A Series on Revelation
I want you to know that I did a test drive on this message with a wonderful small group of ladies at Martindale Gardens this week and they even spoke into this message!
There are a lot of mistakes that have been made in tackling the book of Revelation...
• An ‘over the top’ identification of all the people, places and political entities.
• An inability to handle the use of imagery
• An illusion that the historical settings are insignificant
• A decision to ignore it all together
What are some of the common features of apocalyptic literature?
• Strange visions
• Dramatized symbolic imagery
• The abundance of the use of metaphor
• The abundance of cataclysmic events
• The leading into final judgment and the ushering in of a new world.
There are a lot of extra biblical influences that have played into a fascination with end times, both well meaning Christian and non Christian.
The Late Great Planet Earth – Hal Lindsay
Left Behind – Tim LaHaye
‘End of the world’ apocalyptic movies that have all warned us that the end is coming....
• I Am Legend
• Armageddon
• The Day After Tomorrow
• War of the Worlds
and of course as we just watched a trailer from 2012, that the world will end on December 21st 2012 predicted by one of the earliest civilizations, the Mayans.
Have you ever read or seen a book that are out there that are always trying to predict the latest gadget, the latest and greatest business venture?
How about books about the end of the world... Orson Wells...For me, 88 reasons why Christ is coming back in ’88 and then it’s follow up, ’89 reasons why Christ is coming back in ’89. The JWs were always trying to predict this too.
Moving on to the serious nature of this book!
This genre of literature is about ‘unveiling’ – it is a pulling back of the curtain...in both revelation and prophecy. As one biblical scholar wrote, ‘all the prophets make the rendez-vous in Revelation’ and with over 300 references to the OT , we better make sure we get our bearings there!
Apocalyptic literature often is transtemporal in that it has a double sense of meaning, applying to more than one period or time in history. There is a sense of fulfillment that has already taken place in history and one that is still to come.
This literature is also temporal and spatial. You recognize it by the fact that it speaks to the final culmination of things to come. It takes you to another world, the day of ultimate and eternal salvation.
Depending on our upbringing it may be very hard for us not to come to ‘end times’ Scriptures without our own preconceived ideas of what we have been taught.
In this series, it is my desire to show this wonderful book’s complete ‘connectiveness’ to the rest of Scripture and show how rich the symbolism is. We will also look at our vantage point on history and the recapitulation of themes.
In terms of history, the prophets like Zechariah, Daniel and John wrote with an elevated view of history. They got to fly above the world at 30 000 feet and see what was beyond their time. God allowed them to glace across heaven’s threshold and see things at the end of human history.
Let’s look at some structure and sequence to this book and reoccurring themes.
The book is literally structured around a series of SEVENS!
Tell me what is significant about the number 7?
Creation; Jesus teaching Peter on forgiveness 70x7
In chapter 1, we are introduced to seven spirits or a (sevenfold spirit), seven stars and seven golden lampstands which represent the seven churches in chapter 2,3. In chapter 5 -8:5, we have the unfolding of the seven seals of the scroll. They turn and give way to the crashing sound of seven trumpets in 8:1 -11:19 After these judgments take place, we then have seven visions in 12:1 -15:4 and following that, the seven bowls of God’s judgment in 15:5-18:21
The outline of Revelation is seen in Revelation 1:4,8 -who is, who was and who is to come
Revelation 1 is all about Jesus – the things you have seen
The things that are – to be the church, in ch 2,3
The things that shall be – Rev 4 -22
Tom Holladay breaks it out this way:
Ch 4 – The throne of God ( It all begins with a worship experience)
Ch 5-8:5 The Final Conflict – you see sickness, destruction, earthquakes – you see the seals being opened up
Ch 8:6-11:19 The Final Destruction –
Ch 11:15-19 A New Sense of Worship
Ch 12 - 15:4 Historic Visions
Ch 15,16 Final Wrath
Ch 17-20 Final Judgement. We want to stand bathed in the love of Christ.
Ch 21, 22 The Final and Eternal Celebration. The new heaven and the new earth
The book was recorded by John, its message in a vision, a revelation ,that was given to him by God.
