30-KEYS OF THE END TIMES
Dr. Stephen R. Phinney
Revelation 1:1-3 tells us this: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, who testified to the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and hears the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.”
As a reminder, this book is not the book of Revelations (plural). It is not a book revealing the Revelation of John, as noted by many. It is singular, and it is a book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God the Father gave directly to Christ Himself, and Christ Himself revealed this to His angel, and the angel revealed it to John.
The fulfillment of existing prophecies is a crucial point that you need to understand. Since there are no prophecies in the New Testament, this book has been known to be one of the only books in the New Testament that contains prophecies. The book of Revelation is not a book of prophecies proclaiming new prophecies, but it is a book that contains prophecies that are about to be revealed, and there is a big difference. We must look at the writing of John as a definitive book, literally the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies.
As we walk through this book, we will observe the scene change from earth to heaven and back to earth again. We will see snapshots such as a one-world leader, a religious prophet, torture of saints, fake peace, a river of blood, the lake of fire, and a host of millions of white horses and their riders coming down from the sky, just to name a few.
Take a look at our first chart under the Key Highlights, and remember that I’m talking about the Vertical History of Revelation here. Vertical History is the history that is being unfolded from heaven to man, and just as a reminder, Horizontal History is what history man is a part of horizontally.
Here are our Key Points of Interest:
1. The View: After the Battle of Armageddon, which I’ll talk more about later, Christ will rule through the Bride of Christ (including both Jews and Gentiles) for 1,000 years, to conduct the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev. 20:6).
2. The Book of Revelation: Current continuous history written in code to confound the enemy, while bringing great encouragement to the body of Christ; it unveils the profound Truth of Christ, as well as discloses the future events of all times. It is alive, and it is in the middle of the Seven churches in the present dispensation we live. That means it’s active, it’s alive, and it’s happening around us right now—today (Rev. 1:20)
3. Churches Addressed: Specific historical, present, and future churches of Christ (Rev. 17:11).
4. The Twenty-four Elders: The twelve patriarchs and twelve apostles symbolize the redeemed accompanied by the angels who help execute God’s rule (Rev. 19:4).
5. The Sealed Book: Vertical History shows God carrying out His redemptive purpose in continuous history. Contains fulfilled prophecies of the end-time events, as well as the title deed to the world—God’s redemptive plan (Rev. 5:1)
6. God’s 144,000: The number 144,000 is frequently confused. People think this is the 144,000 Jews, Gentiles, Muslims, and whoever that are going to get saved during the seven-year tribulation of the Antichrist, which simply is not valid. I am going to spend more time talking about Revelation 7:4-5, but know this, God’s true bloodline church, the Jews—these 12,000 bloodline Jews from each of the 12 tribes are what make up the 144,000. So no, this will not be Gentile salvations. There will not be any other race involved in the rescue of the 144,000 from the final judgment; it will be the pure bloodline of the Jews from the 12 tribes. Now, born-again Christians are grafted into this bloodline. As a whole, when we talk about being Jewish versus being Christian, we’re Jewish because we have been grafted into the body of Christ. More about that later (Rev. 7:4-5)
7. The Great Tribulation: A period given to the enemy (Satan) to rule the earth. The first 3 1/2 years are going to be peace, peace, peace, and it will be fake peace. The second half will be persecution and distress for all humanity, like no other persecution we have seen on the face of the earth (Rev. 7:14)
8. Forty-Two Months: It seems to be another mystery to a lot of people reading the book of Revelation, but in the Hebrew code it is not a mystery, at least to us born-again Christians; it is the second half of Satan’s rule of the Tribulation—that’s the 42 months. Yes, God indeed uses the pattern of 42 months throughout the Old Testament, and it’s even found in specific passages in the New Testament. But in the book of Revelation, when it talks about 42 months, it is talking about the second half of Satan’s rule (Rev. 2:22).
