REVELATION
MOST IMPORTANT!
THE GOSPEL IN
REVELATION IS EXACTLY THE SAME AS IN THE REST OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
Don't get lost in the imagery. Salvation still comes from Jesus's
death and resurrection through faith!
NEXT MOST IMPORTANT:
The major emphasis in
Revelation is directed at suffering churches. The Lord is encouraging
the stand fast in times of persecution, because Christ has already
won the victory at Calvary, and this will become evident at the end.
In short - WE WIN!
Revelation is a type
of literature (other types are poetry, short stories, gospel,
letters) called Apocalyptic:
It is a literature of
persecution.
It is a Jewish genre.
It is highly
symbolic. Think crazy dreams you have had.
It often uses
gematria – number games.
The book is
notoriously difficult to interpret – at least the symbolic passages
are. Lifeway has made it a practice for years to offer three or four
different interpretations.
I'm going to show you
primarily two. The first you are familiar with a bit. The second is
not nearly as much fun, but I think it's mostly correct.
The first is primarily
a premillenial interpretation. It goes something like this:
After the age of the
Church -
The Great Tribulation
The Rapture and the
Return of Jesus.
Argument whether
church will be raptured before or after the tribulation. This is a
first world argument, especially in America and England. The church
has undergone tribulation throughout its history. Read what's
happening from ISIS, Taliban, Muslim Brotherhood.
The Millennium, or
Thousand Year Reign of Christ on Earth
Armageddon (Or some
put it elsewhere, for example to kick off the whole end times.)
Devil etc thrown in
lake of fire
Heaven begins, some
say in New Jerusalem on earth.
Now all of the above
reads Revelation and other Apocalypses in Bible as future history.
The goal of interpretation then becomes untangling the symbols to
tell us what will happen.
My observation is that
no two of these guys agree.
I prefer
Amillenialism.
This approach says the
book is talking about what was going on in the churches that received
it. (The 7 churches of the letters were actual churches, though some
think they are symbolic of various ages of the church – see what I
mean about agreement?)
Note the war in heaven
in Chapter 12. For some reason I always picture it as being fought
with swords and shields. But this is angel war, spiritual war.
Michael won that war BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB (v 11). It's the same
gospel!
Note also in Chapter
20, the dead who come to life are the martyrs, who were killed for
their testimony to Jesus. Most ignore this and apply it to all
Christians. Remember the book was written to a church in persecution.
Perhaps this is a special reward for those who remained faithful unto
death.
Be very careful about
those who patch together their systems of the future by cutting up
verses from here or there and trying to interlock them like jigsaw
puzzles. Competent Bible scholars always begin their efforts by
understanding what that particular book meant in its own time to its
first readers. There's no evidence that the visions in Daniel can be
properly coordinated into Revelation. Likely the four horsemen in
Zechariah influenced – or at least were referenced by the author
of Revelation, but be very careful how you blend the two references.
They were several hundred years apart with a different situation
involved.
From time to time you
will hear people say this and that has happened and the end must be
near. Folks, the Bible says THE END WAS ALREADY NEAR WHEN IT WAS
WRITTEN. MOST OF THAT PROPHESY HAD BEEN FULFILLED FOR 2000 YEARS.
Obviously, the last two or three chapters are future, but I'm
skeptical of the rest. Nevertheless, He's coming, but I'm not on the
program committee!
Now for the lesson for
Sun, July 19:
The title is NOT
RevelationS. The word is singular, but it is not the Revelation of
John though some Bibles print it that way. The book itselve begins
with “This is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave
him...” God gave the revelation to His Son, who in turn gave it to
his servants or slaves. If “servants” is the translation, think
bond servants, people who sold themselves into slavery for a period
of time to pay a debt. We usually read “servants” and translate
it in our heads as ourselves, serving Him as we choose. Not the idea
at all! Our faith translates into following, which translates into
obedience. A disciple is obedient to his master.
Note “quickly take
place.” Not the far future. Those receiving the message were under
persecution THEN and needed relief NOW! Not 2000 years in the future.
Remember this book is not written just for those alive at the world's
end. God inspired it for at least 2000 years and who knows for how
long. But if the time was at hand then, how much more should you and
I live with a sense of urgency!
God sent it to these
slaves through an angel who appeared to John. This John was a
“martyr,” one who witnessed to Christ in danger of his life or
freedom. The word “martyr” means witness, and was used in those
days of early Christians who held up for their faith as their lives
were being threatened.
Verse 3 refers to
those who read the letter aloud to those who cannot read. Think of a
group – 10-20 Christians sitting in a circle in a house church.
Someone stands and reads aloud a copy of this book or scroll, to
those who may never have learned to read. God promises a blessing to
those who enter this conversation with him through the
reading-listening encounter. But only hearing is not enough. Keeping
or obeying what is written as so often Scripture points out. Don't
miss his added statement “the time is near.” Relief from their
troubles are on the way!
Verse 4 is full of
theology:
Seven churches of
Asia. He had specific churches in mind. Did he make seven copies of
this material and send on to each of the churches? Or did he make one
copy as a circular letter to be carried by “pony express” from
one church to the next? We don't know, but the difference between the
seven letters indicate they were going to specific churches as they
existed at the time. Others have suggested that the seven are types
of churches that are always existing. Still others propose the
churches are abstracts of the entire church through the “church
age,” meaning each church represents the prevailing view throughout
the church world in each two or four hundred years. I pefer the book
was addressed to seven churches at the time with the obvious
understanding that churches never remain static and one letter fits
us this year and another ten or fifty years later. Which one hits
your church the most today?
Grace and peace –
like Paul's frequent greeting, melding the routine Greek and Hebrew
salutations.
Who is, was, and is to
come – God's OT name, YHWH is a form of the verb to be. He is the
eternal one, who lives outside of time and indeed, created time!
Jesus Christ is the
“faithful witness,” the example to persecuted Christians. He was
true to Himself to the point of death, as we should be. Two more of
the many characteristics John might have chosen are “firstborn from
the dead,” and “ruler of the kinds of the earth.” Firstborn
takes us back to Paul – if Christ is not raised, then our faith is
vain. But he IS raised and has opened the grave for all believers.
Caesar was king and likely a persecuting king at this time. But
Christ is the true ruler, and He will reign. If you don't know the
hymn, look it up – Jesus Shall Reign where'er the sun, does his
successive journeys run!
The message continues
praising Jesus Christ as loving us and freeing us from sin! Our
chains are gone! Next it says He made us a kingdom, not gave us a
kingdom. The Kingdom of God is not a place, it is a people! You and
me and millions of others. That kingdom is a kingdom of priests –
you, me, and millions of others. We go directly to God through Christ
with no other human intermediary. Again he bursts forth in praise to
God the Father – glory and dominion into eternity!
Verse 7 – a
universal crowd will see the return of the Savior, believers and
non-believers alike. Mourn over Him probably means the huge sense of
awe at His appearing. May refer especially to non-believers and their
fear at discovering how wrong they were, but don't you think every
one of us, including the most ardent ones looking forward to His
coming, may be so overwhelmed that we collapse before Him?
Verse 8 – Alpha and
Omega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. A-Z. The
beginning and the end. Once again the Eternal One, the Almighty!
