INTRODUCTION

to

"STRANGE WORK"

On September 24, 2007, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran, speaking in Arabic at Columbia University and quoting from the Koran, began his speech with these words:

There are great and disturbing stirrings in our world today. All eyes are on the Middle East and Jerusalem is on the minds of the nations. When Israel was re-established as a nation in 1948, large numbers of Jews began returning to their homeland. Immediately, war erupted and wars over this tiny strategic nation have continued from that day to this. Islamic Arab nations, Palestinians and Islamic fundamentalist terrorists have done their best to destroy it. Yet, somehow, Israel has survived. Today, its existence is threatened more than ever. On every side, the red hatred of the enemies of the Jews continues to seethe and build. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and many other Islamic Fascists, vow to push her into the sea. Ahmadinejad's current crash program to develop nuclear weapons is aimed at helping him to destroy Israel.

In the South, there used to be a saying, "Save your Confederate money boys ... the South's gonna rise again!" Well, the Bible predicts that the ancient nation of Babylon is going to rise again. According to scripture, in the last days, Babylon will be Antichrist's world capital and worldwide empire (Rev. 17-18). Geographically, ancient Babylon was located at the head of the Persian Gulf where Iran and Iraq and Kuwait converge today. It was at Babylon, under King Nebuchadnezzar, that man-worship first raised its ugly head (Daniel 3). You will remember from Daniel 3, that Nebuchadnezzar made a statue of himself and decreed that all men everywhere were to fall down and worship it. Three young Hebrews ... Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, refused to do so. So, Nebuchadnezzar had them thrown alive into a superheated fiery furnace. However, the one true and living God miraculously delivered them from Nebuchadnezzar's furnace and when the young men walked calmly out, not a single hair on their bodies was singed and they didn't even smell of smoke!

Fast forward to our present day. Iran has long desired to conquer and take over Iraq. The last war that Iran initiated against Iraq cost millions of lives and, without the help of the United States, Iran would have prevailed. If Iran could succeed in conquering Iraq, much of the territory of the ancient Babylonian empire would be reconstituted. Let me set forth a possible scenario. If the Rapture of the Church were to occur today, our nation, the United States of America (presently the most powerful country on earth), would be devastated. Millions of Christians in countless key and strategic positions would suddenly go missing. Utter chaos would reign in every area of American society. Communications ... transportation ... utilities ... government and, most importantly, the US military would be completely disrupted. In an atom of time, all of the infrastructure of the nation would be thrown into chaos. Not so, however, in the Muslim world. Those nations would lose almost no one. Then, with the Christian nations hopelessly crippled, the Islamic world would be free to make its move. Iran could finally seize Iraq and overrun Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Dubai, the United Arab Emirates and all the other Persian Gulf states. The Muslim world could suddenly unite and Babylon would rise again. The Man of Sin (Antichrist) would step out upon the world scene, declaring himself the "Twelfth Imam" and billions of fanatic Muslim adorers would march with him to conquer the world. Three and a half years later, he would then openly declare himself to be God and, like Nebuchadnezzar of old, once again impose man-worship on the world (Rev. 13). Worldwide man-worship would have come full circle. Having begun in Babylon, it would once again promote its blasphemous ideology from there and Babylon would become the last great Gentile, idolatrous and world dominating empire. In Daniel 11:37-38 (a passage that is referring to the coming Antichrist) we read ...

"Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. But in his estate shall he honor the God of forces and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things." KJV

I have often puzzled over that passage as, I am sure, have many others. However, it begins to make sense if Antichrist were to start out as a Moslem. In that senario, the God of his fathers, whom he will turn away from would be Allah ... and the God of forces, whom he will turn to at that time, will be Satan. That turning strategic point in Antichrist's agenda will occur when he seizes the temple at Jerusalem, midway through the Tribulation, and proceeds to declared himself as God (Dan. 11:36; Matt. 24:15; II Thes. 2:3-4). This is addressed in Strange Work more closely when we come to Revelation 13.

