Chapter 1: The Unveiling of Jesus Christ

 

The book of Revelation starts by telling us the full title of the book itself. Translated literally, it reads: The Unveiling of Jesus Christ.

The Greek word translated “revelation” is apokalupsis, for which reason men refer to it as “The Apocalypse.” This word is usually used today to refer to divinely-destructive events, because the book of revelation has practically become synonymous with disastrous events that are said to destroy the world, particularly during “the tribulation.”

But the literal meaning of the book is “The Unveiling.” It does mean “to reveal” as in “revelation,” but the more precise word picture is one of pulling aside a veil in order to reveal something hidden. What is it that is unveiled in this book? Jesus Christ. It is the unveiling of Jesus Christ, not the unveiling of disasters or tribulation or antichrist.

In general, the word apokalupsis can refer to divine revelation, such as prophecy. Paul uses the term in this way in Galatians 1:12, saying,

¹²  For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation [apokalupsis, “unveiling”] of [i.e., from] Jesus Christ.

The word indicates an unveiling of truth previously hidden from Paul until his conversion to Christ. Yet the revelation of Jesus Christ is more than just a revelation of previously-hidden truth. Real truth is a Person. John 1:1, 14 says Jesus Christ is the Word (logos) made flesh. John 17:17 says, “Thy word [logos] is truth.” So Jesus is also the Truth made flesh (John 14:6).

Therefore, the revelation of truth is the revelation of Jesus Christ. It is more than just a revelation of facts or of future things. It is an unveiling of Jesus Christ Himself and His glory. Paul says in Romans 8:19,

¹⁹ For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing [apokalupsis, “unveiling”] of the sons of God.

It is not prophetic revelation that the creation awaits. It is the unveiling of Christ in the sons of God. To unveil Christ in the sons of God means that Christ becomes visible in them or through them. Hebrews 10:20 speaks of “the veil, that is, His flesh.” A veil hides the light, or the glory of Christ. The unveiling reveals that glory to the world.

The unveiling of Jesus Christ, then, is the time when His glory is made apparent to all. Jesus Christ becomes visible to the world. In His first advent He was visible in the usual sense of the word, for John says in John 1:14,

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The Veils in the Temple

The light and glory that was in Jesus was hidden by the fleshly veil until the three disciples saw His glory on the mount of transfiguration (Matt. 17:1, 2). At Pentecost, the glory of God came to inhabit our bodies, having left the old temple of Solomon that was made of mere wood and stone. This is what Paul meant when he spoke of our bodies being the temples of God. He also spoke of “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). Christ is indeed in us, but He is yet veiled by our flesh. In the second advent, the unveiling will make Christ apparent to all.

Yet this does not necessarily mean that all will see Him face to face. In fact, even as Moses came off the mount and found it necessary to put a veil over his face to hide the glory of God, so also will Jesus Christ return with a veil. He will be visible, yet also veiled, for there will be many on earth who, like Israel, would flee from Him in His glory (Ex. 34:30). And so, His plan is to manifest Himself in the sons of God. It is to veil Himself and His glory with their flesh, even as His glory was veiled in flesh in His first advent. Only those who have come into the full experience of the Feast of Tabernacles will actually see Him face to face with no veils to hide His glory.

All others will see Him through one, two, or three veils. The final veil separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place is the only true veil, of course, but yet there were two other barriers that people had to enter in order to approach God. The first was the door to the outer court. In Jesus’ day a wall separated the women and gentiles, who were unable to enter through the door. Paul referred to this wall in Ephesians 2:14,

¹⁴ For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall.

The second barrier was the door of the Sanctuary itself, which was restricted to priests and Nazarites.

The third barrier was the veil into the Most Holy Place, which restricted everyone except for the High Priest, who was allowed to enter only on one day in the year—the Day of Atonement.

Thus, when we read of the veil that separates man from God, as depicted in the Temple, we should really view this as three veils that separate men from God.

The non-believers will see Him through three veils, for there were three veils or doors in the tabernacle of Moses.

The believers, those justified by faith, those who have experienced Passover, are those who have entered the door of the tabernacle into the outer court. Having passed through the first veil, they are separated from the glory of God by just two veils.

The true Pentecostals, those sanctified and set apart for priesthood, are those who have experienced Pentecost. These have passed through the second veil into the Holy Place and are separated from the glory of God by only the final veil.

The overcomers, those who are part of the body of the High Priest after the Order of Melchizedek, are those who will experience the feast of Tabernacles (Booths). These are the ones in whom Christ “tabernacles” in the fullest sense of the word. They will have access to the Holy of Holies to meet Christ face to face in all His glory.

