and just as God dealt a spiritual judgment to the churches and congregations, by shutting the door to heaven to them within the confines of the churches and congregations of the world. And (now) He is doing the identical thing to the world, and we have since learned this.

Also, we have learned that it is God's plan NOT to rapture the believers out of the world in the Day of Judgment. There are several verses that have come to light that show us that the people of God are to be here. Zechariah 13, verses 8 and 9, says this, actually, plainly: "Two parts therein shall be cut off and die, but the third part shall be left therein." And why? Because God says "I will bring the third part through the fire."

It is the plan of God to try His people with a fiery trial of their faith, to try their hearts to see if they are true men, men without guile and deceit within, if they have truly become His children. And, so, He has set up a "snare" for the world. In this perfectly devised "snare" of God, the world thinks nothing happened on the Day of Judgment and this, at the same time, allows God to severely "try" His people, to see if they will continue to trust His word when all of their outward observances would say, also, that nothing happened! It is completely by faith, by understanding the word of God itself, that they must hold onto the things they have learned!

Now Romans 2:5 links the "day of wrath" and "revelation of the righteous judgment of God," but it is not alone. We find other verses, such as in Luke 17, that use a similar word, a related word, to the word "apokalupsis," translated as "revelation," and this word is "apokalupto." And, it says in Luke 17, beginning in verse 29:

But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

Now we probably have read this before and just thought, "Oh, this is the day when Christ is revealed from Heaven, the day in which the world sees Him coming in judgment upon them, with their physical eyes." But, no, no, this is not referring to that! Let me read it again: "even thus it shall be in the day when the sun of man is revealed." But notice what follows in verse 31:

In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot's wife.

Well, what does that have to do with Christ coming down in the clouds? Who is thinking about coming down off housetops or returning from fields, and why the reference to Lot's wife? If Christ were coming in fiery wrath, well, everyone is all dead - they are destroyed. But this is not referring to the "revelation" of Christ coming in the skys where people can see Him with their physical eyes. It is referring to a "revelation" or a "revealing" of Christ as the Judge, in the word of God, the Bible! He was first "revealed" in coming in judgment upon the churches: that God's wrath began at the house of God, the Bible teaches us. And that showed us that the Lord Jesus was "revealed" as the Judge of all the churches of the Earth. And now the Bible is "revealing" Him as the Judge of all the world, likewise, in a spiritual way.

This is why 2Thessalonians, chapter 1, says in verse 7:

And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

Just as Jesus was "revealed" to be the Judge of the church (and, of course, He did not come literally or physically), He came in Spirit to judge the congregations, to remove the candlestick from them. Likewise, Christ has come, in a sense, He is "revealed" from Heaven "in flaming fire, taking vengeance," because this is Judgment Day, the day of vengeance.

Now in 2Thessalonians 2, this same word "reveal" that was used in Luke 17:30 of the Son of Man ("in the day when the Son of man is revealed") is found here in 2Thessalonians 2, and I would like to read a few of the verses here. I will start in verse 3:

Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

Now, also, further down in verse 6:

And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

These verses describe to us the "revealing" of the man of sin, and God's people know who the "man of sin" is: the anti-Christ is Satan himself. And the "revelation" of him, the "revealing" of him, is not taking place in the world where some political figure or ruler is identified as the man of sin, but it has happened through the understanding of the word of God, the Bible, as God opened up our eyes to see that it was His plan to loose Satan, who had been bound a figurative period of 1,000 years, to loose him at the End of time so he could go forth, wreaking havoc, and bringing about destruction of the local churches and congregations of the world. He accomplished this task very well. He was very zealous, as Jehu, with the mission of bringing destruction to all in his path. And God is the one who loosed him (Satan) and used him as His servant to perform His will, to bring about the judgment on the churches.

But the point is, the same word is used: the man of sin be "revealed." In his time, he is to be "revealed," and he was "revealed," and yet it had everything to do with the Bible; it had everything to do with the spiritual unveiling, the opening up of understanding toward the Scripture!

And that also is where the "Son of Man" is "revealed" as Judge of the church, and the Lord Jesus is "revealed" now (remember that verse in Romans 2:5) in the "day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God." Now God is "revealing" more of the "mystery," and the final pieces of the "mystery," the last hidden truths of the Bible, are coming to light as we have entered into the Day of Judgment itself.

Now let us go to the book of Revelation, and we looked at that word "mystery," and in the Greek you would pronounce it something like "moos-tay'-ree-on," and it sounds very much like the English "mystery," so "mystery" is basically a transliteration of the Greek word. This word is found a few times in the book of Revelation. A little further along in Revelation 1, Lord willing, which we get to shortly, it says in verse 20:

The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks...

