THE BOOK OF REVELATION: AN INTRODUCTION

“It does not constitute an unsolvable puzzle but contains a definite promise and a magnificent portrait of the coming again of the Lord Jesus.” [1] 

In looking at other passages in Scripture we see some pretty interesting signs we are nearing the end. In 2 Timothy 3:1-4 “But know this: Hard times will come in the last days. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, demeaning, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,” 

In Daniel 9:26 “and until the end there will be war; desolations are decreed.”

‌In Matthew 24:6 “You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because these things must take place, but the end is not yet.”

The New King James Version (Chapter 1:1-8)

1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. 3 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. 4 John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.7 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. 8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

1. This is Jesus’ Revelation

• vs 1a The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants…
• “The death of Jesus was not the death of a martyr, it was the revelation of the eternal heart of God.”[2] – Oswald Chambers
• This is not a declaration of John, it is the words of Jesus given to Him by God the Father for the church
• The word “revelation” is the Greek word apokalupsis which is translated “to reveal, unveil, uncover, or disclose.”[3]

1. Delivered to John

• Vs 1c …And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John

– John was a “slave” of Jesus from the time He followed Him

– John could do nothing more than give his entire life to Jesus

1. Written around 95 A.D. from the Isle of Patmos

• Vs 9 I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
• Patmos is a Greek island off the coast of Turkey.
• John was exiled here most likely from the city of Ephesus for preaching the Gospel

1. So we might know…So we might go

• Vs 2 who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw.
• Vs 3 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.

“blessed” (makarios) is a word which connotes the idea of “how fortunate”

1. Because time is short

• Vs 1b …things which must shortly take place.

* There is a clear urgency to this message as the world is in desperate need of the Gospel and it needs it NOW!

1. And He’s our only hope

• Vs 8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty”
• Four times within the first chapter we read of how Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End. He’s the only hope we have

* Rejoice, Jesus wins!

• Vss 4-7 John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.
• Recognize the desperate need we have to follow after Jesus, the hope for all the world!
• “Peter Marshall once said, “It is better to fail in a cause that will ultimately succeed than to succeed in a cause that will ultimately fail.” 

• In The Message, verses 5-7 read this way:

Glory and strength to Christ, who loves us, who blood-washed our sins from our lives, Who made us a Kingdom, Priests for his Father, forever—and yes, he’s on his way! Riding the clouds, he’ll be seen by every eye, those who mocked and killed him will see him, People from all nations and all times will tear their clothes in lament. Oh, Yes.[4]

[1] Daniel L. Akin, Exalting Jesus in Revelation, ed. Daniel L. Akin, David Platt, and Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2016).

[2] Draper’s Book of Quotations, Copyright © 1992 by Edythe Draper.

[3] Daniel L. Akin, Exalting Jesus in Revelation, ed. Daniel L. Akin, David Platt, and Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2016), 5.

[4] Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc., 1996), 1119.

5 Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2005), Re 1:5–7.