The Truth About Revelation Most Christians Miss | Mark Hitchcock

Summary

Podcast Summary: Prophecy Watchers

Episode: The Truth About Revelation Most Christians Miss | Mark Hitchcock
Original Air Date: March 17, 2026
Hosts: Gary Stearman and Mondo Gonzales
Guest: Dr. Mark Hitchcock

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Overview

In this episode, Dr. Mark Hitchcock joins host Mondo Gonzales (with Gary Stearman off-mic) to discuss his new book, The Revelation Answer Book. The conversation provides a clear, accessible approach for understanding the often-misunderstood Book of Revelation. With decades of pastoral and scholarly experience, Dr. Hitchcock addresses how to read Revelation, the use of symbols, and common misconceptions—highlighting questions most Christians have but rarely see answered satisfactorily.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

Why Study Revelation? (01:21–02:39)

• Dr. Hitchcock does not recommend new Christians start with Revelation, but underscores its value:
  • “I call it the Grand Central Station of the Bible. It’s where all the trains come in.” (01:58)
  • The book is filled with allusions to the Old Testament—278 allusions in 404 verses—making it vital for understanding the whole Bible.
  • Unique among biblical books, Revelation promises a special blessing to those who read and heed it.

The Structure and Approach of “The Revelation Answer Book” (03:17–04:40)

• The book is organized around 125 common questions Mark has received during 34 years of pastoral and teaching ministry.
• Presented in a format more accessible than a commentary—readers can jump to questions of interest.
  • “I always tell people I don’t know all the answers, but I know the questions...so you kind of develop what are the questions that need to be answered.” (03:36)
• Writing and teaching Revelation has deepened Dr. Hitchcock’s own understanding.

Understanding Symbols in Revelation (05:18–07:45)

• Revelation is the most symbolic book in the Bible (Revelation 12 is the most symbolic chapter).
• Interpretive principle: When Revelation uses symbols, they have literal referents.
  • Example: Revelation 1’s lampstands and stars are explained within the text as churches and their angels (messengers).
  • “When you see a symbol, it refers to something that’s literal...often the context will tell you what the symbol is.” (06:08)
  • Symbols are not open to private interpretation or cultural speculation; the Bible itself provides boundaries.

Common Misconceptions and Interpretive Pitfalls

The Four Horsemen & Color Symbolism (07:45–10:48)

• Dr. Hitchcock addresses a popular but misguided view that the colors of the Four Horsemen (Revelation 6) represent the colors of the Palestinian or Islamic flags:
  • “Someone else can take something else and say, ‘here’s something else that has these four colors, that’s what this means.’” (09:25)
  • Faithful interpretation requires comparing Scripture with Scripture (e.g., comparing Revelation 6 to Matthew 24 for parallels in symbolic events).

The Book of Life & Assurance of Salvation (13:41–15:58)

• Confronted with worries about Jesus “blotting out” names from the Book of Life (Revelation 3:5), Dr. Hitchcock reassures:
  • “If you have faith in Christ, you’re an overcomer…He promises, ‘I will never, ever blot your name out of the book of life.’” (14:37)
  • Rather than a threat, it is an ironclad promise of the believer’s eternal security.
  • “Rather than being a passage that should cause us to have a questioning about our assurance, it’s actually an ironclad promise.” (15:23)

The 24 Elders—Who Are They? (15:58–18:36)

• Several views exist: angelic council, representatives of all redeemed believers, or representative of the Church.
• Dr. Hitchcock’s view: they represent the Church (Church-age believers) for these reasons:
  • They’re seen in heaven before the tribulation begins, matching a pre-tribulation rapture perspective.
  • Description fits redeemed, rewarded saints: thrones, crowns, white garments—features never used of angels.
  • “The 24 elders...are representative, I think, of the whole Church.” (17:36)

