Mike,

I listened to your last study on job, and I have a few questions. I am sure you have the answers somewhere on your website, but it will take much time to read everything. Do you believe the book of revelation is going on right now and we (Christians) have been going through the tribulation since Jesus left?

Agape,
R____

Hi R____,

Thank you for your questions. I appreciate your sincere interest in the things of the spirit.
You ask:

Do you believe the book of revelation is going on right now and we (Christians) have been going through the tribulation since Jesus left?

Christ answered this question when He was asked ‘What will be the sign of your coming and the end of this age?” by His disciples in Mat 24.

Mat 24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

In answer to this very question Christ mentions almost everything you and I read about in the book of Revelation. He mentions false prophets, wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, the great tribulation, the abomination of desolation and the end of this age.

Mat 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
Mat 24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
Mat 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
Mat 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Mat 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Mat 24:9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
Mat 24:10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Mat 24:11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Mat 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Mat 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Mat 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
Mat 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

The question was “When will these things be?”, and this is Christ’s answer to His own apostles:

Mat 24:32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
Mat 24:33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

“It is near, even at the doors”. Does that sound like Christ is telling His sincere disciples none of this applies to them? Does any of this sound like He is telling them not to worry that all of this will not occur for another 2,000 years? Does this sound like the abomination of desolation is an event that will not take place until the generation standing on this earth when Christ comes to destroy the kingdoms of this physical earth?
Well, for all those who teach such worthless nonsense, which nullifies all prophecy as being of any use to anyone except for the last generation before the beginning of the millennium, here is Christ’s unequivocal answer to his disciples question “When will these things be?”

Mat 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

This 24th chapter of Matthew is nothing less than a condensed version of the book of Revelation. It does not reveal the second resurrection, and there is no mention of the millennium, but it does say the same thing this verse of Revelation tells us:

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

This is a book whose events are “at hand”, or as Christ puts it “even at the doors”. This book begins with telling us “for the time is at hand… [ to] keep the things written therein”, and it ends with the same words:

Rev 22:6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
Rev 22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

So yes, the book of Revelation has been “at hand” and to be “read… heard… and kept” since the day it was written.
For a much deeper answer to your questions please take the time to begin to read the Revelation series of studies which are posted in audio, video and in study notes on iswasandwillbe. com
Start at the very beginning so you will have the basis on which we base our studies.
I hope this answers your questions about how we approach this part of God’s Word and how we approach all of God’s Word.
Be sure to read Rightly Dividing The Word, to get a grasp of how we are instructed to come to the Word of God at this URL: http:// iswasandwillbe. com/ understandingbible. php

Your brother in Christ,
Mike