Why study revelation

The first book in the Bible, Genesis, is the book of beginning and the last book, Revelation, is the book of ending. In fact, it is the ultimate ending! In Revelation 1—3, Christ councils the church how it should live in a rebellious kingdom. He warns the church of dangers to avoid and promises blessing for those who endure to the end.

It warns people of the eternal judgment that is coming upon all the enemies of God and the hope we can find only through faith in Christ. We should not fear the wrath of God in Revelation but rather, it should motivate us to share the gospel with everyone we know. For the church to avoid Revelation is to avoid one of the greatest evangelistic tools God has given us.

We hold that all Scripture is relevant for faith and practice, which includes the prophecy of Revelation. In time, they made God into their own image rather than the God revealed in Scripture. Register Today! Sign up for a weekly digest of content and resource updates. Here are a few that cause us to pause and think before we just dismiss Revelation or justify putting it on the top shelf to collect dust: 1. Prophecy, the accurate foretelling of what is to happen, is unique to the Bible.

The study of Revelation enlightens our path in a dark world. Revelation is a call to all who do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, to come to faith. Share on Facebook Share on Twitter. Follow Us. The Friends of Israel website uses cookies to improve your web experience. By clicking Accept you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Rather it consummates and concludes that which has been begun somewhere else in Scripture. It is imperative to a right understanding of the book to be able to trace each great subject of prophecy from the first reference to the terminal.

There are at least ten great subjects of prophecy which find their consummation here. This is the reason that a knowledge of the rest of the Bible is imperative to an understanding of the Book of Revelation. It is calculated that there are over five hundred references or allusions to the Old Testament in Revelation and that, of its verses, contain references to the Old Testament.

In other words, over half of this book depends upon your understanding of the Old Testament. We need to understand where each began and how it was developed as it comes into the Book of Revelation. The ten great subjects of prophecy which find their consummation here are these:.

The Lord Jesus Christ. He is the subject of the book. The subject is not the beasts nor the bowls of wrath but the Sin—bearer.

The first mention of Him is way back in Genesis , as the Seed of the woman. The church does not begin in the Old Testament. The resurrection and the translation of the saints see John 14; 1 Thess. The Great Tribulation, spoken of back in Deuteronomy 4 where God says that His people would be in tribulation. The Lord Jesus said that Jerusalem will be trodden down of the Gentiles until the Times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

The second coming of Christ. According to Jude 14—15, Enoch spoke of that, which takes us back to the time of the Genesis record. God promised Israel five things, and God says in Revelation that He will fulfill them all. Now I want to make a positive statement: The Book of Revelation is not a difficult book.

The liberal theologian has tried to make it a difficult book, and the amillennialist considers it a symbolic and hard—to—understand book. Even some of our premillennialists are trying to demonstrate that it is weird and wild. Actually, it is the most orderly book in the Bible. And there is no reason to misunderstand it.

This is what I mean: It divides itself. Then we will find that the book further divides itself in series of sevens, and each division is as orderly as it possibly can be. You will find no other book in the Bible that divides itself like that. To those who claim that it is all symbolic and beyond our understanding, I say that the Book of Revelation is to be taken literally.

And when a symbol is used, it will be so stated. Also it will be symbolic of reality, and the reality will be more real than the symbol for the simple reason that John uses symbols to describe reality. In our study of the book, that is an all—important principle to follow. Therefore, we have no right to reach into the book and draw out of it some of the wonderful pictures that John describes for us and interpret them as taking place in our day.

Some of them are symbolic, symbolic of reality, but not of a reality which is currently taking place. I have visited the ruins of all seven of them and have spent many hours there.

In fact, I have visited some of them on four occasions, and I would love to go back tomorrow. To examine the ruins and study the locality is a very wonderful experience. It has made these churches live for me, and I can see how John was speaking into local situations but also giving the history of the church as a whole. Then after chapter 3, the church is not mentioned anymore.

The church is not the subject again in the entire Book of the Revelation. When we see her in the last part of Revelation, she is not the church but the bride. Then beginning with chapter 4, everything is definitely in the future from our vantage point at the present time. So when anyone reaches in and pulls out a revelation—some vision about famine or wars or anything of that sort—it just does not fit into the picture of our day.

