Welcome to Prophecy Q & A with Jimmy DeYoung!
As we study the Word of God, it doesn’t say that it happened exactly on the Lord’s Day, Sunday afternoon, while John was on the Isle of Patmos.
Revelation 1:1 says that it came from God the Father who gave it to Jesus the Son who then delegated an angel to give it to John the Revelator.
Chapters 1-3 were most likely given at that time on the Isle of Patmos because the Lord tells John to write down in Revelation 1:19 the things which were (chapter 1), the things which are (chapters 2 & 3), and to write down the things which will happen hereafter which is also used in Revelation 4:1.
Revelation 4:1, “After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.” Trumpets don’t talk; this is apocalyptic. Put this with the fact that there will be a trumpet sound at the rapture of the church (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-53), you can come to the conclusion, interpreting the apocalyptic phrase “I heard as it were of a trumpet talking with me,” that it depicts the Rapture of the church.
In Revelation 4:2, John is in the third heaven, in the heavenlies, in the throne room. I believe John, literally, went into the third heaven.
In 2 Corinthians 12:2, the Apostle Paul said that he knew a man 14 years ago who went into the third heaven. It may have been Paul himself. This man talked about it when he got back.
I believe that the Lord can take anybody that He wants to at a certain time for a certain purpose into the third heaven. I believe that this is where John went. He saw the things from a heavenly perspective. He understands what is going to happen on the Earth because he was told that. He understands what will happen in the heavens as well.
As you read through the next chapters of Revelation, especially chapter 4:2-19:10, it gives detailed information about the Tribulation Period.
I believe that it took longer than one shot of getting every bit of information about the Tribulation Period and what happens after the Tribulation period – the Millennium and eternity future (Revelation 21 & 22).
John is probably up in age, in his 90s. He is a pastor of a church in Ephesus. God gave him the assignment to get the letters to the seven churches.
I believe that it took more than one day, but I don’t see a statement that states that.
Jimmy DeYoung was a prophecy teacher and journalist who travelled the country and the world educating the Body of Christ of the future events foretold in God’s prophetic Word. His goal was to equip Christians with the knowledge and understanding of what God’s Word says will happen someday soon, so that they can make better decisions today. Dr. DeYoung went home to be with his Savior on August 15, 2021.
