The Book of Revelation
-T’Naya Edwards
The book of Revelation is widely attributed to the authorship of John, the beloved disciple and apostle of Jesus, who also penned the gospel of John, and 1, 2, 3 John in the New Testament. It is believed to have been written in the mid 80’s or early 90’s of the first century. John found himself on the island of Patmos, but it was no vacation rather a prison sentence. What crime was he convicted of we need ask? Chapter 1 verse 9 tells us “for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.” John had remained faithful to his mission to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth, and it landed him imprisoned on an island. Of course God uses every moment for our good and His glory if we make ourselves available and that’s exactly what happened in John’s case. What he got to see and hear was nothing short of extraordinary.
The book of Revelation falls into the category of “Apocalyptic Prophecy” in biblical literature. I think most of us can probably say that we avoid this book and it’s symbolic visions like the plagues we encounter when we do attempt to read it. A lot of us have our minds made up about this book. Revelation can be scary. Revelation can be confusing. Revelation can be abused. BUT REVELATION IS GOD’S WORD. In fact, Revelation 1:3 says 'Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.' Just like the rest of scripture we experience God’s blessing when we dive into this book, even though we may not completely understand it right away. The Holy Spirit will give us the knowledge and understanding that we need when we need it just as He does all other Scripture.
Today I am not going to attempt to explain anything from the book of Revelation in depth because it is intense and complex and I can’t do any of it proper justice. However, I highly recommend you go to youtube and look up “The Bible Project” and the 2 part series they did on the book of Revelation. As usual it is very well done and is a great starting place for when you do decide to make the journey through the Book of Revelation. They are definitely worth the 20 minutes of your time it will take to watch them.
What I do know about the book of Revelation is that it is about Jesus, just like the rest of the Story. The first five words of the book are “The Revelation of Jesus Christ”. It is the only book of it’s kind in the entire New Testament. It is the only Apocalyptic Prophecy. It is the only letter written to a church or churches where Jesus Himself is speaking directly to the recipient. You’ll notice that Chapters 1-3 are mostly composed of red letters indicating Jesus Himself is speaking.
In these letters Jesus addresses the seven churches in Asia minor, which is now modern day Turkey. John recording what Jesus has to say, addresses the conditions of the churches. He commends them for what they have done well and warns them about their flaws and weaknesses. Jesus reminds these churches of who He is in His omniscience and knowing all they do and that He is just. Just like the prophets of the Old Testament, Jesus calls the churches to repentance. He also reminds them that just like the generations before them, they have a choice- COMPROMISE and blend into the world or FAITHFULNESS to God and stand out.
The same is true for us today as it has always been. We must be on guard against the temptations to become loveless, lenient, apathetic, immoral, lifeless, and casual about our faith. These things are a result of compromise and not wielding the power of our gift of CHOICE with Holy Spirit Leadership.
When believers choose FAITHFULNESS, just like the seven churches, we are rewarded with the Crown of Life in the New Creation which we get a beautiful glimpse of in Chapters 21&22.
Moving into Chapter 4, along with John, we are rushed into the throne room of God. This is possibly my favorite chapter of the entire Bible. If you don’t want to tremble with proper fear of the Lord after reading it then you might need to check if you have a pulse. It’s beautifully mind boggling. There is so much symbolism in each description of what John was seeing, from the lighting and thunder reflecting God’s power and majesty, to the seven Spirits of God representing the Holy Spirit, and the sea of glass(which was rare, and clear glass even more rare) representing God’s magnificent holiness. It’s just, wow.
Moving to Chapter Five,
'And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?” And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it. So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it.
But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.”
And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.”
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice:
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”
And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:
“Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”
Then the four living creatures said,
“Amen!”
And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.'
Revelation 5:1-14
First we read of the Elder telling John not to weep because the Lion of Judah and the root of David has prevailed to open the scrolls....This would have reminded John, or any other reader, of the powerhouse Messiah they had previously expected to arrive in all His authority and strength. Which makes us want to shout, “Hooray”, because we were still left waiting when Jesus returned to the right hand of the Father.
However it was then that John looked again to the throne and in the midst of all that was going on, he saw a slain Lamb, representing none other than Jesus, once again appearing not how we would expect. But the reality is that the slain lamb was good news and representative that the first part of redemption had already been accomplished! It was because of what He had already done in conquering sin, which is death, that the rest of the Story could commence. Without our King giving Himself as sacrifice for our sins He couldn’t one day return triumphantly on His white horse to gather up all who are found faithful in choosing God on the day of the final battle which we read of in Chapters 19&20. Not only does He come in all His radiant glory with eyes of fire and His tattooed thigh reading King of kings and Lord of Lords, but again we find Jesus adorned with His own blood, but this time before the battle has even begun. In His first coming death had already been conquered. The work of Christ is finished.
This impending battle would not rely on bloodshed but rather the sword of justice which He wielded from His mouth, representative of His authoritative Word and Judgement. Now all that is left to do is clean up the mess of sin in God’s Creation. Jesus who died for His enemies will come to hold everyone accountable for their lack of repentance and contribution to the destruction of His creation. The result of their destruction will then be turned into their very own destruction and they along with “the beast and His armies” will be cast into the lake of fire. We read that Satan will prepare for battle, but we know that the battle is already won.
This is why we can’t get too caught up in all the little details of this book. Because we want to take it too far and end up taking it out of context. John DID NOT write this book as a secret code for you to try and decipher the time table of Jesus’ return. Hear me, I am not saying we aren’t to study it at all. We must understand that it is a SYMBOLIC VISION for every generation of the church to recognize the pattern of history and the reality that EVERY SINGLE HUMAN KINGDOM will become like Babylon mentioned in Chapters 17-19, enticing us with the things of the world that draw us away from our mission. And Babylon will fall. America. England. China. North Korea. They all must be resisted through the power of the slain lamb because whatever may come in history, each and every one will come crashing to its knees before Jesus Christ.
Our allegiance must be to God, first and most of all.
Friends, children of God, followers of Christ bought with His blood, until the day of Jesus’ return, we have to make the choice to continually be found faithful and ready. There are people on a path to Hell whom Jesus wants to redeem. It is not His desire that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9) But how can they know repentance is an option unless they hear the news that the Kingdom of God is at hand from God’s messengers. We have to be willing to go and do our part in taking the gospel to the ends of the earth and teaching people to observe all that He has commanded us as Jesus commissioned us to do in Matthew 28.
Just as Adam and Eve and every single human being after them, we have the choice set before us to CHOOSE GOD or CHOOSE the World. Choose faithfulness to Him or ride the fence and blur the lines tainting your faith so that a lost soul looking from the outside wouldn't have a clue what God has done for you.
Those that do truly choose God and make the choice to submit to Him as King and Savior, those whose names are found in the Book of Life will get to reap the blessings of the New Creation in Revelation 21&22 and if you haven’t read it, it sounds fabulous.
This book is a beautiful picture of the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to return and remove evil from His world. It is a book of HOPE. It’s a promise that should motivate faithfulness in every generation of God’s people until the King returns.
While it may be the last book of the Bible it’s not the end of the story. Jesus says in 22:20 “Surely I am coming soon.” and until then we cry out, “Come, Lord Jesus!”