In addition to obedience to God’s commandments, Revelation 11 suggests two additional elements to the current priesthood of believers. Revelation 11:1 introduces a temple of God that John is told to measure. Interestingly, John is instructed to measure the worshipers…
Due to the blood of the Lamb, the people of God are already his holy ones and his priests prior to their entry into the New Jerusalem (Rev. 5:10; 13:7; 17:6). Yet their current holiness is incomplete, as the seven…
Revelation 1:5b-6 says, “To the one who loves us and set us free from our sins by his blood, and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”…
The honor of serving God before his throne is the first honor for the people of the New Jerusalem (22:3). Further honors occur in Revelation 22:4-5. Revelation 22:4 says, “And they will see his face, and his name will be…
Revelation 22:3 says, “And there will no longer be any curse. And the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will serve him.” The term priests occurs three times in Revelation, all with…
In John 1:51, Jesus says, “Amen, Amen, I say to you (plural), you (plural) will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” Jesus’ words here are somewhat mysterious. What exactly is…
In light of the Ephesian church’s significant strengths (Rev. 2:2-3), it is surprising that she has allowed herself to slip into an area of weakness that could be her undoing. Revelation 2:4 says, “But I have this against you, that…
Historic premillennialism is a view that was championed by George Ladd and is therefore commonly associated with him. Ladd was primarily responding to dispensationalism. The adjective “historic” in historic premillennialism refers to Ladd’s contention that some early Church Fathers were…
The dispensational premillennialist camp has been quite influential in Evangelical circles. Dispensational interpreters are known for four emphases. First, they emphasize the pretribulational rapture of the church. According to this view, “Christ’s return will occur in two stages: the first…
When most Christians think about the book of Revelation, they think about the book as a prophecy of the end events and the second coming of Christ. They may or may not realize that even futurist interpreters disagree over which…