A Deeper Dive Into the Book of Revelation - Part 8
Revelation is a book that is characterized by two numbers: 3 and 7.
Every mention of these numbers in the book of Revelation is significant.
The number 7 is prominent throughout the book, beginning with the very first chapter in which Jesus is described holding 7 stars in his right hand and walking in the midst of 7 golden lampstands.
The number 7 seems to represent perfection or completeness, which is the perfect number to characterize the book of Revelation in which all things are brought to a conclusion which ties up all of the “loose ends.” The Church age is perfectly brought to a close. Everything that has been sown is reaped. Justice is rendered that is complete and perfect.Nothing is left undone.
The number 3, which also represents God’s perfection and completeness, seems to always be represented in the book, but it is more subtle.
The 3 members of the Godhead are clearly displayed in the book, but we may not realize it if we are not reading carefully.
In the very first chapter, John delivers a blessing to us from all 3 members of the Trinity:
“Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come,” (God the Father)
“and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne,” (Holy Spirit)
“and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.” (Jesus the Son) (Revelation 1:4-5 NKJV)
More clearly, all 3 persons of the Godhead are present in the throne room of Heaven in Revelation chapters 4 and 5. In these chapters, John clearly sees Father God Almighty seated upon His throne. John also sees the Holy Spirit manifested as 7 lamps of fire burning before the throne. Then John sees Jesus as the Lamb of God, and watches as the Lamb approaches the throne and takes a book from the hand of the Father.
God Deals with the Church as 3 Distinct Groups of Believers
Not only is God clearly portrayed as 3 distinct persons in the book of Revelation, but the Church is dealt with as 3 distinct groups of believers. We can see these three groups throughout the Bible, but it becomes critically important in the end times because these 3 groups experience 3 very different destinies in the book of Revelation.
There will be a moment in time, described in Revelation 11:1-2 in which your place in one of these groups will be determined, and your fate will be sealed. This will all be determined by the daily choices that you are making now.
When people ask about the events of the End Times, they often want to know, “When is the Rapture?” or “When is Jesus coming to get us?” as if everyone in the Church is going to experience the same things at the same times. A much more important question is “In which group will I be when Jesus returns?”
Let me explain.
The 3 groups of believers can be seen in the 3 areas of the Tabernacle of Moses. In the Tabernacle, there was an Outer Court, an inner Holy Place, and the innermost Holy of Holies.
The Outer Court represents those believers who experienced salvation through Jesus’ sacrifice and received forgiveness of their sins. This is symbolized by the bronze altar in the Outer Court, where animals were sacrificed for the sins of the people.
These believers also experienced the waters of baptism, symbolized by the bronze laver, which was basically a giant bowl of water in the Outer Court of the Tabernacle.
But that is where these believers stopped. This group of believers does not press on into the Holy Place. After they receive salvation and an assurance that they are saved from an eternity in Hell, they basically live for themselves. They fail to make a deeper commitment to follow Jesus in their everyday lives.
This group can be seen in the 3rd servant in the parable of the talents, who did nothing with what His Lord had given him, but instead buried his talent and lived for himself. He suffered severe consequences for these choices. This Outer Court believer was appropriately cast into Outer Darkness. (See Matthew 25:26-30.)
Then there is the 2nd group of believers, symbolized by those who press on to experience the Holy Place. These believers pursue lives of true Christian disciples. They may receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, symbolized by the 7-pronged lampstand. They may feed on the inspired Word of God, receiving the living Word that guides them through life. This is symbolized by the bread on the Table of Showbread, which was replaced weekly. These believers may also be involved in ministry and have active prayer lives. This is symbolized by the golden altar of incense in the Holy Place of the Tabernacle.
But a couple of things are lacking in this group of believers. They stop short of developing a deep, personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and they fail to be fully conformed to the image of Christ, which is God’s purpose for each of us (Romans 8:29). These believers are represented by the foolish virgins in Matthew 25.
The 3rd group of believers press on to enter into the experience of the Holy of Holies. These are the Lord’s bond servants who “follow the Lamb wherever He goes” (Revelation 14:4). These believers have laid down their own selfish pursuits in life in order to give their lives fully to the Lord they love. These believers have developed deep, intimate relationships with the Heavenly Bridegroom. They have made themselves compatible as help mates to their Bridegroom by being transformed into the image of Christ Jesus (Romans 12:2). These are the wise virgins of Matthew 25 and the Overcomers of Revelation chapters 2 and 3. This is the Shulamite maiden of the Song of Solomon.
It is this remnant group of the Church who will enter into the Holy of Holies realm to experience the Baptism of Fire and transfiguration as Jesus did. They will become living Arks of God’s Covenant who carry the manifested presence of God almighty with His authority to minister in the last days.
These 3 groups of believers will experience very different destinies in the last days of the Church Age.
God Works Through Remnant Groups
God has a history of working through remnant groups to accomplish His purposes.
