Revelation

The Book of Revelation is not about signs of the second coming of Jesus; rather it describes the season when the fulness of the Jews come to faith in Jesus, the spiritual powers of evil are fully defeated, and the Kingdom of God emerges into victory. Prior to their defeat, the cosmos dominators fight with each other, while struggling to maintain their power in the world. They become so angry with each other that they will eventually destroy each other, allowing Jesus to achieve victory.

A key to understanding the book of Revelation is realising that many of the characters and events described by John do not represent nations and their activities, but are actually descriptions of various spiritual cosmos dominators jostling for control on earth.

The Seven Seals described in Revelation 5:1-8:1 outline Jesus’ plan for an important transitional season. Jesus controls the timing of their opening. During this season, human political powers increase their authority on earth, but human governments make terrible mistakes, which brings horrible disasters. They demand even greater power to put the situation right, but this makes the situation worse.

The other sequences in the book of Revelation describe the plans of the key cosmos dominators for the same season Many of their plans fail because they lack the wisdom of God.

• The plans of a cosmos dominator called Death are described in the sequence of Seven Trumpets in Revelation 8 and 9.

• The emergence of Destroyer as a powerful force on earth is described in Revelation 9:1-11.

• Monster is another powerful cosmos dominator active during this season. His plan for seizing control of the world is described in Revelation 13 and 17.

• Wrath’s plans for coming out on top are described in Revelation 15 and 16.

From A short History of Cosmic Conflict.