Revelation

Author: the apostle John
Place of writing: the isle of Patmos
Time of writing: presumably 90-96 A.D.

When the apostle John received the visions recorded in the book of Revelation, he was the last of the apostles still alive, and he was growing very old. In the meantime, the fiercest persecution that the Church had yet seen was beginning to arise, as the cruel Emperor Domitian sought to enforce emperor-worship and to exterminate Christianity. Would God’s Church survive the most heated assaults of the enemy, even after the apostles and eye-witnesses of Christ were gone from the scene? The book of Revelation cries out, “Yes! The Lamb of God will be eternally triumphant, and he will deliver all who belong to him from the clutches of the Devil!” This apocalyptic letter, the final book of the sacred scriptures, is one of the most comforting and reassuring to all the persecuted and struggling believers in Christ, from any time or place on the earth.

This book of the bible is unique, in that it is a letter, addressed to several specific churches (ch. 1-3); and also an apocalyptic revelation (ch 4-22). We must understand the symbolic nature of all the visions that John was given, in order to profit from them as we should. It is easy to become too enamored with interpreting all of the details, and this may lead to the discouraging thought, “Can this book even be understood?” But the simplest believer, who reads with a mind to understand this one basic truth, that Christ is all-powerful, Christ is always present, Christ is actively judging in the affairs of the earth, even though unseen to the carnal eyes of men, will be enriched and comforted by its pages. Understand this one point, and you are well on your way to understanding the enigmatic book of Revelation. Fail to meditate deeply enough on this one point and, no matter how sophisticated your treatment of that which follows, you are doomed to an irrelevant understanding. The basic message of the book is that, even when he cannot be seen, even when kingdoms and authorities are raging never so violently, yet the invisible Christ is still reigning, sovereignly bringing the course of history to his own desired end. And this message has a specific application to individual believers and individual churches in any geographical or historical context.

John begins by describing his vision of the glorious Christ, walking in the midst of the churches. He then gives each church the encouragement, warnings, and commands that it specifically needs to hear, based on the truth of Jesus’ presence. He describes a beautiful vision of the saints from every kindred, tribe, people, and tongue worshiping in the heavenly throne room, and relates how the Lamb who was slain begins to unfold history according to his will. Throughout history, John sees in his visions that Satan (the Dragon), false religion (the False Prophet), state governments (the Beast), and the world system (the prostitute Babylon) all hate and persecute followers of Jesus. But they are sealed by his grace and delivered from every trial; and in response to their prayers, Jesus finally destroys every enemy of his church, and his people reign with him. The book closes with an account of the final outcome of all history – the New Heavens and New Earth, where Jesus dwells among his people, and there is no sin, sickness, sorrow, or pain. We today, who have placed our hope in Jesus, still cry out just as the believers in John’s day, “Even so, come Lord Jesus!”.

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