We need to let John tell it like it is. In fact, we need to let the whole Bible speak to us like that—just let it say what it wants to say. The idea of making wild and weird interpretations is one of the reasons I enter this book with a feeling of fear. It is interesting to note that the subject of prophecy is being developed in our day. The great doctrines of the church have been developed in certain historical periods.

At first, it was the doctrine of the Scripture being the Word of God. This was followed by the doctrine of the person of Christ, known as Christology. Then the doctrine of soteriology, or salvation, was developed. And so it has been down through the years. Now you and I are living in a day when prophecy is really being developed, and we need to exercise care as to what and to whom we listen. Luther and Calvin were great shining lights in their times, yet they penetrated not the whole counsel of God….

Be ready to receive whatever truth shall be made known to you from the written word of God. Therefore, we need to be very sure that all new truth comes from a correct interpretation of the Word of God.

As I have indicated, the twentieth century has witnessed a renewed interest in eschatology the doctrine of last things which we call prophecy. Especially since World War I, great strides have been made in this field.

New light has fallen upon this phase of Scripture. All of this attention has focused the light of deeper study on the Book of Revelation.

In the notes which I have made on this book, I have attempted to avoid the pitfall of presenting something new and novel just for the sake of being different. Likewise, I have steered clear of repeating threadbare cliches. Many works on Revelation are merely carbon copies of other works. In my own library I have more commentaries on the Revelation than on any other book of the Bible, and most of them are almost copies of those that have preceded them. Another danger we need to avoid is that of thinking that the Book of Revelation can be put on a chart.

Although I myself have a chart and have used it in teaching, I will not be using it in this study. The reason is that if it includes all it should, it is so complicated that nobody will understand it. I have several charts sent to me by different men in whom I have great confidence. One of them is so complicated that I need a chart to understand his chart! As you can see, it begins with the cross of Christ and His ascension.

In chapter 1, we see the glorified Christ. In chapters 2—3 we see the church. In chapters 4—5 we see that the church is in heaven. Then on earth the Great Tribulation takes place, chapters 6— In chapter 19 we see that Christ returns to the earth and establishes His Kingdom, and chapter 20 gives us the thousand—year reign of Christ.

Then the Great White Throne is set up, the place where the lost are judged, and in chapters 21—22 eternity begins. That is the Book of Revelation. Nero had Paul and Peter destroyed, but he looked upon them as seditious Jews. Domitian was the first emperor to understand that behind the Christian movement there stood an enigmatic figure who threatened the glory of the emperors. He was the first to declare war on this figure, and the first also to lose the war—a foretaste of things to come.

The subject of this book is very important to see. In the Gospels you see Him in the days of His flesh, but they do not give the full revelation of Jesus Christ. There you see Him in humiliation. Here in Revelation you see Him in glory. You see Him in charge of everything that takes place. He is in full command. This is the unveiling of Jesus Christ. In the Revelation the Lamb is the center around which all else is clustered, the foundation upon which everything lasting is built, the nail on which all hangs, the object to which all points, and the spring from which all blessing proceeds.

The Lamb is the light, the glory, the life, the Lord of heaven and earth, from whose face all defilement must flee away, and in whose presence fullness of joy is known. Hence we cannot go far in the study of the Revelation without seeing the Lamb. Like direction posts along the road to remind us that He, who did by Himself purge our sins, is now highly exalted and that to Him every knee must bow and every tongue confess.

To that grand statement I say hallelujah! For the Lamb is going to reign upon this earth. As I have said, the Book of Revelation is not really a difficult book. It divides itself very easily. John does it all for us according to the instructions given to him. I was dead.

I am alive for evermore. And I have the keys of hell [the grave] and of death. In fact, there is nothing quite like it. We are going to see that the living Christ is very busy doing things today. Do you realize that He is the Head of the church? Do you know the reason the contemporary church is in such a mess? The reason is that the church is like a body that has been decapitated. It is no longer in touch with the Head of the church.

After what things? After the church things. So in chapters 4—22 he is dealing with things that are going to take place after the church leaves the earth. The fallacy of the hour is reaching into this third section and trying to pull those events up to the present.

