A Baseline for this blog
In all things, we need a baseline to start from. We cannot have an effective blog if every paragraph is written in a different language. We cannot have an effective discussion unless we have a baseline on what we believe. I am not telling anybody that their viewpoint on the book of revelation is wrong, I am however saying that in this search for answers we are starting with some unwavering ideas.
The Bible
The Bible is the authoritative Word of God. It is without error and true in every way. This blog will not interject ideas that this book is just some man’s option or dreams, but rather it is God-breathed words, written down by faithful men.
The Approach
We will also understand that this discussion is from a futuristic viewpoint. *There a many approaches people have to the book of Revelation, such as preterist, historical and futuristic. The futuristic view that we are using here declares that the events from Revelation 4:1 and on are future events yet to have happened.
As this discussion develops there will probably be added more baseline considerations to keep us heading in the right direction.
Revelation Chronicles Blog 
My question remains, What is revelation (little r)? I guess I’m using revelation almost synonymously with prophesy. Maybe there’s a difference, I’m not sure. But is revelation something that must come to pass, or can it also be some that will hopefully come to pass, or will hopefully not come to pass?
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Well, I am not good at defining the English language, but according to the dictionary, it is something that was not seen ahead of time. Therefore, we cannot hope for something we don’t even understand to be possible. True revelation is revealing something in the future and therefore, must happen. I think of Deut. 18:22
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Good point, but then why wasn’t Jonah put to death?
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“40 days and Nineveh will be destroyed.” If that isn’t a prophecy given by a prophet I don’t know what is. But God gave that prophecy specifically hoping that the Ninevites would repent. He was joyous that the prophecy failed because the people are more important than the prophecy. Likewise, if all prophecies must come true, Joshua’s generation would have had to conclude, that God was not God. For the Lord told them, quote, “I will, without fail, drive out from before you the Canaanites,” but just one generation later, God said, “I will no longer drive them out.” So, if this were a short-term deity test, since the prophecy did not come to pass, just as Jonah’s generation would have had to conclude, they would decide that God wasn’t God; and if it’s the long-term deity test, then the test is not yet complete, and the jury would still be out, because they would have to wait until the end, to decide if He passed the test, but, thankfully, the end will never come.
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I see your point.
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So, if I have made a meaningful point, the question must be asked, is all of Revelation set in stone? It was Jesus who said, “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” I believe that there is some degree of flexibility with what God says, just like there is with what any person says. It is possible to fully intend to do something and then not do it without being a liar. According to the Lord, “Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel! 7 The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, 8 if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. 9 And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, 10 if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.” He is free to remake a vessel of honor into a vessel of dishonor according to what He, in His righteousness, deems best and appropriate.
God warns mankind of the calamity that awaits a sinful world hoping that they take heed and turn from their wicked ways. To many Christian take prophecy as something that must in every instance come to pass, so instead of pleading with the world to repent they hunker down in anticipation of the inevitable.
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God can change His from punishing to forgiveness by His grace and is just in doing so. I don’t want to argue about it, but the book of Revelation is a written revelation and can be trusted as call calls us to do with the rest of His word. So I just think I believe what this book says will come to pass. What this blogs is trying to accomplish is making sure we understand what He is going to do.
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That’s very good, and I agree that Revelation have very much to tell us. You’re also right that there is no need to argue. My concern is that if God can change His mind and not do something that He said He was going to do, or do something that He didn’t think He was initially going to do, then there is a possibility that certain events have been cancelled or postponed. I’ve heard teachers like Chuck Missler say that while Jesus taught that certain things would happen soon, what we don’t realize is that there is a 2000 year long (invisible) comma between what He said was going to happen and it actually taking place. Silly, right? The problem with Preterism, as I see it, is that if everything is to have happened already we end up stuffed some very significant prophecies into some fairly insignificant events just to fit the timeline. Remember, through Paul God warned that He has the authority to cut off the unnatural branch in the same way that He cut off the natural branch. Is Revelation written in anticipation of the unnatural branch remaining affixed to the vine or being cut off? Wouldn’t that, as an example, have a significant impact on the story line? What if the natural branch refuses to become jealous and turn to the Lord, as was the case at the time of their “visitation?” What then?
This should be called the “open approach.”
Iron does sharpen Iron and I’ve been blessed over the years with your commitment to God’s Word, and will continue to follow your blog.
Blessings,
Gary
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By chance I was reading “Things to Come” By Dwight Pentecost and on page 47 it deals with conditional prophecies. I think it addresses your question quite well
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I completely agree with you that you were reading Dwight Pentecost’s book by chance. At this point many Christians would insist that it was by providence. I’m glad you didn’t. : )
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Can you give me the gist of Pentacost’s chapter?
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He quotes several authors and basically their consensus that there are conditional and unconditional terms. Even if it is not explicit.
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I absolutely agree with that! Thanks for the lead, I’m going to look for the book. One I really like is God, Time and the Incarnation, by Richard Holland, a professor at Liberty University.
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It is a classic on prophecy. I will look for you book.
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