The Book of Revelation THE BOOK OF REVELATION An Explanation of this Book Especially for You Rock Solid #12 Ger de Koning The original Dutch version is available at Webshop: www.uitgeverijdaniel.nl Orders: [email protected] Translation: Ursula Moestapa Cover design: Jan Paul Spoor / Sjon Heijenga Layout: Piet Versteeg © 2016 by Ger de Koning. All rights preserved. No part of this publication may be – other than for personal use – reproduced in any form without written permission of the author. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. 4 Contents Foreword 9 Abbreviations of the Names of the Books of the Bible 11 Old Testament 11 New Testament 12 Explanation of general format 13 The Book of Revelation 15 Introduction 15 Revelation 1 17 Purpose of the Book | verse 1 17 Recipients, Blessing and Praise | verses 2-6 21 John On Patmos | verses 7-12 26 In the Middle of the Lampstands | verses 13-20 31 Revelation 2 36 The Seven Messages | verse 1 36 Message For Ephesus | verses 2-7 41 Message For Smyrna | verses 8-11 46 Message For Pergamum | verses 12-17 51 Message For Thyatira | verses 18-29 57 Revelation 3 63 Message For Sardis | verses 1-6 63 Message For Philadelphia | verses 7-13 68 Message For Laodicea | verses 14-22 74 Revelation 4 79 The Throne | verses 1-7 79 The Four Living Creatures | verses 8-11 85 5 Revelation 5 88 The Book | verses 1-5 88 The Lamb | verses 6-14 92 Revelation 6 98 The First Four Seals | verses 1-8 98 The Fifth and Sixth Seal | verses 9-17 104 Revelation 7 110 The Sealed of Israel | verses 1-8 110 The Great Multitude From the Nations | verses 9-17 115 Revelation 8 120 The Seventh Seal and the First Trumpet | verses 1-7 120 The Second, Third and Fourth Trumpet | verses 8-13 126 Revelation 9 130 The Fifth Trumpet | verses 1-12 130 The Sixth Trumpet | verses 13-21 136 Revelation 10 142 The Opened Little Book | verses 1-11 142 Revelation 11 148 The Two Witnesses | verses 1-8 148 The Seventh Trumpet | verses 9-19 154 Revelation 12 160 The Dragon, the Woman and the Child | verses 1-6 160 Satan Thrown Down To the Earth | verses 7-17 164 Revelation 13 170 The Beast Coming Up Out Of the Sea | verses 1-4 170 Mouth and Deeds of the Beast Out Of the Sea | verses 5-10 175 The Beast Coming Up Out Of the Earth | verses 11-18 180 6 Revelation 14 186 The Song of the One Hundred and Forty-four Thousand | verses 1-6 186 Messages from Three Angels | verses 7-13 191 The Two Harvests of the Earth | verses 14-20 196 Revelation 15 201 The Sea of Glass and the Seven Angels | verses 1-8 201 Revelation 16 208 The First, Second and Third Bowl | verses 1-4 208 Testimony, the Fourth and Fifth Bowl | verses 5-11 211 The Sixth and Seventh Bowl | verses 12-21 216 Revelation 17 221 The Great Harlot | verses 1-4 221 The Mystery Explained | verses 5-10 227 The Kings and the Beast Hate the Harlot | verses 11-18 232 Revelation 18 236 Come Out Of Her, My People | verses 1-10 236 The Wealth of Babylon Destroyed | verses 11-24 243 Revelation 19 249 The Marriage of the Lamb | verses 1-8 249 Heaven Opened | verses 9-15 255 The Beast and the Antichrist Are Judged | verses 16-21 260 Revelation 20 263 Satan Thrown Into the Abyss | verses 1-3 263 Thousand Years Peace and the Last Rebellion | verses 4-9 266 The Great White Throne – the Lake of Fire | verses 10-15 272 Revelation 21 278 A New Heaven and a New Earth | verses 1-4 278 All Things New | verses 5-10 283 The Holy City, the New Jerusalem | verses 11-18 288 God Almighty and the Lamb Are Its Temple | verses 19-27 293 7 Revelation 22 299 A River of the Water of Life | verses 1-7 299 My Reward Is With Me | verses 8-14 304 Yes, I Am Coming Quickly | verses 15-21 309 Other Publications 314 8 Foreword Dear friend, It’s my pleasure to present to you the twelfth and final volume of the ‘Rock Solid series’. This last volume, how could it be otherwise, is about the Bible book Revelation. In the previous books of the Bible the truth of God has come to you in the form of letters. In these letters it is about the church of God which according to her nature and call- ing belongs to heaven. In the book of Revelation it is about the earth and how God comes to His purpose with it. In all God’s acts you see the Lord Jesus as the Center. It is all about Him, about His future. Everything is seen and judged in the light of the relation- ship to Him. Read this book