I believe that all men will see Christ, but at first most will see Him only in the sons of God (overcomers). No one will see Christ without passing through the barriers of the three veils. This is the purpose of “the unveiling of the sons of God” and “the unveiling of His glory.” John says in Rev. 1:7 that “every eye will see Him.” However, John does not say how or at what point in time. I believe that, in time, every eye will see Him, but only after they have been prepared by going through the proper door, or veils. They must first be justified by faith, then sanctified by the Spirit, and only then will they enter that final veil and behold His glory face to face.

The unveiling of Jesus Christ, then, comes in three basic stages. These stages are depicted by the three main feast days of Israel—Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles—as well as the structure of the Sanctuary. On a personal level, we enter into the Most Holy Place through the progressive steps of Justification, Sanctification, and Glorification.

In the historic application, the first ones to go through these three steps into the final Glorification of the body (the barley harvest) are the overcomers. Then at the general resurrection, which is the wheat harvest, the rest of the believers will come into that full maturity and Glorification. The unveiling of Christ in the rest of creation must wait until after they have been judged (the grape harvest, trodden under foot) in the so-called “lake of fire.” This fire is not a torture chamber, but the “fiery law” given at Sinai (Deut. 33:2) that flows from the throne of God (Dan. 7:9, 10). A throne is a symbol of law, by which a monarch rules and judges.

We have dealt with these great topics in other books, particularly in The Judgments of the Divine Law. The point we wish to make here is that the unveiling of Jesus Christ is, I believe, a series of historic events, as well as personal experiences as we draw near to Him. The feasts of Israel serve to prophesy on both levels.

As of the time of this writing, the unveiling of Jesus Christ in the overcomers is yet a future historic event. While one certainly ought to live even now according to the principles and revelation of the Feast of Tabernacles, the fulfillment of this feast has not yet manifested in its corporate, historic appointed time.

John himself wrote that the “unveiling of Jesus Christ” must yet shortly come to pass (Rev. 1:1). John wrote this in 96 A.D., which was about 63 years after the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. If John himself spoke of it as a future day, then the day of Pentecost was not the fulfillment of the glory that John saw in this book. Nor had he or the other disciples yet experienced that final unveiling of Christ in themselves. Peter, too, exhorts us in 1 Peter 1:13,

¹³ Therefore, gird up your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation [apokalupsis] of Jesus Christ.

Like John, Peter also speaks of this as a future event. He says in 1 Peter 4:13,

¹³ but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation [apokalupsis] of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation.

The point is that Christ even now indwells us, but He is veiled. One can only see Christ by spiritual discernment. But there is a day coming when Christ will be unveiled in the sons of God. Then the potential will be there for everyone to see Him in the sons of God. If you find this difficult to understand, you are not alone. Jesus’ disciple, Philip, wrestled with this as well. We read this in John 14,

⁸ Philip said to Him, Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us. ⁹ Jesus said to him, Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say, Show us the Father? ¹⁰ Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me?

Jesus was the manifested Son of the Father. To see the Father, one only had to see Jesus, for the Father was in Him, and the two were one.

Likewise, on the next level, Jesus is the Head, and the “sons of God” are His body. When the body is manifested, then men will see Jesus in them, for they will be one with Him. This does not mean that Jesus replaced the Father, or that the sons of God will replace Jesus, the Son of God. It is not a matter of replacement, but of unity and of manifestation. Even as Jesus glorified the Father by manifesting Him, rather than Himself, so also the sons of God will glorify Christ by manifesting Him, rather than themselves.

The purpose of this manifestation is not to attract attention and glory, but to show the way so that all men can find the path into the full presence of God. The purpose of manifesting Christ to a lost and dying world is to find them and show them the way to life in the Holy of Holies. It is to set the example as pattern sons, so that all might know God as they do.

Revelation 1:7 does say that “every eye will see Him,” but it does not tell us when or how. Most assume it will be immediate, but Scripture does not say this. The book of Revelation is a more detailed account of how this is to take place. It is the story of the unveiling of Jesus Christ, because that is the goal of history and the purpose of this book.

The Futurist Interpretation of Revelation

The futurist interpretation of the book of Revelation, which is taught in many evangelical and fundamentalist circles is a recent innovation, not having been popularized until the mid-1800’s. It was popularized by “Dr.” Scofield, a man of dubious character who awarded himself his doctor’s degree without any higher education.