9. The Woman: Israel, even their people today, have always referred to Israel, particularly Jerusalem, as she. Now, there are references in the Hebrew indicating to Israel the nation as he and Jerusalem as she. There’s also some great theology in their proclamation of this, but the Woman is Israel—for sure, Jerusalem, and this is the true and original woman of God’s objective. Why do I put this key in place? Well, she and he in the book of Revelation show up often, so we need to know who he is talking about when he references “he” and when he references “she.” (Gen. 37:6-10)
10. The Great Red Dragon: A description of the enemy, Satan (Rev. 20:2)
11. The Man-child: The man-child is Christ and His body. The Church, later, as we know, becomes the body of Christ. But when the Rapture occurs, He is removing His Body from the earth, and the Body of Jesus Christ happens to be His Bride (Matt. 1:18)
12. The 1260 Days: The first half of the Tribulation (most likely, post-rapture). What do I mean by that? There are three primary views of the Rapture—either Christ comes and takes His Bride off the earth before the seven-year reign of the Antichrist, or in the middle before the worse half of the seven years starts; and then there are some who believe it will be Post-Tribulation. I happen to believe it is Pre-Tribulation.
13. Sea Beast: The political figure of Satan—the Satanic federation of all nations. It will rise against the mother country, Israel. Some even believe it to believe the old Roman Empire with a new facelift (Rev.13:1).
14. Seven Heads: The seven formative phases of the Roman Empire—The first six were during the days of John’s writings, and the seventh is the last federation of the Beast’s final political system. As many of you know, there are seven hills in Rome, and on the seventh hill is where the Vatican or the capital of their nation exists today (Rev. 17:7).
15. The Ten Horns: The real powers of the “kings” composing the final federation that come against Israel. There are some fascinating facts regarding the ten horns and the seven kings, which are the seven continents of the world, leaving three that are Satans triune—Satan himself, the False Prophet, and the Beast (the governing political system of his day). I’ll talk more about this later (Rev. 17:16).
16. Number 666: We hear about this number in horror movies, and it has been preached at us through the ages of the church preachers. It sounds like a horrible demonic number, but the simple fact is, the number 666 is man's number, not Satans number. God’s number is 777. The mark of man is 666. It just so happens that the antichrist adopts that number to lead the people. The number 666 has been assigned to many leaders throughout the ages (Nero, Hitler, etc.). The final assignment will be given to the political figure of the coming age of destruction. This leader has not yet been revealed but very soon (Rev.13:8)
17. The 144,000 Mount Zion: The final group of redeemed Jews that are gathered on the Mount of Jerusalem during the Millennial Kingdom—a pivotal piece to understand (Rev. 14:3).
18. The River of Blood: The final works of punishment. All who come against the Bride of Christ—the last scene of wrath, will suffer consequences. God is going to pick a fight through Christ Jesus. That fight will be in a valley right on the border of Israel to the North. There are all kinds of things said about this particular war in the valley—blood will be up to the bridles of the horses. It’s going to be a wicked war (Jer. 46:10).
19. Babylon—woman: Historical Rome reincarnated into the new Rome—It will represent the mixture of the political system and the apostate church. The book of Revelation hits pretty hard on this new Babylon that pops up, and there’s a good reason for this (Rev. 18:21).
20. Seven Mountains: Pagan Rome reincarnated, which was built on those seven hills I just referenced (Rev. 17:9).
21. The Seven Heads: Heads one through five are the past ruthless kingdoms before Rome, the sixth is Rome, and the seventh is the reincarnated Rome of the end-times—that’s how simple this is. People get all wigged out about ten heads on a dragon and seven hills or seven spirits. God communicates clearly from the Hebrew or the Greek. But the exciting thing about the book of Revelation is that it has to be read through the eyeglasses of the Hebrew language, and that’s how you get and gain a clear and accurate understanding of the book of Revelation (Rev. 17:7).
22. Ten Horns and Kings: Again—the ten kingdoms/countries that will rise in the end-times, to come against the precious land of Israel. Much of the book of Revelation is dedicated to dealing with these ten horns (17:3).