So God shows us a picture of Christ, a glorious picture of the Lord Jesus, and in His right hand are "seven stars." Well, that is the written word of God, but what is the truth concerning that? That would be where the "mystery" comes in, and here God is going to explain a little bit more about that "mystery." We will have time, hopefully, later as we move on in the book of Revelation, to look at this. But, for now, just know that the word "mystery," is there, and also in Revelation, chapter 17, it says in verse 5:

And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

And it says in verse 7:

And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.

Keep in mind what Jesus said to the disciples when they asked, "Why do you speak in parables?" And He told them, "It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but unto them it is not given."

Basically, the book of Revelation is one enormous parable, or one book with parable after parable, as God gives various images depicting Gospel truths, and that is where the "mystery" is hidden.

One of those parables is "Babylon," and has also been just recently that we began to learn, properly, what Babylon represents in the Bible: that it is used by God as a type of the kingdom of Satan. When Babylon falls (and it did fall, historically, after 70 years, and that 70-year-period typified the Great Tribulation), it is referring to the judgment that comes upon Satan and his kingdom which would include the churches, at that point, and the world, at the end of the Great Tribulation. Then Babylon falls, and the Lord Jesus Christ is victorious, just as Cyrus took the kingdom of the Babylonians. This is all part of the "mystery" that God has written in His word, and those things concerning Babylon were "sealed up until the time of the end."

Well, there is another verse in Revelation, the last verse where we will find this word "mystery," and it is in chapter 10 of the book of Revelation. But, before we go to that verse, let us read the first couple of verses of Revelation, chapter 10:

And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:

Now this "mighty angel" is God Himself, the Lord Jesus. The description would only apply to Him, and then in verse 2:

And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,

This is referring to the Bible. The "little book" is a picture of the Bible. The translation of the Greek here should read this way: "He had in His hand a little book having been opened." It is earlier in the book of Revelation, in Revelation 5 and 6, that we read of the book, the Bible, with seals upon it, and then the seals are removed, one by one, until all seven seals come off.

And now we find a "little book" and the Greek, if properly translated, would indicate a prior action has already taken place, of the book having been opened. That is because God is indicating here that the Great Tribulation is already under way and accomplished, and the Bible remains an open book. It will never be sealed again. It continues to be open.

Then further down in verse 7 of Revelation 10 (now we are not going to cover this in too much detail because this is part of the book of Revelation and, Lord willing, we hope to cover the whole book, eventually, in this Bible study, and that would mean that at a much later date we will arrive at chapter 10 and go over these verses), but for now, let us look at verse 7:

But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

Now this is, well, I do not know what else to say except, interesting! Very interesting, that in the days of the voice of the seventh angel (there were seven angels that had trumpets and were to sound), this is the seventh, the last angel, and this angel, when he sounds, it will be the last trump. The Bible says that the Lord Jesus returns with the sound of a trumpet, and 1Corinthians 15 declares that it is at the last trump that the resurrection will take place.

Well, this would be the last trumpet, and now it is "in the days of the voice of the seventh angel when he shall begin to sound," and we have to look at this word "begin." This is a Greek word that we could probably translate, if we were to try and pronounce it, as "mello," and it is only translated as "begin" in this verse! Nowhere else in the Bible, and it is used many dozens of times, but nowhere else is this Greek word "mello" translated as "begin," except in this verse. This word, which is Strong's #3195, is translated at times as "at the point of," or at least in one instance. I will give the verse (I am not going to turn there) in John 4:47: "at the point of death." Someone had not yet died, but they were "at the point of" death.

And in Acts 20, this word is translated as three different ways, so I will turn here in Acts, chapter 20, beginning in verse 3:

And there abode three months. And when the Jews laid wait for him, as he was about to sail into Syria...

The word "about" is the Greek word "mello." And in the same chapter, in verse 7:

And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow...

The Greek word "mello" is translated as "ready to." And then in verse 13:

And we went before to ship, and sailed unto Assos, there intending to take in Paul...

The word "intending" is that same word. So we find this word translated often as "come to," "about," "at the point of," "ready to," and "intending." It is actually found in Revelation, in chapter 8, in verse 13, where it says:

And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

The word "yet" is that same word, "mello," and we can really come to no other conclusion, except that this word means "something which is about to happen," or "at the point of happening," but has not yet happened. Actually, in Revelation 10, in the same chapter, in verse 4, it says:

And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.

The word "about" is "mello," and, therefore, it is very clear John had pen to paper and he was about to record and God said, "Write them not." So he did not actually follow through, and he never wrote down the vision, or what he had seen.

That means, without any question at all, "But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound," should be translated, "when he is about to sound." He has not yet sounded and, yet, God goes on to say, "the mystery of God should be finished." In other words, right before we get to the final trumpet blast, which will end this world and bring about the day of resurrection, God will have completed the "mystery" of the Gospel! He will have finally "revealed" all the hidden truths that He intended to "reveal" to His people.