200 Million Army—Spiritual or Physical? (19:40–22:27)

• Revelation 9’s 200-million-strong army is frequently linked to China, especially post-1960s.
• Dr. Hitchcock’s exegesis suggests a demonic army, not human:
  • The context (trumpet judgments) and the supernatural descriptions (“sulfur and fire and brimstone”) point to demonic beings, not human soldiers.
  • “You look at it in the context…not just kind of pulling out some numbers, seeing just a human army, just because it makes sense in the world we see today.” (22:13)

The Millennium—Actual or Symbolic? (25:17–27:15)

• Revelation 20 mentions a literal 1,000-year reign (the Millennium) six times in seven verses.
  • “It would be odd for a symbolic number to be used that many times.” (25:40)
• The Millennium will be an age of peace and prosperity under Christ’s direct rule, fulfilling what the “first Adam” failed to accomplish.
  • Believers will reign with Christ—“training time for reigning time.”
  • The Millennium is merely “phase one” of God’s eternal kingdom.

The Vital Importance of the Gospel (27:15–End)

• The episode closes with a pastoral reminder:
  • Knowing details of prophecy is secondary to knowing Christ.
  • “There is so here, what we’re saying is there’s an opportunity for people to miss this.”
  • “The most important thing is that we know that we’re gonna be there through putting our faith and trust in Jesus.” (26:51)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On how to approach Revelation:
  • “When you study the book of Revelation, it gets you kind of going back to other parts of the Bible.” (01:58 - Dr. Hitchcock)
• Re: symbols and interpretation:
  • “You can’t just make them whatever you want them to be.” (06:07 - Dr. Hitchcock)
  • “The symbols always refer to something that’s literal.” (07:20 - Dr. Hitchcock)
• Against fanciful interpretations:
  • “We want the text to speak to us and for us to take its meaning, not for us to give the meaning to the text that we want it to have.” (10:14 - Dr. Hitchcock)
• On the fear of losing salvation:
  • “He says, I will never, ever blot your name out of the book of life…It’s actually an ironclad promise.” (14:57 - Dr. Hitchcock)
• On the Millennium:
  • “Our lives are training time for reigning time with Jesus.” (26:23 - Dr. Hitchcock)

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Timestamps by Topic

• Why (not) start with Revelation? – 01:21
• Book’s Q&A format explained – 03:17
• Symbols in Revelation: method & guardrails – 05:18
• Misuse of color symbolism with the Horsemen – 07:45
• Book of Life and assurance of salvation – 13:41
• Who are the 24 elders? – 15:58
• Meaning of the 200-million army – 19:40
• The Millennium—literal or symbolic? – 25:17
• Final statements—gospel priority – 27:15

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Tone & Style

• Conversational, pastoral, and practical.
• Strong focus on Scripture interpreting Scripture.
• Gentle correction of sensationalistic or speculative end-times teachings.
• Emphasis on hope and assurance for believers.

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Conclusion

This episode offers a highly accessible, biblically faithful, and pastorally sensitive guide for anyone confused or curious about the Book of Revelation. Dr. Mark Hitchcock’s answers cut through the noise of prophecy sensationalism often found online by grounding his insights in both the text of Revelation and the wider Bible, encouraging listeners to study with discernment—and above all, to know Christ.

Transcript

[A]

Welcome to the program today. Monte Gonzalez here in studio and we have Dr. Mark Hitchcock with us who's going to explain to us the book of Revelation. I imagine that you might have thought that it's confusing, but not today. So stick around and listen.

[B]

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[A]

Well, welcome back. We are here with Dr. Mark Hitchcock who has a brand new book, the Revelation Answer Book. Welcome Mark.

[C]

Good to be with you again, man. Always great to be here. Thank you.

[A]

Yeah, this, you know, there's no doubt that the book of Revelation at first glance for people, you know, you're a pastor, I've been a pastor for a long time and maybe somebody gets saved. And you say as a pastor, well, the first book you need to read is the Book of Revelation. Is that what you tell them?