23. The Bride—Wife of Christ: The Church or the body of Christ—that is you and I if we’re born-again. Indwelt by the Spirit of the living God, you and I can then call ourselves the Church, the body Christ; and this includes those who entered into Heaven by way of Paradise from the Old Testament with those here during the time Jesus walked on the earth before He got to the Cross—there were plenty of people that died who believed, and these fall under the same category of the Old Testament. Then there are the Tribulation Christians, the 144,000 bloodline Jews—it includes them as well (Rev. 19:7).
24. Marriage Supper: The union of Christ and His Bride. For most of us, we have waited for this for a very long time—It is a Hebrew requirement of sealing the marriage by covenant. Without this supper, there is no sealing the covenant. The last “supper” that Jesus instigated and was a part of before He died was the sealing of the New Testament covenant. The same thing is going to happen with the marriage of Jesus Christ (Rev. 19:9).
25. The White Horse: The White Horse has not been as mysterious as the other horses mentioned in the book of Revelation. The White Horse is exactly that— The eternal symbol of victory, and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ (Rev. 6:2).
26. The Battle of Armageddon: There have been movies made about this and books written about this, but nobody here on earth, past or present, or in the future, is going to be able to describe or depict how this Battle is going to play out. We just know that it’s about 60 miles north of Jerusalem. It will be the war that ends all wars, and it all takes place in this quiet, little bedroom community. If you want to look up the location where this is going to take place on a map, just hunt for the modern city of Kibbutz, Israel, and you will see where this Battle is going to take place (Rev. 20:8).
27. Binding of Satan: God chains Satan to the bottomless pit during the 1,000-year reign of Jesus Christ (Rev. 20:7).
28. Now, here is our order so far: We have the Age of Dispensation, the Church Age, which we are in right now, and this is probably starting to close off—that will open the gate to the seven-year-reign of the Antichrist. After the seven-year-reign of the Antichrist and the 144,000 are returned under the Father, Satan will be captured, chained, and put into this bottomless pit where He will be kept for 1,000 years. During this 1,000 years is when the Great Day of Judgment takes place. Now, remember, in the Hebrew, to God one day is 1,000 years to humanity, so it will take 1,000 years to complete the judgment in its entirety.
29. Those on Thrones: Christians, martyred or not, rule with Christ on earth during the 1,000-year-reign, and this is exciting news (Rev. 19:7).
30. Resurrection (Chapter 20): The returning of the raptured saints, the Jewish tribulation saints, and the remaining Jewish believers at the beginning of the Millennium (Rev. 20:4).
31. Second Death: The “second death” is the eternal separation from God to all those who have refused to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. It will include Satan and his demons. Each of these will experience this second death, which the book of Revelation talks about (Rev. 2:11).
32. New Heaven & New Earth: The New place that Christ has prepared for His Bride. It is going to be an excellent place (Rev. 21:1).
33. New Jerusalem: The Old Jerusalem right now is defiled. It will continue to be contaminated, and by the time Jesus comes in His Second Coming, it will still be defiled. The New Jerusalem is going to come down from the sky. It cannot touch the ground because the ground is desecrated. Remember when Adam harkened to the voice of his wife? God didn’t curse Adam and Eve; God said, “Cursed is the ground.” The ground being cursed stops the New Jerusalem from actually touching the earth; it hoovers over the Old Jerusalem for 1,000 years. Once the judgment is done—kind of like many people project it as—a spaceship—and we all get on the spacecraft and go away. Well, it is kind of like that—it’s not a spaceship. It’s a city—a 1,500 hundred square mile city, and that city is taken to the New Earth after judgment has been completed (Rev. 21:2).
This book will reveal to use the most profound splendor of God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Bride of Christ, like no other. If that is not something to look forward too, then your eyes are not fixed upon Heavenly things. Anyone who is suffering with: “I don’t think I have the life of Christ so I won’t get any of this,” it may be time to talk to your pastor to find out how to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
As we study more in-depth into the book of Revelation, we will be given a picture of the New Heaven and the New Earth, which will house all of the enduring members of the FIRST family. Toward the end of John’s writings, we will see a view of the horrific results of the eternal unrest for all those who have defied God by being tossed into the lake of fire.
