When the end times is mentioned, many people immediately want to turn in their Bibles to the Book of Revelation. However, this is a mistake. To see the book of Revelation as some sort of cryptic map of future events is to miss its importance to its original audience.
The book of Revelation was written by John from an island prison called Patmos to seven actual physical churches in Asia Minor as both encouragement and challenge. John was on Patmos as a punishment for his faithful preaching of the gospel, and that partially explains his reason for writing apocalyptically.
An Apocalyptic letter, it is a particular kind of literature that is often used when the people of God are in the midst of persecution and trials. It relies on visions, symbols, and Old Testament references to reveal the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promise given to Abraham in Genesis. This letter was written in someone cryptic language so if it was intercepted by the Romans it would not be seen as treasonous. However, the message would have been easily understood by those John was writing to.
The gift of this genre is its ability to illuminate the moment for the ancient audience. It puts their discouraging reality, with its challenges and problems, in its “true” light. It shows them that every human kingdom eventually becomes corrupted like Babylon and must be resisted. Jesus appears as the slain Lamb who died for the sins of the world. They are comforted with the reality that Jesus will return one day as King.
When Jesus returns, he will perfectly and finally conquer the corruption of the world, remove evil, and make all things anew. That promise motivated the churches to remain faithful in the midst of persecution, and that message continues to every generation of God’s people as we look forward to the return of the King.
In the first half of the book, we see the messages to the seven individual churches and then John’s vision continues and we are introduced to the Ancient of Days who is seated on the throne as well as the living Lamb who has been slain. The Lamb is worshiped alongside the one who sits on the throne as God and the Lamb has a scroll that symbolizes Jesus’ control over the unfolding course of history. The opening of this scroll is shown through nesting sets of seven (seals, trumpets, and bowls) which show the entire time period of church history from Jesus’ death and resurrection until the final Day of the Lord from different perspectives.
We can already see that the message to the churches is to follow the Lamb in opposition to the threats and temptations of the world. Jesus defeated Satan at the cross by dying there and we will defeat the sinful influences of the world by dying (to our sin, but possibly through persecution) and living the new life granted to us by God.
The second half of the book continues these judgments while using signs and symbols to expound upon the identities of some of the key players in the story. These are not meant to be seen as references to a singular persons in history. They are pictures of the type of person that John elsewhere in his writings refers to as Antichrist.
This is the part of the book that shows us the beast, his mark, and his number. This is something that has been written about and considered by every generation. You may have heard someone considering that this could be referring to credit cards, technology, or implanted microchips. However, the message that John is communicating to the seven churches is a clear choice between following the Lamb (and potentially being temporarily mistreated or even killed but living forever in peace with God) or following the Beast (and getting peace and safety today but suffering the consequences of defeat eternally in separation from God).
This is a scathing rebuke of any military and economic power that exalts its own self-sufficiency and sets itself up as supreme. This is Antichrist and it was seen in the Old Testament in nations like Assyria, Babylon, and Persia and now in Revelation, it is seen in its newest form in Rome. But Rome is not the ultimate or final fulfillment, it is just another picture of this larger reality that continues to play out until Jesus returns to set things right.
The book concludes with an image of this final battle where God’s enemies are eternally quarantined and God’s people are vindicated. This culminates in the marriage supper of the Lamb where the bride of Christ (the Church) is forever married to her perfect groom and they live together in peace in the New Jerusalem. There is no temple there because the presence of God fills the new creation, fulfilling the original image of the Garden of Eden and taking it into eternity.
Please share in the comments if this is a new way of looking at Revelation for you. Have you ever heard any teaching on Revelation or read any books that talk about the end times? Did this match what you have heard? Did it make sense? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
I like the “eternally quarantined” at the end of the second video.
I learned the 7 seals, trumpets and bowls are all related to each other.
I like the use of the number seven. It is called the perfect number and it is used a lot in Revelation.
I learned that the word “conquering” doesn’t mean buy war and death, but conquering the grave and filling the slain lamb
I was actually going to say exactly what Connor said lol. Beat me to it😂
I thought more in-depth about the fact that when Jesus comes back he will rid the world of corruption and evil and that this fact has motivated so many generations and more generations to come.
it was a newer way for looking at revelation. it matched what i learned, i mean it was the same person.
Lol.
I learned that John wrote the book of revelations while he was in the prison of Patmos. I also learned that the second part of revelations come from John and his visions of the beast, mark and number.
i learned that in the book of Revalition John repeated the same story 3 times but a little different each time
I learned that the Revelation of Jesus was an apocalyptic letter that Paul wrote to the 7 churches in Asia Minor.
I believe that 7 is perfect number because there will be 7 seals bowls and trumpets.
i learned that john wrote revelation in prison. i didn’t know that.
i learned that john wrote revelation after recieving visions on the greek island of patmos
cool
john wrote revelation in exile
I learned there will be a rapture where we float up to heaven. and meet jesus in the air
John wrote the book of revaluation while he was on an island prison.
The message to churches is to follow the Lamb though opposition.