At the same time, Israel would also be little affected by the Rapture of the Church. She too would remain intact with very few of her people gone missing. And, keep in mind, she currently possesses several hundred nuclear weapons. She also would emerge from the Rapture as a world power to be reckoned with. I believe this is the reason, as the Bible predicts, that Antichrist will enter into a seven year treaty with Israel while he sets about conquering the rest of the world during the first three and a half years of the Tribulation (Daniel 9:27). That prophetic treaty will insure the peaceful existence of the Jews in their homeland during the first three and a half years of the Trib.

Whether or not this scenario will turn out to be correct ... nevertheless believers everywhere are asking, "Are world events today the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy?" Recently, on cable television, I listened to two well known Bible expositors who implied that the prophetic biblical battles of Armageddon and Gog and Magog were virtually upon us. The book of Revelation, however, clearly tells us this is not the case. It places the battle of Armageddon at the end of the Great Tribulation (Rev. 16) and the battle of Gog and Magog at the end of the Millennium (Rev. 20). So, neither Armageddon nor Gog and Magog are upon us at all. However, another great World War that the Bible predicts is most certainly on the near horizon. In my opinion, what we are really seeing on the world scene today are the beginning stirrings of the great World War that the Bible predicts will bring Antichrist to power. And, as I postulated above, I believe there is mounting evidence that he will be a Muslem. In any case, Antichrist will shortly arise and quickly seize the whole world by military force. The world is fast approaching these great prophetic events. When they actually occur, like passengers on a runaway train, all of the world's remaining peoples will be thrust into the amazing and perilous days of the Tribulation that is described in the book of Revelation.  

Twenty-seven hundred years ago, the prophet Isaiah predicted that the Lord God of hosts would one day rise up and do a strange work upon the Earth. He said it would come as a destruction upon the whole earth (Isaiah 28:21-22). The last thing that modern man expects is that the true and living God would actually intervene in history on the Earth. Yet, with one voice, the prophets of the Bible predict that is just what He is going to do. The book of Revelation is the most detailed of the Bible's prophecies concerning that fast approaching intervention. All of Revelation, from chapters 6 through 18, contain in-depth details about the events, personalities and sequences of that soon to come day in world history. Someone has dubbed the book of Revelation, "the prophetic Grand Central Station of the Bible". That truly is a good way to describe it. All the great eschatological (end time) themes of the Bible run to the book of Revelation like train tracks to a central hub. I believe the book of Revelation is the most relevant book of the Bible for us believers in these last days in which we live.

Now, let me say a few words about this commentary.

    First, Strange Work is unique among all the commentaries on Revelation because it demonstrates that the visions in the book of Revelation are given in the exact chronological order of their future fulfillments. I am not aware of any other commentary that takes that position. This may seem unimportant at first glance but, if true, this unique understanding yields a wealth of new and fresh insights into things that heretofore have been very mysterious and difficult to understand.

    Second, Strange Work is based on sound principles of biblical exegesis. It is my conviction that only when one strictly follows the literal, grammatical, historical method of interpretation will the Bible yield up its truths (Second Timothy 2:15b). 

    Third, Strange Work is grounded on sound principles of Hermeneutics. Hermeneutics is the science of interpretation. It's a big word that simply means that when you are interpreting the Bible (or any other writing for that matter) you must always follow the rules of sound interpretation in order to correctly understand what the author intended to say. One such principle is the rule of context. Only by consistently acknowledging the rule of context, (what a book, chapter, paragraph or verse said before and after) can one correctly understand the meaning of any piece of writing. Let me illustrate what happens when this rule is ignored. One fellow liked to engage in the "open and point" method of interpretation of the Bible. So, he would just close his eyes, open his Bible and point to a spot on a page and then read thinking that would mysteriously lead him to the true meaning of the scripture. One day, he pointed and read, "Judas went out and hanged himself". Not getting anything from that, he repeated the process, opening his Bible again and pointing at a verse. This time he read, "Go and do thou likewise". Is this the way to interpret scripture? Of course not. It breaks a basic principle of hermeneutics, the rule of context. Violations of sound hermeneutical principles never yield a correct interpretation of the Word of God or any other writing and invariably lead one away from the truth rather than to it.