prayerfully and your love to the Lord Jesus will increase enormously. You will get more and more attached to Him and at the same time the effect will be that you will become disconnected from the world more and more. Here are a few practical tips that might help you: 1. Provide yourself with a good translation of the Bible. Some good translations are the New American Standard Bible (NASB), the New King James Version (NKJV), the New Translation by J.N. Darby (JND) and the King James Version (KJV), preferably with the New Scofield word updates. I will be using the NASB, with permission granted by The Lockman Foundation on Feb- ruary 10, 2016 when referencing and quoting Scripture unless I note otherwise. 2. I tried to write this book in a way that encourages you to use the Bible. At the beginning and end of each section, I have list- ed the Bible verses pertaining to that section. I encourage you 9 to read those verses before and after reading the section. It would be a good idea to keep your Bible open to those verses so you can easily refer to them. 3. Self-discipline is very important. You have to be willing to dis- cipline yourself to take time to understand the Bible better. I suggest that you read the Bible at a set time that’s best for you. To help you with this, I have divided this book into fifty-seven sections. I also indicated with a ‘V’ which verse is explained. Read one section daily. If you do, then in less than eight weeks, you will have gained a little more insight into this impressive book of the Bible. The whole Bible is a splendid book and it’s my prayer that you’ll get this impression in an increasing way. I wish you God’s blessing! Middelburg, Netherlands, English edition 2016 ✆ Tel. (0031) 0118 638458 @ E-mail: [email protected] 10 Abbreviations of the Names of the Books of the Bible Old Testament Gen - Genesis Exo - Exodus Lev - Leviticus Num - Numbers Deu - Deuteronomy Jos - Joshua Jdg - Judges Rth - Ruth 1Sam - First Samuel 2Sam - Second Samuel 1Kgs - First Kings 2Kgs - Second Kings 1Chr - First Chronicles 2Chr - Second Chronicles Ezra - Ezra Neh - Nehemiah Est - Esther Job - Job Psa - Psalms Pro - Proverbs Ecc - Ecclesiastes Song - Song of Songs Isa - Isaiah Jer - Jeremiah Lam - Lamentations Eze - Ezekiel Dan - Daniel Hos - Hosea Joel - Joel Amos - Amos Oba - Obadiah Jona - Jonah 11 Mic - Micah Nah - Nahum Hab - Habakkuk Zep - Zephaniah Hag - Haggai Zec - Zechariah Mal - Malachi New Testament Mt - Gospel of Matthew Mk - Gospel of Mark Lk - Gospel of Luke Jn - Gospel of John Acts - Acts of the Apostles Rom - Letter to the Romans 1Cor - First Letter to the Corinthians 2Cor - Second Letter to the Corinthians Gal - Letter to the Galatians Eph - Letter to the Ephesians Phil - Letter to the Philippians Col - Letter to the Colossians 1Thes - First Letter to the Thessalonians 2Thes - Second Letter to the Thessalonians 1Tim - First Letter to Timothy 2Tim - Second Letter to Timothy Tit - Letter to Titus Phlm - Letter to Philemon Heb - Letter to the Hebrews Jam - Letter of James 1Pet - First Letter of Peter 2Pet - Second Letter of Peter 1Jn - First Letter of John 2Jn - Second Letter of John 3Jn - Third Letter of John Jude - Letter of Jude Rev - Revelation 12 Explanation of general format PERSONAL PRONOUNS are capitalized when pertaining to Deity. BRACKETS [ ] are used inthis commentary in the Bible text to indicate words which are not found in the original Hebrew, Ara- maic, or Greek but implied by it. SHARP BRACKETS < > are used in this commentary in the Bible text to indicate words possibly not in the original writings. ASTERISKS * are used to mark verbs that are historical pres- ents in the Greek which have been translated with an English past tense in order to conform to modern us-age. The translators rec- ognized that in some contexts the present tense seems more un- expected and unjustified to the English reader than a past tense would have been. But Greek authors frequently used the present tense for the sake of heightened viv-idness, thereby transporting their readers in imagination to the actual scene at the time of oc- currence. However, the translators felt that it would be wise to change the-se historical presents to English past tenses. ALL CAPS in the New Testament are used in the text to indicate Old Testament quo-tations or obvious references to Old Testa- ment texts.