The three mysteries
The book of Revelation speaks of three mysteries: the mystery of the Church, the mystery of God, and the mystery of the beast. What are these mysteries, and what is a mystery? You will see this soon and also how this gives a new perspective on the structure of the book.
The mystery
The word mystery appears only once in the Old Testament prophets: In the book of Daniel, where the destruction of the world’s powers is described by something set up by God that looks very small and weak. It is not a secret, but something that is unbelievable.
Also in the New Testament, this term speaks of God’s plan, that is now revealed: It is Christ on the cross, not in defeat but conquest of the world.
This mystery is described in detail in the book of Daniel. This book shows how God is restoring the world and destroying evil with the church as a key partner in there (see the little book in chapter 11). But when we look at the Church as God’s army, we may be surprised by the means of battle:
- Their key strength and qualification seems to be their faithfulness to God (virgins).
- Their keys to success are worship, testimony, perseverance, and prayer, which will bring down the evil rulers.
- They seem to have a different view of conquering and being victorious.
The mystery of the church
The mystery of the church is to be light to the world in dependence on Jesus. This is worked out in chapters 1–9.
These are the criteria by which the churches are measured in the letters. And the answer to grow in strength is in the next chapter, which describes worship.
The church needs to look at Jesus, who was obedient (worship is the expression of loyalty even to death) and now exposes the devil’s deception that leads to the suffering of the church. Before Jesus ends all this and reveals Himself, the church must understand that it is His army which also finds rest in Him.
Now the Church can go out in prayer and shake the earth. But prayer alone is not enough! It needs more: The revelation of God. This is revealed through worship as the essence of the relationship with God.
The mystery of God
The mystery of God can be seen in many ways in chapter 10:
- He rules sovereignly over all the earth.
- God has the bigger job (big scroll from chapter 5) the church does not carry it all (little scroll).
It starts with the temple: The place of God’s presence is for worship.
The Church will not be effective if it doesn’t imitate Jesus.
This is shown in the life of Jesus how He was victorious. The Church should not be worried by the deception of the beasts and learn from it.
God will be with His people and give everyone the rewards of their lives.
Now God is going into action and fighting for the hearts of the peoples and bringing down the kingdom of the devil, which brings us to the last topic.
The mystery of the Harlot
The last mystery describes the church in the perfect state as the total opposite of the devil. There are several important points here:
- The secret of the harlot is never revealed — always be on your watch that you are not part of it.
- The harlot has set up a great network to protect her, which will destroy her in the end.
- The great chapter on the harlot is countered by the long story of the New Jerusalem (the Bride, the Church), which is the opposite. The church should be careful not to get entangled with the harlot, or it will go down with her.
This part is a chiasm with Difference, Common und Identification
- 17/1-19/10: Judgment over the harlot
- 19/11-16: the godly judge
- 19/17-21: Judgment over the beasts and the false prophet (see Ez.38-39)
- 20/1-3: Satan imprisoned for 1000 years
- 20/4-6: Church reigns for 1000 years
- 20/7-10: Judgment over Gog and Magog
- 19/17-21: Judgment over the beasts and the false prophet (see Ez.38-39)
- 20/11-15: the godly judge
- 19/11-16: the godly judge
- 21/1-22/5: justification of the bride
Such a (even) structure is intended to emphasize the outer item and their contrast. Here the message is clear: The bride should be different from the harlot, the church need to take take to be distinguished from the behaviour and values of the harlot.
A little overview
This is the first attempt to give it some structure.
| Topic | Church: back to Jesus | God: role model for the church | Harlot: what the church should not be |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Secret | Secret of the church: light to world and depending on Jesus (Rev. 1) | Secret of God: God reigns (Rev. 10-11/14) | Secret of the harlot: enemy of God and the church, will perish (Rev. 17) |
| The Instruction | Reality of the church: not following the vision (Rev. 2-3) | Solution for the church: Worship and be like Jesus (Rev. 11/1-14) | Warning to the church: don't be like Babel (Rev. 18) |
| God’s presence | God's is worshipped in heaven (Rev. 4) | God's presence on earth (Rev. 11/15-19) | God's marriage to the bride (Rev. 19/1-10) |
| Jesus is victorious because of his victory on the cross | Jesus is worthy to open the scroll because he died on cross (Rev. 5) | Jesus birth and accension throughs Satan off his game (Rev. 12) | Jesus comes as crucified and announces victory (Rev. 19/11-16) |
| Satan is exposed | Satan's plan against humanity fails (Rev. 6) | Satan's master plan against the church fails (Rev. 13) | Satan is finally defeated (Rev. 19/17-21) |
| The faithful are victorious | Sealing of the faithful, army of 144,000 from all nations out of the great tribulation serving God in his temple (Rev. 7) | victory of the faithful 144,000 (of all mankind) at Mount Zion in front of the throne, Judgment of Babel, the two harvests (Rev. 14) | Satan is bound while the faithful reign in Gods beloved city, last judgment (Rev. 20) |
| Announcement of the New | Announcement of the trumpets (Rev. 8/1-5) | Announcement of the bowls (Rev. 15) | Announcement of New Jerusalem (Rev.21/1-8) |
| Make the right choice! | False securities will be taken away (Rev. 8/6-13) | Loyalty to the beast, silencing witnesses, hardness of heart questioned (Rev. 16/1-9) | New Jerusalem unveiled (Rev. 21/9-22/5) |
| Living with the wrong choice | Painted by the demons, trusted | Demonic forces deceive and humans get involved and go down with them | Living outside the New Jerusalem is living with demons |