[C]

Well, not generally, but you know, it is interesting. When Paul was at Thessalonica, you know, the believers here just a few weeks, you know, he taught them a lot about prophecy. So yeah, we'd tell people to, you know, maybe read one of the epistles or read some of the gospels to kind of put begin to get immersed in who Jesus is and what he's done. But you know, the Book of Revelation is a great book to study though, because I call it the Grand Central station of the Bible. It's where all the trains come in. And really you need to know a lot about the Bible to really understand the Book of Revelation or when you study the Book of Revelation, it gets you kind of going back to other parts of the Bible. So it really is beneficial in that way because you really learn a lot about all the Bible when you study Revelation. The there's no direct quotes from the Old Testament in Revelation, which is interesting. But in the 404 verses there are about 278 allusions to the Old Testament. So it's a book that's just filled with Old Testament prophecy. So it is a book that we need to understand as believers, and the only book in the Bible with a blessing attached to those who study it. So it is a good book to tell people to study who really want to be blessed by God.

[A]

Yeah, absolutely. And that's kind of the. Kind of the fun thing, because it does. The book of Revelation does expect you to have read the previous books, you know, to have at least to have an intelligent understanding. But there is no doubt that the book of Revelation as well, people who will say, oh, yeah, yeah, I read it. And you go, well, you know, it isn't. You can't be lazy and approach the book Revelation, which is why I appreciate you have here 125 common questions that people ask. I mean, you've been a pastor for over 30 years. I imagine that this book kind of develops, kind of was developed out of all of the questions that you get. I mean, talk about how you know, how you came across this book and really what your goal is.

[C]

Well, yeah, I've had the privilege to teach at Dallas Seminary for several years, and I teach a class there called Daniel in Revelation. And then there's another class I teach that includes the Book of Revelation. We teach nine books. Hebrews, the general Epistles in Revelation. So I've taught the Book of Revelation at Dallas Seminary and then twice at our church. I've been there now 34 years. So I've taught all the way through the Book of Revelation twice there at the church. And I always tell people I don't know all the answers, but I know the questions. So just when you study a book or a topic, really, to help understand that topic or that book, it's good to know the questions. So you kind of develop what are the questions that need to be answered. And so these are 125 questions that some of these questions people may not have thought of. They may think of a question that's not in there, but that's pretty much the basic questions that people are going to ask about this book. And it's a different format than like a commentary. Commentary. You read a lot about the background of the book and kind of have to go through it chronologically. This book here, you can kind of skip around, just kind of read the questions you're interested in. And I think it's much more accessible than a commentary, a little bit more concise, and just kind of answering directly these particular questions. So I loved writing the book because when you write a book or you teach something, you Always learn way more than the people you're teaching. So it's very beneficial to me as well.

[A]

Yeah, absolutely. And I think as you think about the book of Revelation, you might have questions. As I went through the book, it was, you know, I always have my own thoughts too, you know, teaching the book of Revelation for a long time. And I think. I don't know if you're gonna find a question in here that wasn't addressed in the book, which again, is powerful. But there's no doubt when you read the book of Revelation right out of the gate, there's symbols everywhere. And so talk about the role of symbols, because you have some that go, oh, I read it and I just. It's all confusing. Too many symbols, there's no logical coherence to it. That's not true. So talk about that.

[C]

