The Great Denouement

Revelation moves from Christ’s Death and Resurrection to the final day when God judges the wicked and vindicates the righteous. Christ’s parable of the ‘Sheep and the Goats’ portrays the “Son of Man arriving in glory” at the end of the present age to gather all nations before his Throne for judgment. He divides them into two groups. One receives “everlasting destruction,” and the other, “everlasting life.”

The visions of Revelation reflect the same idea of sifting humanity at the end of this evil age. By the final day, humanity has been divided into two groups: Those who follow the “Lamb wherever he goes,” and those who give allegiance to the “Beast” and its overlord, the “Dragon.” There is no third option.

[Photo by Jake Kokot on Unsplash]

Jesus became the “Faithful Witness” in his Death, and the “Firstborn of the Dead” upon his Resurrection. He now reigns supreme on the Messianic Throne as the “Ruler of the kings of the Earth.” His domain extends to the “uttermost parts of the Earth” as foretold in the Second Psalm.

Even now, the “Son of Man” is “shepherding the nations.” Like any good shepherd, he is separating the “sheep” from the “goats” in preparation for the “Last Hour” – (Psalm 2:1-9, Matthew 25:31-46, Revelation 1:4-6).

The final settlement of all accounts will not occur until this last “day” and “hour” when all men will stand before the “Great White Throne of Judgment.” Everyone whose name is “written in the Book of Life” will receive everlasting life. All men whose names are not found in the Book will be cast “into the Lake of Fire.”

Our fate on that day will be decided by how we respond to the “Lamb” and the “Beast” in the present. Who we follow today determines our everlasting fate – (Revelation 21:24).

In the city of Sardis, Jesus summoned the congregation to repent and remain ever vigilant, otherwise, he would “come as a thief.” Furthermore, there was no way for the church to know “in what hour I will come upon you” – (Revelation 3:1-3).

To the saints in Philadelphia, Christ promised to keep them from the “Hour of Trial” that would come upon the “whole habitable earth.” In the Book of Revelation, the “final hour” represents the moment of final judgment. Jesus did not promise escape from trials and persecution to this church, but that its faithful members would not partake of the “Second Death” on that last day – (Revelation 3:10).

The opening of the Sixth Seal revealed the final “Day of Wrath,” the “Day of the Lord.” The “stars of heaven would fall to the Earth, and the heavens would be withdrawn as a scroll rolling itself up, and every mountain and island would be shaken out of their place.” It would be the “Great Day of the Wrath” of the “Lamb” - (Revelation 6:12-17).

When the “Sixth Trumpet sounded,” four angels were released that had been “prepared for the Hour and Day and Month and Year.” When the “Seventh Trumpet” sounded, the final victory of the Kingdom of God was declared and the time of the last judgment of men and nations arrived - (Revelation 9:14-15, 11:11-19).

Likewise, when the Sixth Bowl of Wrath was emptied, the “Kings of the Earth” were gathered for the final battle on the “Great Day of God Almighty.” There, the forces of the “Beast” were destroyed – (Revelation 9:14-15, 16:12-16).

JUDGMENT

In Chapter 14, the angel proclaimed: “The Hour of His Judgment has come.” This meant the fall of “Babylon” and the destruction of those who had given allegiance to the “Beast from the Sea.” That “hour” culminated in two “harvests”: The “reaping” of the righteous, and the “ingathering” of the “vine of the Earth.” The latter was cast into the “winepress of the Wrath of God.” Every man who rejects the “Lamb” will drink the bitter dregs of Divine Wrath on the Day of Judgment - (Revelation 14:1-20).

Likewise, in Chapter 18 of Revelation, the destruction of “Babylon” arrived “in one Hour,” and she was “laid waste” in the same “hour” - (Revelation 18:10, 18:17-19).

The sevenfold series of Seals, Trumpets, and “Bowls of Wrath” culminated in judgment in the “final hour.” When the “Sixth Seal” was opened, the day of “wrath” arrived for the unrepentant. The “Seventh Trumpet” announced the Day of Judgment for the wicked, and the vindication of the righteous. And the seventh “Bowl of Wrath” completed the Wrath of God - (Revelation 6:12-17, 11:15-19, 16:17-21).

The Book of Revelation is about more than History’s final few years. Its visions give us a broad view of the great Cosmic War between the “Lamb” and the “Dragon.” It has been raging since Christ’s Enthronement following his Resurrection and Ascension. It will continue until the Son of Man’s final victory and the descent of “New Jerusalem” to the Earth.

The Book moves from Christ’s Death and Resurrection to the Final Judgment and its glorious vision of the “Holy City, New Jerusalem.” It consistently pairs his Death with his Resurrection. Thus, for example, Jesus is the “Living one; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore” - (Revelation 1:18).

This is the outworking of God’s redemptive plan that the “Lamb” began to implement after his exaltation. He is the “Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end,” the “firstborn of the dead,” and the “beginning of the (new) creation.” He alone is authorized to open the Scroll sealed with Seven Seals, thus revealing and executing its contents.

Christ’s return at the “Last Hour” will consummate all things set into motion thousands of years ago by his sacrificial death on the Cross and his subsequent resurrection. The Risen Savior will complete everything he set in motion upon his exaltation to reign from “God’s right hand.” That is why the Book concludes with the exclamation - “Yea! I come speedily. Amen! come, Lord Jesus!” The final victory of Jesus over all wickedness awaits his glorious return.

For the “overcoming” saint, the final hour will mean vindication, and everlasting life in “New Jerusalem.” For the impenitent, that day will end with destruction in the “Lake of Fire,” the “Second Death.” When the clock strikes twelve, the “Last Hour,” it will be too late for anyone to decide to follow the “Lamb” rather than the “Beast.” Make your decision now!

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SEE ALSO:

• The Choice - (In Revelation, every man either “Tabernacles in Heaven” or is one of the “Inhabitants of the Earth”).

• City on a Hill - (Contrary to the claims of politicians and many church leaders, Jesus is the only light on a hill that will illuminate this dark world).

• Caesar's Devotees - (The group called the inhabitants of the earth represents men who are omitted from the Book of Life because they give their allegiance to Caesar).