“And concerning Israel, Isaiah the prophet cried out, ‘Though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand of the seashore, only a remnant will be saved.’”—Romans 9:27 (NLT)
“So too then, at the present time there has come to be a remnant [a small believing minority] according to God’s gracious choice.”—Romans 11:5 (AMP)
God was not able to use Gideon’s entire army of 32,000, so it was reduced to 10,000. Still, God could not use this large group to accomplish His purposes. Many more were tested and rejected. God’s purposes were finally accomplished through a small remnant of only 300.
It has been this way throughout history.
God wanted to bring all of the children of Israel into the promised land after delivering them from Egypt, but it was only the small remnant of Joshua and Caleb who passed all of the tests and qualified to be the overcoming remnant.
In the history of the Church Age, the large majority of people in the Church rejected the moves of God. It was only a relatively small remnant who “followed the pillar of cloud and fire” and moved with God into the progressive restorations of God’s Truth.
Most of the established Church rejected Martin Luther and the truth of “justification by faith.” Only a remnant moved into this restoration of Truth.
From there, only a small remnant moved with God to experience the restoration of believer’s water baptism with the Anabaptists.
From there, only a relatively small remnant of the Church accepted the Great Awakenings of the 1700s. The established Church rejected the Truth of sanctification in the teachings of George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, and John Wesley.
In the 20th century, the majority of the Church rejected the Azusa Street Revival and the restoration of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Only a smaller remnant within the Church overcame that unbelief to experience this new move of God.
The established Church also rejected the healing revivals of the 1940s and 50s. A relatively small, believing remnant moved on with God to experience the Truth of divine healing.
The established Church, expressing their unbelief, also rejected the Charismatic Renewal which restored the gifts of the Holy Spirit to common use among the remnant who overcame unbelief to enter into the reality of this Truth.
The vast majority of the Church also rejected the restoration of true prophetic voices in the 1980s. The remnant who were able to overcome that spirit of unbelief were able to receive the blessings of this restoration of prophetic ministry.
It has been this way throughout history, and it will be this way until the end of this Church Age. The majority of the established Church will disqualify themselves from entering into the next move of God because of their unbelief.
**“Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. **For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world… . Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and **they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief”—**Hebrews 4:1-6 (KJV)
Only a smaller remnant will continue to move on and be used by God in this great End-Time move that will be greater than even the ministry of Jesus.
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.”—John 14:12 (NKJV)
How Jesus Described the 3 Groups of Believers
Once you realize that God deals with the Church as 3 distinct groups of believers, you will begin to see these 3 groups throughout Scripture, in the Old and New Testaments.
Jesus spoke several times of the 3 groups of believers. He described them particularly well in the parable of the sower.
“Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.** **And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”—Mark 4:3-9 (ESV)
In this parable, Jesus first speaks of people who hear the Good News of Jesus Christ, but before they can believe and be saved, the devil steals the message from them.
And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.”—Mark 4:13-15 (ESV)
Then Jesus describes the 3 groups of believers. First, He speaks of the Outer Court believers who fall away from the faith when pressure comes into their lives for being a Christian.
“And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.”—Mark 4:16-17 (ESV)
It is significant that Jesus uses the terms “tribulation” and “fall away” here in His description of this group of Outer Court believers. Paul tells us that will exactly be the response of this group at the time of the Great Tribulation before Jesus returns.
“Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. **Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, **and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”—2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 (NKJV)
This group of Outer Court believers will not endure the pressure of the Great Tribulation and will fall away. Many will even deny the Lord Jesus Christ, as Peter did when he was pressured at Jesus’ trial. If these believers do not repent and dedicate themselves fully to the Lord Jesus Christ, there will be little hope for them.
“And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.”—Mark 13:13 (NKJV)
“If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He will also deny us”— 2 Timothy 2:12 (AMP)
“But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.”—Matthew 10:33 (NKJV)
Next in the parable, Jesus describes the Holy Place believers. These Christians may be very active in ministry for the Lord, but their hearts are not fully His. He is not their primary pursuit in life. From the outside, everything may look good, but because their eyes are not single in their focus on the Lord, their hearts are divided and distracted by other interests. This group is like the church of Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-7 who did a lot of things right, but had lost their first love.
“And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.”—Mark 4:18-19 (ESV)
Finally, Jesus describes the group of believers symbolized by the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle. This group of believers is whole-heartedly dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is their first love. They sacrifice everything else in life for their pursuit of Him alone. This group could also be called the bond servants of Jesus Christ. These are the Overcomers that Jesus addresses in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. These believers have allowed God to conform them into the image of Christ to be compatible with the heavenly Bridegroom. It is this group of believers that make up the Bride of Christ.
“But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”—Mark 4:20 (ESV)
I have written more about these three groups of believers in my blog series, Simple Keys to Understanding the Book of Revelation.