Well, yeah, there's symbols in a lot of books in the Bible, but Revelation is the most symbolic book in the bible. And Revelation 12, the 12th chapter, is the most symbolic chapter in the most symbolic book. So there's a lot of symbols. But chapter one, I think gives us kind of the key to how to interpret the symbols of the book. Because Jesus is pictured there. He's the radiant resurrected Christ, and he's standing in the middle of seven lampstands and he has seven stars in his right hand. Well, we read later on in the chapter, because you read that and you wonder, well, what are these lampstands and what are these stars? You can't just make them whatever you want them to be. What? Later on in the chapter, we're told that those seven lampstands are seven churches, seven literal churches that are talked about in chapters two and three. And the seven stars in Jesus right hand are the seven angels or messengers of those churches. So right there we're given kind of the clue to this book that when you see a symbol, it refers to something that's literal. And often in the book of Revelation, very often the near context will tell you what the symbol is. You know, for instance, you get over to chapter 12 and there's this great red dragon. Well, it tells you a little bit later on, this is Satan, this is the serpent of old, this is the devil. So you don't have to. You're not left to your own imagination. So oftentimes I call that a built in interpretation. There's a built in interpretation. Other times you don't find anything in the immediate context, but it's just clear what it is. Like the rider, the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, the second Rider says he rides forth on a red horse. He's got a sword that's dripping with blood, and he takes peace from the earth. Well, it's clearly. It's warfare. And if you correlate that back with Matthew 24, where you have kind of the same order of events, you have wars and rumors of wars, nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom. So you can correlate that with Matthew 24 and see that it's talking about warfare. So either in the direct context or somewhere else in the Bible where that same symbol is used, or there's a parallel imagery, you can understand what these symbols refer to, but it's very important. The symbols always refer to something that's literal. So we can't just make them mean what we want them to mean. There are boundaries there that's put by God's word and in Scripture to what the meaning is. And it's not that hard to figure out what most of them mean if you use just basic principles of Bible interpretation.

[A]

I think that's really important because I know that as I engage in the dangerous world of social media and YouTube and, you know, people send me things all the time. Well, the latest. I'm glad you brought up the four Horsemen, because, you know, people share this to me, and I've had to, like, respond to it. But, you know, Mark, don't you realize that the four Horsemen, you have red, you have black, you have white, and you have green. Those are all the colors of the Islamic flag.

[C]

Sure.

[A]

So that's really what it means. It's trying to give the show. Tell us how that is irresponsible because that. You see this right now, that they just grab something from the Revelation 6, and they look out and they go, oh, Libya flag, Sudan flag. It's pointing us to that rather than in. Within the book itself. Talk about that error.

[C]

Well, I think they're. The Palestinian flag has all those colors. I've gotten that question a lot. Well, when you read Revelation 6 there at the beginning of that passage, that Jesus is taking the seals off of a scroll. And the only document that day sealed with seven seals was a will. So this is the inheritance. Jesus is taking the inheritance of the nations. When this scroll's opened, he's gonna get the kingdom. That's where the whole book's moving. And when you read chapter six of Revelation, the beginning there, it's parallel to Matthew 24. We call Matthew 24 often the mini apocalypse. It's kind of the condensed version of the book of Revelation. And so the events There correspond the events in Revelation 6. The very first thing Jesus says is, don't let anyone mislead you. There's going to be false messiahs and false Christs. Well, the rider on the white horse is a false messiah. Jesus comes on a white horse in Revelation 19. This is the. The mimic Messiah, the counterfeit Christ, the Antichrist. Then the next event, Jesus says, is wars and rumors of wars, nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom. Ride on a red horse. Then you have famine, rider on the black horse. Then you have just death and all kinds of destruction. You have this rider on the pale horse, a fourth of the earth die. So we know what these are, because there's another place in the Bible where Jesus has given us these same things in the same order. And also, you're just taking something like the colors of the Palestinian flag and just placing that here. Well, someone else can take something else and say, well, here's something else that has these four colors. Well, that's what this means. And so again, you're not bound by what the Scripture's saying and correlating what it says with other passages of the Bible. And that's where people get into all kind of strange, bizarre interpretations of the Bible, like David Koresh or others. He was studying the seven seals. He was in Waco and caused all the havoc there. So there's parameters that God's put on his word and how we interpret it. And we're not at liberty ourselves to just go and impose a meaning on the text. We want the text to speak to us and for us to take its meaning, not for us to give the meaning to the text that we want it to have. Yeah, absolutely.

[A]

I mean, and Mark's book is going to guide you through that. We're going to take a little break here where you can see how to get our magazine, which again, we're covering topics every single month. As you know, things are not slowing down as it relates to prophetic developments.

[C]

So take a listen.

