D E Isom

Revelation D E Isom

Consider the fact that all the books of the New Testament, except Revelation as the very last, were written before Jerusalem's destruction between approximately 34-70 ad. For the first 35 or so years of the Church, the main text all Christians relied on was the Old Testament, and then when these new writings came along and could finally be copied and distributed (which took years if not decades longer), think about what it would take for them to accept a brand new addition to Scripture after another 25 year interim of textual silence. And this is a much trickier scenario than we might think, because at this time there has been a catastrophic rise in counterfeit gospels and a Jewish literary phenomenon so prolific that it is categorized as "apocalyptic literature"; in other words, counterfeit writings in the style of Revelation. How did they distinguish the one authentic one from the myriad of counterfeits? Precisely because it conformed to the rest of God's Word, and in particular to Daniel and the Olivet Discourse. If Revelation had altered, replaced, or rendered obsolete any previous teaching of God's written Word, it would have never been accepted for the authentic canon of Scripture which it is. Sadly, this is not the case with so many at present. Confusion and conflict profligate among those who, for one reason or another, attempt to either section off parts of God's Word to elevate them in isolation from the rest, or diminish the necessary priority of those prophetic texts which came before Revelation and are critical for its right handling. Many seem to treat Revelation as if it is the only prophetic text. For those who by faith are committed to the whole counsel of God's Word, it quickly becomes clear that, as with all things, confusion is brought about by human hands, but clarity comes by willful submission to the Holy Spirit for the whole. In "And THEN The End Will Come" we established the foundation of the Olivet Discourse, in "The Anti-King(dom)" we built upon the essential visions provided in Daniel, and now in "The Final View" these are leveraged in an inductive commentary of Revelation.