In my recent lengthy search for a church, I had a few boxes to tick as “must have” before I would consider joining. One box was solid teaching about the end times from a premillennialism perspective. I did not find a single church that met this criteria. Some churches had premillennialism encoded in their statement of faith but it was not a priority in their teaching. Surprising since premillennialism recognizes the times in which we live as the end times. I think many Christians see everything going on in the world today and have questions about what the Bible says about it. But churches are reticent to address the tough questions about the culture and how it relates to end times. And I’ve never been in a church at any time in 30 years as a born again believer that has taught the Book of Revelation.

Does the Word of God say anything about teaching end times? Well, the Kingdom of God is mentioned over a hundred times in the New Testament and it is surely an end times topic. An early parable of Jesus is the parable of the tares in which he introduces the topic of the end times, to include the millennial reign of the Son and the final kingdom of the Father described in detail in Revelation 20-21. So clearly the outcome of the end time prophecies was a priority for the Lord.

I think the extent of end times familiarity for most Christians is the second coming of Christ although the average person in the pew likely has no idea what that even means or the implications for each one of us when it happens. For mainline denominations such as Roman Catholicism and those that came out of the Protestant reformation, the prevalent doctrine is Amillennialism.

The crux of Amillennialism is that there is no literal 1000 year reign of Jesus Christ on the earth, contradicting what is clearly presented in the parable of the tares and Revelation 20 and many other places in the Bible that teach a literal 1000 year reign of Messiah on the earth. Have you ever been in a church that teaches end times prophecy and specifically the book of Revelation? If you are a teacher of God’s Word have you ever taught through this amazing book?

Revelation is the only book in the Bible that specifically promises a two-fold blessing. That blessing has a very simple condition: this very special book is to be taught to the church!

Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy aloud, and blessed are those who hear and obey the things written in it, because the time is near! Revelation 1:3

The book is to be 1) read out loud, 2) heard, and 3) obeyed. If it is to be obeyed by those who hear, then it must be taught and understood. If that’s not a description of what should be happening in the church, then I don’t know what is. Obviously, the entire Word should be taught in this way but Revelation is unique in its promise of blessing. And yet it’s not taught. Don’t churches want the blessing? What is the blessing? Teach it as described and find out! The Lord stands ready to provide it.

I don’t know about other churches, but I want that blessing. I’ve been teaching Revelation to my small home church for several months. I am not a professional. I don’t have a seminary degree. I have no idea what I’m doing. But I’m working hard, studying, learning from good prophecy teachers and asking God for help. And we are being blessed. For me, part of the blessing comes in the form of better understanding of what we are studying. I also think part of the blessing is protection from the deceptions of the culture. And what else? My daughter in law and my nine year old granddaughter just got baptized. Blessing is manifesting in many ways. Teach the book. See what happens.

One thing I have learned: the Book of Revelation cannot be understood properly by itself. That’s true of end times prophecy in general. It’s a body of teaching scattered throughout the Bible. Understanding requires a lot of research, prayer, and simply following the Lord’s recommendation. Yes, there is an approach to teaching end times that was recommended by the Lord to his disciples:

• Start with the Olivet Discourse and study through the birth pang signs. This should be a coordinated study of Mat 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 because there are different details across these gospels. (I refer to Luke as “the gospel of additional information” because it always adds something unique.) You need the full picture.
• When you get to where Jesus mentions “the abomination of desolation”, take his advice and go to Daniel 9:22-27. Why verse 22? Jesus says “let the reader understand”. Daniel 9:22 also speaks about understanding so there is linkage here. In his parenthetical statement, Jesus is not talking about the Olivet Discourse. He is telling his disciples that understanding of the Olivet Discourse relies on Daniel 9, which provides vital big picture context needed to frame all end times prophecy. He is basically telling his disciples to go read Daniel 9.
• The last few verses of Daniel 9 speak of the 70 prophetic weeks and introduce the “Prince that will come” and the abomination of desolation, or what we refer to as Antichrist.
• From there, expand this topic by then going to 2 Thes chapter 2 which provides much more information and speaks to the timing of the removal of the restraint (a reference many teachers believe is talking about the harpazo of the church).
• Then you can go to 1 Thes chapter 5 which you can use to explain the reason for the rapture of the church.
• This is a good time to get into Revelation. I started in chapter 5 to maintain some continuity with the end times study. I proceeded through chapter 6 which is where I just finished.

So in summary, let the Olivet discourse guide the overall path to end times study, take the cue from the Lord to spend time in Daniel 9 to properly frame the end times study, go to Paul’s Thessalonian letters which have end times as a primary theme, then get into the book of Revelation probably starting in chapter 5. Then back to the Olivet Discourse for the next cue. Revelation 6 gets you up to the abomination of desolation or mid way through Daniel’s 70th week, the start of the Great Tribulation, a signal to go back to the Olivet Discourse.

So the Olivet discourse is the pathway through end times study, Daniel establishes vital big picture context that will keep you from misinterpreting Revelation, and Revelation provides the blow by blow details leading to the Kingdom of the Son otherwise known as the millennial kingdom. Supplement with the other prophets as required.

It has taken approximately 21 hours of teaching to get through Revelation 6 using this approach. I will either go back to the Olivet Discourse or go back and pick up Revelation 1-4. I don’t intend to stay on end times forever because other things need to be covered but it will remain a priority.

The bottom line is this: people know the world is not right and they have questions about what is happening and what to expect. Give them some answers from the Bible. It explains it all. It will prepare and protect them. Don’t delay. I have massive notes and sermon outlines. Just ask if you want them.