In the early 1900’s Scofield was backed financially by a Jewish lawyer named Samuel Untermyer, who was one of the framers of the Federal Reserve Act and was the president of the occult Lotus Club in New York. Untermyer provided Scofield with free housing for about twenty years while he wrote his notes for the Scofield Bible. His motive was undoubtedly political, laying the groundwork to convince Christians to blindly support the Jewish State, which was already being planned by certain powerful Zionist Jews. Their motives were anything but Christian.

The futurist view of Revelation changed the feast of Tabernacles into “the rapture,” introducing a foreign concept into the prophetic feast days. The feast of Trumpets signifies the resurrection of the dead at the last trumpet. The Day of Atonement signifies the great day of repentance and fasting that follows the resurrection. The feast of Tabernacles is a seven-day period in which the seven drink offerings (bowls, or vials) of wine are poured out, one each day, signifying judgment. Yet at the same time the priest in the temple poured out drink offerings of water along with the wine, signifying the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (John 7:37-39).

Futurists retain the concept that the resurrection is the first event that initiates the coming of Christ. Only a few of them connect it with the feast of Trumpets, even though this feast has been known for thousands of years in Jewish circles as “the day of the awakening blast.” Jews have connected the feast of Trumpets with the resurrection, even if Christians forgot this truth.

The Day of Atonement occurs nine days after the Feast of Trumpets. It falls on the tenth day of the seventh month (Lev. 23:27). Some futurists connect the Day of Atonement with repentance, but normally limit it to a Jewish repentance of the 144,000. Their view is that the Church will already have been “raptured” at the time of the resurrection (the feast of Trumpets). In my view, there certainly will be Jews among those who repent on that day; however, the real repentance will be done by the believers who at present do not even know that they need to repent. The message to the latter-day Church of Laodicea in Rev. 3:17, 18 reflects this ignorance of the latter-day Church’s need to repent.

The week of Tabernacles is the lawful time it takes to consecrate the priests who are called to rule with Christ. Rev. 5:10 and 20:6 makes reference to these priests. Of course, they are not the old Levitical priests, but are of the Order of Melchisedec, with Jesus Christ being the High Priest (Heb. 7:17). Yet the prophetic pattern of consecration is set in Leviticus 8:35, where Aaron and his sons were to remain in the tabernacle a full seven days, emerging only on the eighth day (Lev. 9:1).

In the days of Aaron, we find that the glory of God manifested to the people on the eighth day after the new priests emerged from the tabernacle. The story is told in Leviticus 9. This prophesies of the eighth day of Tabernacles, called in John 7:37 “the last day, the great day of the feast.” That this was the Feast of Tabernacles is established earlier in John 7:2. The primary event of the Feast of Tabernacles comes on this last great day of the feast, when the Holy Spirit is poured out in its fullness and the bodily change takes place in the overcomers (John 7:37-39).

The futurists, not understanding the prophetic feast days, added “the rapture” to the Feast of Trumpets and the resurrection of the dead. They limited the Day of Atonement to Jews only. And the seven days of Tabernacles was interpreted to be seven years of tribulation. Verses about the eighth day of Tabernacles, teaching the unveiling of the sons of God, were interpreted as “the rapture” and connected to the feast of Trumpets (resurrection day). In so doing, they missed entirely the significance of the eighth day of Tabernacles.

The purpose of the Feast of Tabernacles is to unveil the sons of God and empower them to finish the Great Commission. Daniel says the Kingdom of God (the “stone” Kingdom of Dan. 2:35) is to grow into a great mountain range that fills the whole earth. The futurist view takes believers out of the world and puts forth the Jews as the evangelists during the “tribulation.” What is most strange is that this view says that the Holy Spirit will be removed from the earth at this time. How can the work of evangelism be done by the 144,000 without the presence of the Holy Spirit? There would be no point to their preaching.

The priests poured out a pitcher of water on each of the seven days of Tabernacles. They did not do this on the eighth day, and it was on this day that Jesus shouted, “If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. . . from his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.” John 7:39 supplies us with the interpretation. John says it prophesied of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Actually, Jesus was referring to Isaiah 12:2, 3,

² Behold, God is my Yeshua [“salvation”], I will trust and not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and son, and He has become my Yeshua [“salvation”]. ³ Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs of Yeshua [“salvation”].

Yeshua is the Hebrew name for Jesus. Jesus recognized that Isaiah 12 prophesied of Him, and this is why He spoke as He did on the eighth day of Tabernacles in John 7. Coming to Him for drink, we draw water from the springs, or wells, of Yeshua.

