Be comforted because if you have been born-again, there is no need to be frightened. If you're not, God gives seventy-times seven chances (or more) to experience rebirth (Mat 18:22). On the other hand, just as one's hands become calloused by manual labor, the heart can become calloused by acclimating to the rejection of God (Matthew 13:15). God calls us to salvation:
2 Timothy 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began...He calls... we must answer. If that is "work", so be it. Our own salvation is a gift of God but we must accept the gift. The passage above is the ontology - our coming into existence to the present time. The Book of Revelation takes us the rest of the way. All prophecy is terminated as the revelation ends. "Revelation" is "an act of revealing divine truth" (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). It is singular although most people say revelations, although there is only one truth! Some refer to the "Revelation of Saint John", but it is actually the revelation of divine truth as revealed to Saint John. Jesus Christ revealed the future to him (Rev 1:1). Jesus sent "his angel" to reveal the truth to John (1:1; I am dismissing the use of the name of the book for brevity from here onward. "1:1" is understood to be Revelation 1:1, etc. All other books shall be enumerated).
We normally think of an "angel" as another being. I believe in this case it was Jesus Himself (I will cease to capitalize pronouns in reference to Jesus henceforth). "His angel" appears to be Jesus himself from the Greek autos aggelos - "self messenger" In Holy Scripture "the Word"- the pre-incarnate Jesus, was often described as "the angel of God". He was chief messenger - or angel, and His message was the Word. If "his angel" is another being, then it is still Jesus's message. Since Jesus is our mediator to God (1 Tim 2:5), it would appear that Jesus's himself was informing John about God's plan for mankind's future.
Of course, unlike Lucifer who was a created messenger, the Word was there in the beginning (John 1). The Word was made flesh with Jesus's carnate birth from the Holy Spirit and pure Mary. His birth was not in sin (with sexual knowledge) but the Holy Spirit knew Mary. Her womb and soul were imbued by God, and God was born a living person. God in the flesh is who calls us to salvation. That was the purpose God was made flesh.
Since God calls us, we have limited time to respond. We are limited by our own hearing, listening, considering, and conclusions. These senses and faculties were provided by God as a means of exercising our own will. Our human will is the instant in time when multiple choices are offered, and mankind selects the choice of his strongest desire. Since the decision is ours, not God's or anyone else's, and no one coerces us, we were created with "free will".
Our future, then is in two hands, and two alone: God's and ours. God's will is plain as day in John 3:16, "that none should perish". Our future, then is up to us! We must choose. Our selection is by our own volition but we must be persuaded (Acts 18:4). Truth is persuasive. When Christians realize the truth, then that's the new birth because we see God's Light. What is that truth? Our destiny is death, we can't save ourselves, but Jesus can! Revelation is an aid to assist us in realizing those two outcomes - eternally living or eternally dying. I use the present participle "ing" because neither of the outcomes are finite - both are infinite!
In Revelation, Jesus himself gives us a little peek into the future. Those who have no understanding of God will frankly find it frightening and confusing! One man I know commenced his study of scripture by reading Revelation. He was so confused that he abandoned his quest for salvation. He read but failed to understand! There is much symbolism in that book. Imagine, if you will, that John was perhaps seeing things not extant in his own times. How could he possibly describe a futuristic invention except by describing those things in terms of what was known at the time. In that sense "Locusts" may very well describe helicopters, for instance, or they could really be locusts. However, it would be wise to consider both!
I became a Christian because I was afraid of my future. I considered death, judgment, heaven, and hell. The choice for me was clear: I desired to choose heaven and the Way of God, frankly, because Hell scared me. Hence, a place of punishment and reward is imperative for salvation! We must ask ourselves: what is it that we are saved from? We are saved from Hell if we are Christians. Without a Hell, then there is nothing to be saved from! In order to be saved from Hell, there must be a place of refuge. That place is Paradise believed to be in the Third Heaven (2 Cor 12:2). That place is in the Presence of God in the Kingdom of God.