[B]

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[A]

Well, welcome back. We are talking to Dr. Mark Hitchcock about his new book, the Revelation Answer book, which I think is phenomenal. And we're just kind of going through some of the things in there and one of the things that comes up, which I'm so glad you addressed this because in Revelation 3. 5 it talks about Jesus makes a promise to the church that I will not blot your name out of the book. And yet others will say, oh well, that may mean that's a threat, that if you don't stay right, you're going to get blotted out. You bring it up, which I think is very helpful in the broader scheme because some people can walk away and people will quote this to me and say I'm worried, I'm worried that my name's going to be blotted out. Let's talk about that.

[C]

Yeah, I've had people ask me that question often. And it's strange to me that people ask that, because when I've read that passage, even years ago, and I hadn't studied Revelation, it's actually. It's saying the opposite of that. I mean, it's Jesus message to the church at Sardis that he writes to one of these seven churches. And actually in the Greek there, it's emphatic. He says it's a promise to the overcomer, the one who overcomes. And I take it the overcomers, they're just believers. It's like a special class of Christians because John, who wrote the book of revelation, also wrote 1 John in 1 John 5, 4. He says, this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith. So if you have faith in Christ, you're an overcomer. And he promises, if you're an overcomer, he says, I will never. And in the Greek, it's a double negative. It's emphatic. He says, if you're an overcomer, I will never, ever blot your name out of the book of life. So he's not saying, well, if you're a Christian, maybe you can get blotted how? He's saying, if you're a believer, I'll never, ever do that. So rather than being a passage that should cause us to have a questioning about our assurance of our salvation or whether God can really see us through to the end, it's actually an ironclad promise that our name will never, ever be taken out of or be erased from the book of life. And that's consistent with, I think, the rest of scripture.

[A]

Yeah, it's a beautiful thing. Especially, you know, as a pastor, you think people come, and of course, people are different levels of faith, and they're like, I don't know. I don't. Am I going to lose my salvation and go, hey, look, look, look. Do you have faith? Yeah. Well, the faith of a mustard seed here. Jesus says, again, as you said, faith overcomes. Trust me, I'm never going to plot your name out.

[C]

You don't have to worry about that.

[A]

What a great. It's interesting how it gets flipped. It does, and it's unfortunate. One of the other big questions that comes up that you answer in Here is the 24 elders. Okay. Lots of different views. I know we don't have all time, but kind of address that for us.

[C]

Yeah. The 24 elders are mentioned 12 times in the Book of Revelation, so they're mentioned often. The word there is elders. It's used of elders in churches. It's used like the elders of Israel. But there's a few different views. Some people take that these 24 elders are like an angelic council. These are angelic beings that appear there with God in heaven. Kind of like a council. I guess you call it the cabinet. Not that God needs advice or wisdom, but they're just kind of some special angels that are there. And there's good arguments for that. A lot of people take that it's all the redeemed. It's the 12 tribes of Israel, the 12 apostles kind of Israel and the church. It's kind of all of God's people there together, the redeemed. Others take the 24 elders to be the church, to be representative of the church of Jesus Christ. That's the view that I take because you have them in heaven there in chapter four and five. Another mentioned later as well. But they're in heaven chapter four and five. And I don't believe at that time that Old Testament saints have been resurrected. I don't think they're resurrected until the end of the tribulation period. But church age believers will have been resurrected before the tribulation starts and will be there in heaven. And it pictures the 24 elders. They're seated on thrones, they're wearing crowns, they're wearing these white garments. And angels are never pictured with crowns. And seems to picture rewards. And also the fact that there's 24 of them. There was the priests in the Old Testament, there were 24 divisions of the priesthood. And we're believer priests in the church. And also the name of them. There are 24 elders. And the elders in a church are kind of representative of a church, the leaders there. And so he calls them 24 elders because these 24 are representative, I think of the whole church. Again, I wouldn't be dogmatic about that. I mean, it could be all the redeemed or it could be an angelic council. But if it is the church, then that's a really strong argument for the pre tribulation rapture because you have the church in heaven, rewarded, redeemed in heaven before the tribulation starts in chapter six. So it's a strong argument for that. And you do have the 24 elders in chapter four casting these crowns before Jesus feet, which is a beautiful picture of the church laying our crowns at Jesus feet and the rewards he's given to us.