Most assume, as I did for many years, that this was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. But Jesus did not speak these words at the feast of Pentecost. They were spoken on the eighth day of Tabernacles. Pentecost was, indeed, the time that the earnest of the Spirit was given (Eph. 1:14), and so it was partially fulfilled on that day. However, the greater fulfillment can only be the Feast of Tabernacles, the time that the fullness of the Spirit is given.

The futurists see “the rapture” in Revelation 4:1, when John is told to “come up hither.” Of course, that verse says nothing about a rapture. It is a somewhat desperate attempt to find the “rapture” in the book of Revelation. One would think that if the Apostles really taught this doctrine (as it is interpreted today), it would be the most prominent event in the entire book of Revelation. But because it is not to be found, futurists must resort to applying extra meaning to Revelation 4:1.

The rest of the book is then interpreted to refer to events AFTER “the rapture.” And so by the futurist interpretation, most of this book yet remains unfulfilled. They say it will be fulfilled over a period of seven years during “the great tribulation.” They also say that “the Antichrist” will come to power during this time—even though the term, “antichrist” never once appears in the book of Revelation. They generally interpret “the beast” to mean “the Antichrist,” even though the beasts of Daniel 7 and 8 are all references to world empires, and even the “little horn” of Daniel 7:8 is never called a “beast.”

The Historicist View of Revelation

Like futurism, which can take many variations, there is no single historicist view. Yet in general, this view describes those who believe that most of the book of Revelation has already been fulfilled in the progress of history in the past 2,000 years. There are a few events that are yet future, but historicists are not waiting for a rapture to end the Church Age and set the events in Revelation 4-22 into motion.

Revelation 1:1 says that these events written in the book “must shortly come to pass.” This does not seem to fit well with the futurist interpretation that the events would have to wait nearly 2,000 years. Futurism also depends heavily upon the so-called “gap theory,” where the seventieth week of Daniel (i.e., the seven years) was held in abeyance during the so-called Church Age. We refuted this by plain history in our book, Secrets of Time. In Chapter 8 of that book we proved that Daniel’s 70 weeks began with the Edict of Artaxerxes in 458 B.C. In Chapter 9 we proved that Jesus was crucified in 33 A.D., precisely 70 “weeks” of years afterward.

In other words, there was no “gap” that interrupted God’s calendar. The Church Age is not a time where God temporarily set aside “Israel.” Such a view depends upon the view that the Jews are Israel, ignoring the well-known fact that Israel and Judah were two distinct nations, each having its own set of prophecies to fulfill. To lump all the tribes of Israel into the Jewish camp is one of the great distortions in the history of Christian thought. That subject is, of course, too lengthy to include here, but we recommend that our readers study The Struggle for the Birthright and chapter 11 of The Laws of the Second Coming.

I propose to show that most of Revelation has already been fulfilled in the past 2,000 years. I will show that the only reason men are futurists is because they are unacquainted with history, which is simply the story of fulfilled prophecy. Secondly, the futurist view has satisfied people’s need to understand Bible prophecy without actually teaching them the history necessary to hold an accurate view. Thus, the prophetic events in Daniel and Revelation have been fulfilled, but many Christians do not realize it, because they are still looking for very literal fulfillments in the future, where the water literally is turned to blood, and literal locusts (the insects) come to plague men on earth.

Revelation 1:1 says about this book: “He sent and signified [semaino] it by His angel unto His servant John.” To SIGNIFY means to give a SIGN. The Greek word used is the verb, semaino, which is derived from the noun, semeion, “a miraculous sign.” For instance, when Jesus turned the water into wine, this was said to be the first of the miraculous signs (semeion) that He did to manifest His glory (John 2:11).

In other words, the book of Revelation is a book of SIGNS. It is written in symbolic language and is not to be taken so literally. Beasts and dragons and locusts are not meant to be taken as literal creatures. They represent nations and people who act, in part, like these creatures. This is consistent with the beast nations of Daniel 7 and 8. The “lion” in Dan. 7:4 represented Babylon; the “bear” of Dan. 7:5 represented Medo-Persia; the “leopard” of Dan. 7:6 represented Greece, and the nameless iron-toothed beast of Dan. 7:7 represented Rome. These beasts are literal nations, but not literal animals.

It is the same with the Book of Revelation. The events describe literal historic events, but the book is not so literal as to describe literal animals like seven-headed dragons and locusts wearing crowns (“turbans”) on their heads.

And so, in our study, we will treat this revelation as real history told in symbolic terms. In this way we will see that the book unveils the history of the past 2,000 years. We have not been stuck waiting for the “rapture” of Revelation 4:1. We have seen the fulfillment of the book for many years and are now living near the time of the downfall of Babylon and the time of the first resurrection. Revelation 1:3 says,

³ Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.