This gives rise to the wild and weird interpretations we hear in our day. He gives us the past, present, and future of the Book of Revelation. As you will see by the outline that follows, I have used the divisions which John has given to us:. The Possession of Jesus Christ—the church in the world is His, chapters 2—3. The Program of Jesus Christ—as seen in heaven, chapters 4— The last section deals with the consummation of all things on this earth. This is what makes Revelation such a glorious and wonderful book.

In the first division of the Book of Revelation we will see the person of Christ in His position and glory as the Great High Priest who is in charge of His church. We will see that He is in absolute control. In the Gospels we find Him to be meek, lowly, and humble. He made Himself subject to His enemies on earth and died upon a cross! We find a completely different picture of Him in the Book of the Revelation. Here He is in absolute control. Although He is still the Lamb of God, it is His wrath that is revealed, the wrath of the Lamb, and it terrifies the earth.

When He speaks in wrath, His judgment begins upon the earth. The person of Jesus Christ is the theme of this book. When the scene moves to heaven, we see Him there, too, controlling everything. Not only in Revelation but in the entire Bible Jesus Christ is the major theme.

The Scriptures are both theocentric and Christocentric, God—centered and Christ—centered. This needs to be kept in mind in a special way as we study the Book of Revelation—even more than in the Gospels. The Bible as a whole tells us what He has done, what He is doing, and what He will do. The Book of Revelation emphasizes both what He is doing and what He will do. The last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, closes with the mention of the Son of Righteousness which is yet to rise.

It holds out a hope for a cursed earth, and that hope is the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Book of Revelation closes with the Bright and Morning Star, which is a figure of Christ at His coming to take the church out of the world.

And the Book of Revelation will complete the revelation of Christ. Notice also that there is a tie between Genesis and Revelation, the first and last books of the Bible. Genesis presents the beginning, and Revelation presents the end.

Note the contrasts between the two books:. In Genesis the earth was created; in Revelation the earth passes away. In Genesis the sun was to govern the day; in Revelation there is no need of the sun. In Genesis the waters were called seas; in Revelation there is no more sea. In Genesis was the entrance of sin; in Revelation is the exodus of sin. In Genesis the curse was pronounced; in Revelation the curse is removed.

In Genesis was the beginning of sorrow and suffering; in Revelation there will be no more sorrow and no more tears. And the Bible closes with another global and universal book. The Revelation shows what God is going to do with His universe and with His creatures. There is no other book quite like this. McGee, J. Thru the Bible Commentary, Vol. Reach out to Him. He'll be there and He'll see you through. He will help you grin as you rest in Him. He will help you speak when you're feeling weak.

Of all the books in the Bible, none produces such a plethora of interpretations and conclusions as Revelation. Maybe this is part of the reason we tend to avoid studying it. I mean, what are we to do with a book that speaks of locusts with scorpion tails Revelation and a red dragon with seven heads and ten horns Revelation ?

Yet no other book begins with such a direct encouragement to the reader:. Maybe, we assume, that by studying Revelation we will need to come to some final conclusion about where we stand on this big, confusing thing called eschatology the study of end times. But Revelation is part of the God-breathed Scriptures, "profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness, equipping us for every good work 2 Timothy !

The question is, how do we tackle such an intimidating book? Just like the rest of our Bibles, reading Revelation should be motivated by a desire to know and love God. Though it can be tempting to read this book of prophecy with end times in mind, we should read it with God in mind. What does God love? What does He hate? How does He respond to mankind? How does He describe Himself?

These are all great questions to ask as you read. We want to love the one true living God, not one we have made up and suited to fit our own preferences. Reading the Bible is one way we slowly compile an accurate character of the God who has saved us.

Jesus is the central figure of this book, from the first chapter to the last. If you love Jesus, then you should be excited to read Revelation! In the rest of our New Testament, we see Jesus stripped of His god-like qualities and humbly embracing the form of man to save us from our sins. But in Revelation we get the opportunity to see Him in glory, restored to His proper place as King!

Though we might not know when all of these things will happen or have happened , there is much we can learn about the nature of mankind. Pay attention to those who refuse to repent, how they treat God and His people, and what happens to them. What is their fate, and how does God speak of them?