[A]

Yeah, it's amazing. I find it fascinating that as well in the Old Testament with Isaiah 6 and other passages, you have these Daniel 7, you have these throne room scenes and there's no elders there, you know, and you think, well, but you come to the New Testament, they're there. But yeah, they're there. And you're like, well, who are these guys? Where'd they come from? You're like, oh, well, it makes you wonder. So it's pretty fascinating. I think there is what I've seen again in the world of social media. I mean, it's just. It's easy. The confusion is just massive. That's why I think that this book is so important to put some, you know, some guidelines and some principles of understanding is. I think there's a desire, kind of what we mentioned earlier about the colors of the horsemen, there's a desire for us to look in the book and then to look out and be like, oh, I'm seeing a correlation to my own life or to our own situation. And you addressed one of these in there. Address the 200 million figure. There's this 200 million figure that comes out and people are looking at China and they're looking at other places and maybe talk about again how you approach that and how we can be guarded from being fanciful.

[C]

Well, yeah, there's an army of 200 million that's mentioned in Revelation 9. And a lot of people took that as the Chinese army because you have another great army mentioned in chapter 16. And the Euphrates rivers dried up for them to come in for the kings of the East. So they correlate the kings of the east in chapter 16 with this army of 200 million in chapter nine. And, and you know, that's not a wild idea. You know, they bring those two together because the Euphrates river is mentioned in chapter nine and chapter 16 as well. But when you look read that passage in the context I believe, I think it's talking about a demonic army. Because if you look at the. It's one of the trumpet judgments. It's the sixth trumpet judgment. The fifth trumpet judgment is the abyss is opened up and these demonic beings come up out onto the earth. And the next trumpet, then the sixth trumpet is his army of 200 million that's released. And the way they're described there, they're described as like sulfur and fire and brimstone. Well, the only other times those words are used is in referring to hell also, just the way they're described. They're these horses, these kind of demonic looking horses and all of that. And they're released by four angels that are bound at the Euphrates these four angels would be four fallen angels, because good angels aren't bound. So there's these four fallen angels there that are bound. It says for the year and for the month and for the day. I mean, God has it down to the moment. And so the fact that they're released by these demonic spirits and seem to be led by them, and the judgment just right before it has to do with demonic spirits to me, indicates that this is a vast demonic horde that's released on the earth. And it says there that they kill a third of the people on the earth. So it's staggering. You can't even get your mind around it today in our culture. But that's just some of the ways that you want to look in the context. You don't just see a number. And I remember Dr. Walvoord, years ago, his commentary on Revelation that came out in the late 1960s. He commented how in a Time magazine article in 1966, it said that China could then marshal an army of 200 million, kind of the first time in history which that would have probably been the population of the world at the time, John's writing. So that gives us a little insight too, to how many fallen angels or demons there must be. This is just 200 million of them. But again, you look at it in the context of that passage, what's before it, what's after it, the way it's described. And we want to come to an interpretation that's based on that, not just kind of pulling out some numbers, seeing just a human army, just because it makes sense in the world we see today.

[A]

Yeah, Amen. I mean, the book Revelation does not need to be confusing. And again, I appreciate what Mark has done here. So we're going to take a little break here. We can see how to get his book because again, if you've ever been confused, it's very easy. It's an easy read, it's very approachable and it'll help guide you through these various questions. I'm sure you'll have, you'll have had similar questions. So take a listen.