    Fourth, throughout Strange Work, the Bible text and the vast majority of the scriptures that are cited are printed out for the reader. Everything will be right there at your finger tips so that you will not need to have a Bible on hand or look up anything. Strange Work uses the New King James Version of the Bible, for the most part, and I have taken the liberty to underline and bold print it for added emphasis. I consulted the NIV also but, it being an "equivalent translation" rather than a "literal" one, I concluded that the NKJV was the better text to study from. When interpreting prophecy, each and every word is of vital importance. One needs to know exactly what God has said ... not roughly what he said ... as would be the case if we were using the NIV or any other equivalent version.

    Fifth, throughout Strange Work, where the latest Greek scholarship impacts the meaning of the scripture, the text will change and the reader will find the designation NU inserted there. This abbreviation refers to two classic works on the original languages and manuscripts of the New Testament. The N stands for the twenty-sixth edition of the Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament and the U stands for the third edition of the United Bible Societies' Greek New Testament called, The New Testament Text. This simply means that, where appropriate, you will be able to see where the latest Greek scholarship has clarified or improved on the translation of the New King James Version. This is in accordance with another sound principle of hermeneutics. That rule or principal says that, in order to correctly interpret the Bible, one must always bow to the priority of the original languages in which it was written. So, if one version translates something one way and another version translates it another way ... the only reliable way to discover the correct translation and hence, meaning, is to look to the original languages for the answer (that would be Greek in the New Testament and Hebrew and a smattering of Aramaic in the Old). NU helps us a lot in that regard.

    Sixth, Strange Work was written with three groups of people in mind. First, it was my intent that it would be used of God to edify his Church today. Second, it is my prayer that it will be used of the Lord to speak to the lost ... to open the eyes of folks who need to be saved today. Third, it was written for the Tribulation Saints who will shortly be upon the earth. After the Rapture, the Bible predicts that a vast multitude of people will come to faith in Christ during the dark days of the Tribulation to follow (Revelation 7:9-17). Strange Work is prayerfully written with them in mind as well. Nothing would thrill me more than if people of that future day were to find access to this commentary and discover God's will, comfort and help from its pages during the days of Earth's two thousand five hundred and twenty day trial.

Now, I realize that the book of Revelation can be a bit intimidating at first glance. However, I would strongly encourage each reader to stick with it. The blessings and rewards for doing so are beyond measure. There are very few unsolved mysteries in the book of Revelation. After all, it is the Revelation of Jesus Christ. It is not a hard book to interpret. One will find that the difficulty is not in interpreting Revelation but in simply believing what it so plainly says is coming.

Let me acknowledge some of those who have helped me along in my understanding of the Bible and especially in my study of Revelation. I absolve them, however, of all responsibility for any of the interpretations in Strange Work" with which they might not agree or deem accurate. I gratefully thank and acknowledge the following men of God who have helped me in my understanding of Revelation as well as helped me with my own walk with the Lord, sharing with me their love for the Savior and His Word, either through their writings or in person.

Finally, here is an outline of the book of Revelation that I have found helpful. It would be a good one to memorize. Most of it came from Dr. Stanley Ellison of Western Seminary.

I. The vision of Jesus Christ in Glory .................…..(Chapter 1)

II. The vision of Jesus Christ midst his Churches ... (Chapters 2-3)

III. The vision of Jesus Christ in Coronation ............... (Chapters 4-5)

IV. The vision of Jesus Christ in Judgment ................. (Chapters 6-18)

V. The vision of Jesus Christ in Return ................ (Chapters 19-20)

VI. The vision of Jesus Christ in Eternity ......... (Chapters 21-22)

Are you ready to begin? Well then, fasten your spiritual seat belt. In The Revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are about to experience the most spectacular, eye-popping, into the future, ride of our spiritual lives!