Dear Hopester,
As we study Revelation, I would like to encourage you to take notes.
Though at first it seems to be a difficult book to understand, it’s really not. Yes, there are vivid images and startling visions that need explanation, but once understood, the book of Revelation becomes alive.
Revelation is easily divided into these sections:
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Chapter one is a vision God gives to John about what’s happening in heaven. It’s descriptive. Magnificent. And beautiful.
Chapters two and three give a description of seven churches in Asia Minor, ones that describe all churches for all times. John is told certain things Jesus loves about each church, and several things he doesn’t. The church is in charge of the spreading of the gospel until Jesus returns.
Chapters four and five give a description of heaven before Jesus returns. In it, we see a scroll that only the Lamb of God, Jesus, can unseal. He does so, to cries of worship and praise to the only One who can redeem and restore the brokenness of this world.
Chapters six through eighteen describe the Great Tribulation, as God pours out his wrath upon the world for all its sins. There is a special focus on Israel as God’s chosen for their disobedience. But his awful vengeance is for all who have rebelled against him.
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Chapter nineteen provides incredible insight into the Second Coming.
Chapters twenty through twenty-two are the new heaven and new earth. It’s the restoration of Eden before the Fall in Genesis 1-2. All things will be made new. And Jesus will reign faithfully in his Millennial Kingdom on earth with those of us who have been faithful to him.
Revelation is the bookend of Genesis—where creation and the Fall took place. What was lost is restored. God’s Word makes total sense!
I hope you enjoy the study. More importantly, I pray you’ll be ready for that great day when Jesus returns. For he will return. He promised to do so.
Under His grace,