Revelation is about two outcomes. Physical death occurs in and instant. Revelation considers what comes after the sting of death. We are to love and fear God. Some question how that can be. The answer is that God is loving but also just. Hence, Revelation is about love and justice. There is a great reward for love - eternally living. On the other hand, for those who never experience rebirth, justice is eternally dying. The choice is ours. It is made by: shall we or shall we not lower ourselves and lift-up God (John 3:14). Why was Revelation written? To aid one in making that decision! What was revealed to me therein is what made me consider Christ. Once I realized that death is forever dying, I sought solace. That solace came from God, and he gave me "the hope of salvation" (1 Thes 5:8).
The Word was given to Christ's servant, John. Servants have one Master as they can't serve two (Mat 6:24). God selected John to write his word because he was a faithful servant. Church fathers relate that John was lowered into boiling oil but miraculously survived. With that miracle, I reflect on Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego; and their deliverance from the fiery furnace by none other that "the angel of God" (Dan 3). Just as Jesus delivered them from that hellish furnace, Jesus will deliver the righteous from fiery Hell! You see, perhaps, that Jewish scripture is all about Jesus!
In delivering John from his fiery destiny, God had a purpose. Tasting Hell himself, who better to warn mankind about a place of intense heat and pain than one who has experienced it already? Thus, John was saved from the first death for a purpose: to persuade others how to be spared from the second death, and their own fiery destiny!
God provided a sanctuary for John. He wrote his visions on the Island of Patmos. This was considered to be an acropolis - a city of high elevation and a citadel for protection. There, just like Adam was said to live, John saw his visions, ironically, living in a cave. "Ironically" because like Paul who needed blindness to see Jesus, John needed darkness to see the visions of Jesus.
Jesus picked the person, place, and message. Likewise, Jesus picked the audience as well. The visions were provided that the world may see what the eyes cannot see! To give us "bright eyes" as sacred writings referred to seeing the Light. In order to see this Light, one must know the Word. That is Jesus and what he said all along! There is little way to understand Revelation without knowing Jesus. We must understand why there is death, judgment, heaven, and hell.
Genesis tells us why we deserve death - because mankind did not, and always failed to have no other god besides God. We deserve death because by our own will, we chose evil over righteousness. What is right is revering our Creator. Those who deny the creation, deny the Creator. Mankind, as Satan warned, became "as gods" (Gen 3:5). The penalty for disobedience is death. That is why we have to die (Gen 2:7). Thus, Revelation is all about life and death - death for some, and life for a few.
In order to be freed into Paradise or imprisoned within Hell, judgment must occur (Mat 25:31-46). The Word saw Adam's sin back in the Garden, and the Word will judge us all. Jesus makes the decision as to whether we are returned to his Garden in Paradise, or whether we are cast out - this time forever.
Revelation is about two places: Heaven and Hell. One of those locales are the destiny of all mankind. There is no purgatory, other planet, soul-sleeping forever, non-existence, or any other contrivance. Almighty God, in His wisdom, created Heaven when He Created earth (Gen 1:1). On day one God created a place for us to live and places to reside in death. He did that with foreknowledge because from experience with the angels, God knew in advance that he needed to eternal "homes" - one for the righteous and one for the unrighteous. In order to decide who goes where, God will use His co-Creator, Jesus Christ to judge both.
Let me define the "Holy Trinity" right now because those three aspects (which theologians call "substances" from the Latin homeostasis) of One God who has one throne in Heaven! God's Mind planned it, his Word spoke it, and his Spirit was the Power behind it. What is "it"? Existence! (Our ontology). In Heaven, think not of three persons on one throne, but God himself there alone. We are to revere His Mind, praise His Word, and rejoice in His Holy Spirit. Revelation adequately describes God as we shall see him, and on another day, we will see what Jesus looks like now in his glorious "body".
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