The message is forward looking in its nature. It is presented in apocalyptic –picture language with over 300 symbols and pictures for us to see.
Now when the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, you seek no ‘other sense’!!
For example in Revelation 12:9, the red dragon is Satan.
The message is symbolic and it is seen in the perfect cube like dimensions of the new Jerusalem in Revelation 21. If we take 12 000 stadia literally that would be about 2200km long and wide and the same in height. However if we look at the OT, we will see the dimensions are a perfect cube and mirror the look of the tabernacle. The holy of Holies was the place designed for God to meet with His people and that is exactly what the heavenly city will be, a place where God dwells with His people for eternity. So the tabernacle becomes a picture representation for us of heaven.
Revelation was written in picture language to protect the book from those who sought to destroy the message of the manuscripts at the time of the early church. The book has a sense of timelessness that it speaks to all and it has tremendous emotional power...to bring us to a new confidence and hope!
We live in the sense that the future is imminent
The book is about God’s eternal plan – It is a book about endings and a new beginning. We are either going to be at the sea of glass or the Great White Throne judgement.
An Invitation To Blessing v1-3
We live within the realization of the imminent return. We are being called into a spiritual, living, dynamic relationship with God and with Jesus who is the King of kings and Lord of lords.
When we immerse ourselves into the full impact of this book, we are promised to be blessed. It will change our outlook, our perspective on life. It is meant for us to read, to wrestle with and to understand the ramifications of its teachings. We are called to obey what we hear. It is the only book in the Bible that God promises a blessing to those who commit to read it, but it goes beyond that to the application and living out the truth of God`s Word. We need to see what Christ will do in our hearts and lives.
The INVITATION is important because
1. It promises joy in the midst of difficult trials
2. Knowing about the end should inspire me to holy living
3. It gives me facts about what happens after my life on this earth is over, beyond human explanation
4. It gives proof of the reliability of Scripture
5. It draws our heart to worship God
Jesus In All His Glory v4-7
These verses picture the whole trinity for us.
A sevenfold Spirit – 7 stands for perfection. It is simply the perfection of God`s Spirit.
In the end, Jesus is the commander of the whole world, the commander of all of us.
What does that mean to us?
• We have been forgiven.
We have been freed from our sins by His blood. The gift of forgiveness is open to all of us. Apart from these gifts we could never stand in the presence of God, but now we do and we do not only for ourselves, but for all those we bring to the throne of grace.
• We are part of Christ’s Glory.
Jesus prayed it in John 17:10 – Glory has come to me through them!
Christ’s magnificent glory includes us!! We are a kingdom of Priests. When God reigns in our hearts, we are priests. We are a bridge between man and God
1 Peter 2:9
When Jesus speaks, Listen! v8
The eternality of Christ is seen in the words who was, and is and is to come.
We need to know what Jesus is saying in this powerful statement v8
There is an end to all of this.
God is the beginning and end in all of this. God wants to bring us to a place of perfection. The suffering will end, the pain will end.
A day of mourning will happen for all those who miss out on the truth of God`s love.
Alpha and Omega – Jesus is all of it, from A – Z, from Genesis from the day you were born, before the day you were born to the day you die, to the day after you die, Jesus is all in your life and hope and joy should flood into our lives because of that.
Revelation closes with an invitation... I am coming soon...and our prayer is, ‘Come quickly Lord Jesus’
We are going to look at this book in an attitude of worship. It is a hope that trumps your circumstances, your failures, your disappointments, the temptations and trials in your life!
The Takeaway
He (Jesus) will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:8
I had the opportunity to pray for Margaret at Martindale as the tears welled up in her eyes. She spoke about all the natural disasters and said, “I hope I am ready.” It was a joy to pray with her and reaffirm her faith in the one who keeps us strong to the end.
Questions For Discussion
1. In what ways is Revelation basically a revelation of Jesus Christ?
2. Why is it important for us to read and wrestle though the teaching of Revelation?
3. What do we learn about what Christ has done for us in v5-8?
4. What does it mean to you to be a priest in the kingdom of God?
5. Have you seen the significance of the 7’s in Revelation before? What does this mean to you?
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