John tells us that “the time is near,” even as he wrote in verse 1 saying these events “must shortly come to pass.” John’s revelation is not something afar off, like the one given in Daniel 12:9 and 13. In fact, the book of Revelation is an extension of the book of Daniel.

Daniel 2 reveals the basic outline of history, telling us about the four world kingdoms (Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome) that would dominate Palestine and the Western World. This came through a prophetic dream given to the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, who saw an image with a head of gold (Babylon) having silver arms (Media-Persia), bronze belly (Greece), and legs of iron (Rome). Nebuchadnezzar also saw a stone crush the image on its feet and then grind the entire image into powder that blew away in the wind. Daniel interpreted the stone to be a “kingdom” (Dan. 2:44) that God would establish, which would never be destroyed.

In Daniel 7 the prophet himself received divine revelation of these kingdoms. This time they were pictured as “four great beasts” (Dan. 7:3). The first was a lion with eagle’s wings (Babylon’s national symbol, as depicted on many of their monuments). The second beast was a bear—representing Media-Persia, with Persia being the stronger of the two, i.e., “raised up on one side.” The third beast was a leopard with wings to indicate swiftness—representing the Grecian Empire, whose leader, Alexander the Great, conquered that portion of the world all the way to India. The fourth beast was terrifying and was different from the other beasts. It had “large iron teeth” (Dan. 7:7).

Within the prophecy of this iron-toothed beast, a little horn (power) came up, having eyes like a man and “a mouth uttering great boasts” (Dan. 7:8). This is generally recognized as being an extension of the beast with iron teeth—that is, an extension of Rome’s power. The futurists view this as a future “Antichrist.” The historicists view this as an extension of the Roman power base that arose after the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 A.D. In other words, they view it as the Roman Church system itself, which filled the power vacuum with the collapse of Imperial Rome.

The Roman Empire itself had been divided in 395 A.D. The East was ruled by emperors based in Constantinople. The West was ruled by emperors based in Rome. When Rome fell in 476 A.D., the Eastern Roman Empire continued for nearly a thousand years until Constantinople fell in 1453 A.D. Hence, this iron-toothed beast, or the “iron legs” of the image in king Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, extended from 63 B.C. to at least 1453 A.D. The little horn was said to come out of this beast, “uttering great boasts.” In Revelation 13:5 we are given more details of this little horn, but John writes that this beast had “a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies.”

Who is this “little horn” that comes up out of the Roman Empire? The futurist view is that this is a future “Antichrist,” and that there was a long “gap” between the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of a new Roman Empire that is somehow distinct from the Roman Catholic Church.

The historicist view is that this revived Roman Empire is the Roman Catholic Church itself, which ultimately claimed authority over all the nations of the world. Pope Pius IX himself declared in the nineteenth century that the Roman Church was the inheritor of Rome’s authority after the Western Roman Empire fell in 476 A.D. The pope made this claim after the Italian forces of King Victor Emmanuel united Italy (1870), taking the Papal States and even Rome itself from Vatican control. We read this in R.W. Thompson’s book, Footprints of the Jesuits, page 316,

“If Pius IX had been less perturbed, and calm enough to reason logically, he might have observed how fatal to his own conclusion was an important confession made by him in this official allocution. Without seeming to comprehend its full meaning and force, he declared it to be ‘a singular arrangement of Divine providence’ that the pope ‘was invested with his civil authority’ at the time of the fall of the Roman Empire; that is, during the latter half of the fifth century, and nearly five hundred years after the beginning of the Christian era. . . . His object was to show that when the Roman Empire fell, the temporal power was divinely added to the spiritual power of the pope, and, therefore, that it would violate the divine law if he were deprived of the crown of temporal royalty, which the popes of the primitive times did not possess.”

Hence, the Pope himself provides us with testimony that the Roman Church was the successor of the fourth kingdom of Daniel. This clearly makes the Roman Church the “little horn” that was to arise out of the Roman Empire—the iron kingdom.

Whereas Daniel gives us a broad perspective of all four world kingdoms leading up to the (Stone) Kingdom of God, John’s Revelation focuses primarily upon the fourth world kingdom (including the “little horn” extension of Rome) and how it will be replaced by the Kingdom of God. Thus, the book of Revelation is more focused and includes greater detail of the past 2,000 years since the rise of the Roman Empire. Rome took control of Judea in 63 B.C., and as we will see later in our study, John’s prophecy begins in 31 B.C. just as Rome was being transformed from a Republic to an Empire.