[B]

Here in Oklahoma, we're blessed to have a number of prophecy teaching churches. One of the very best is Pastor Mark Hitchcock's Church Faith Bible, where Mark has been teaching Bible prophecy for many years. Mark is one of the world's most prolific authors, a true expert on Bible prophecy and the Book of Revelation. So many people are curious about the future, but perhaps they just don't realize that all the answers they're looking for can be found in The Book of Revelation. Mark's Revelation Answer Book is unique. Rather than writing a laborious chapter and verse commentary, he focused on the questions we're all curious about. What is the synagogue of Satan? Who are the 24 elders? Who is the rider on the white horse? How long is the tribulation? Question after question are followed by 286 pages of well researched answers. And by a man who has studied Bible prophecy like few before him, Pastor Mark can be trusted to provide trustworthy answers. You can have your own personal copy of the Revelation Answer Book for your gift of $30 or more with shipping included in the USA. Call us toll free at the number you see on your screen or visit us online at ProphecyWatchers TV. For our international friends, please note that that additional shipping fees do apply and all prices listed are in US dollars. For those of you who enjoy a bargain, we have another book that is part of the Revelation Answer package. It's called the Prophecy Collection and it's a one of a kind book. It's actually three books in one. The End Times Survival Guide, the Coming Apostasy and Russia Rising. Three books in one volume totaling 55054 pages. Get the package and receive all four books from Pastor Mark for your gift of $50 or more. And we'll even include a special DVD bonus surprise for your enjoyment. The Revelation Answer Book should be in the home of every prophetic minded Christian. Just when you think you know it all, Mark Hitchcock will challenge your knowledge with some hard questions and some great answers straight out of this future futuristic book. Thanks for joining us today. Get a Bible and read John's fascinating book. It will show you how to spend eternity with Jesus living in a place he's prepared just for you.

[A]

Well, welcome back. We are talking to Dr. Mark Hitchcock here again about this great book. And one of the things that comes up often, Mark, is the millennial period. You come to Revelation 21,000 years, this and that, six times it's mentioned and you address that in there. And is it symbolic, is it literal? And then how do people participate in that?

[C]

Yeah, I think the millennium is 1000 years. A literal thousand years. You just said 1000 years is mentioned six times in seven verses. Revelation 21:7. It would be odd for a symbolic number to be used that many times. And there's a lot of other reasons why I think it's a literal number as well. But what that's gonna be is ten centuries. Think about that. Ten centuries between the return of Jesus to the earth and the recreation of a New heaven and new Earth. So it's gonna be 10 centuries between that time, marked by two main things that every politician today talks about, and that is we want. People want peace and they want prosperity. And it's gonna be Jesus Christ literally ruling and reigning for 10 centuries on the Earth, and he's gonna bring peace and prosperity to this earth. So everything this world was supposed to be when the first Adam was created, and it all got messed up and broken because of sin. Jesus, the last Adam, is going to come back and do what the first Adam was supposed to do and take dominion over this Earth. And we're going to rule and reign with him. We'll have positions of authority in that kingdom based on how we live now. So right now, our lives are training time for reigning time with Jesus. But that's just phase one of God's eternal kingdom. It's the first thousand years. And then we'll go into phase two, which will be God's eternal kingdom. He'll make a new heaven and a new earth. Revelation 21 and 22, where we will be with the Lord forever. If we put our hope and our trust in Jesus Christ. Not everyone will be there. And it's great to know a lot about the millennium and about heaven, but the most important thing is that we know that we're gonna be there through putting our faith and trust in Jesus.

[A]

Amen. Amen. And, you know, I think as we think about that whole topic, you know, there's always the challenge. I think certainly as pastors, we see this often on. We have people maybe that are sitting in the church for years and years and years, and then you go, man, did they not listen? You know, for all the teaching that's going on, and yet the gospel's preached every week, and there is so here, what we're saying is there's an opportunity for people to miss this. So, again, I've also seen people who are experts on revelation and not an expert on the Gospel itself. And so this is why we're here. And so I appreciate you coming in today. And for those watching, thanks for listening today. Again, Mark's book is awesome. It'll help guide you through all of the intricacies of the Book of Revelation. But the most important thing is in your walk, if you have not put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, because judgment is coming. Jesus said that he's coming soon and judgment is coming. And the goal is to trust in the Lord so that you can escape this coming time of judgment. So, as always, we appreciate your prayers and support for what we do here and getting the gospel out and solid Bible teaching. So thanks for listening. We'll catch you next time.

[B]

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