County music artist John Rich released a new single and accompanying video “Revelation” on Friday, inspired by the Bible’s prophecies about the end times.
Rich sings in the chorus, “Oh, Revelation, I can feel it coming, like a dark train running. Oh, get ready ’cause the king is coming, the king is coming back again.”
The star told “Flashpoint” host Gene Bailey on Tuesday’s program, “There are things now in place in this world that allow for the prophecies in Daniel, Revelation, 2 Thessalonians, Matthew — we could keep going — to actually take place now.”
The song’s lyrics come right from the Bible regarding the devil trying to deceive the world, a trumpet announcing Christ’s return to judge the earth, and the wicked being destroyed by fire.
The video depicts the battle between the Archangel Michael and Satan described in Revelation 12.
“And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him,” the Bible says.
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Rich’s video ends with Revelation 12, verses 10 and 11, on the screen, which read, “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
“And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.”
Rich, the son of a preacher, said in a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the “Revelation” video, “There’s never been a song like this song.”
He told Bailey that things described in Revelation which seemed difficult to comprehend even 20 or 30 years ago are far more understandable now.
Rich mentioned the “mark of the beast” discussed in Revelation 13.
It’s a mark the Antichrist requires the people of the earth to have on their hand or forehead to show their allegiance to him and is required in order to buy or sell, according to the Bible site GotQuestions.com.
People wondered how it would be possible to track everyone in the entire world and enforce such a decree prior to the internet and smartphones.
“Now, we are all too accustomed with the fact … not only can you track everybody, they do track everybody,” Rich said.
Others have pointed to events in the Middle East, the way the whole world is aligning against Israel, as further evidence the end times are drawing near.
Revelation 16 and 19 describe Christ’s return to the earth leading forces that will vanquish the army of the Antichrist at the Battle of Armageddon in Israel.
“This song hit me like a ton of bricks,” Rich said. “I wasn’t setting out to write it. The Boss just kind of slammed it into the back of my head, and I put pen to paper and there it was. And I feel like the messenger of something important right now.”
“The point of this song … is to remind true Christians who they are and where they stand and give them some courage. No. 2, for the lost out there, I hope this song brings conviction to them, to their heart, and for the truly wicked out there, I hope it scares them half to death, because their fate has been sealed, it’s been written from 2,000 plus years ago.”
Rich’s song ends, “The king is coming and it won’t be long.”
