Revelation Meeting 1

Revelation Bible Study 1


Revelation 1:1
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servant’s--things which must shortly take place. And he sent and signified it by his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw.

Things that John saw:
Weathermen in the United States do a good job of warning people of pending severe weather. People on the coast line and in low lying areas are always warned to evacuate in face of a hurricane. Officials go to great lengths to make sure there is an escape route provided. Many US officials warned the government of the strong possibility of an attack on Pearl Harbor. No matter how strong the warnings many choose to ignore them.
We are warned about drug usage, smoking, overeating, the usage of alcohol, and of many other things that may adversely affect our help.
Many choose to ignore these warnings.
But what about our spiritual life?
We’re living in a day when Bible prophecy is being fulfilled almost daily.. There are more signs than ever announcing the end of this age.
Old Testament prophecies were about a coming Messiah who would be both a suffering servant and a reigning King. Revelation is a book of prophecy.
Revelation 1:3
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.
Revelation 22:7
Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.
Revelation 22:10
And he said to me, “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.
Revelation 22:18
For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, “if anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city and from the things which are written in this book.

Prophecy is to enable us to see the present from the perspective of the future. (Reasoner)

Prophecy gives us life and changes our lives. (Sancitification) If we read the words, hear the words and live by the words.
The Hewbrews relate it to the 213 principles of God for the Nations.
Isaiah 41:21-26
Present your case, says the Lord.
Bring forth your strong reasons, says the King of Jacob.
Let them bring forth and show us what will happen;
Let them show the former things, what they were,
That we may consider them,
And know the latter end of them;
Or declare to us things to come.
Show the things that are to come hereafter,
That we may know that you are gods;
Yes, do good or do evil.
That we may be dismayed and see it together.
Indeed you are nothing.
And your work is nothing;
He who chooses you is an abomination
I have raised up one from the north,
And he shall come;
From the rising of the sun he shall call on My name;
And he shall come against princes as though mortar,
As the potter treads clay.
Who has declared from the beginning, that we may know?
And former times, that we may say He is righteous?
Surely there is no one who shows.
Surely there is no one who declares,
Surely there is no one who hears your words.
Events which “must occur” means God has determined they will happen and God alone.
The apostle Peter warned us there would be scoffers in the end days.
Second Peter 3:3-4:
Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts and saying, where is the promise of his coming? Four cents the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.
The book of Revelation actually predicts the end of the age; the climax of the ages.
Revelation is a book of signs, of grand scenes in heaven and terrifying scenes on Earth. Revelation speaks of Angels and Christ and demons; of war in heaven and Armageddon on the earth.
As we read and study Revelation we hear of trumpets, the breaking of seals on ancient scrolls. We hear of a new heaven and a new earth.
A theologian named Milton wrote:
“Revelation reveals the majestic image of a high-end stately tragedy shutting up and intermingling her solemn scenes and acts with a seven fold chorus of hallelujahs and harpining symphonies.”
Milton’s poetic language captures the mystery and Majesty of the book of Revelation. To help us get into the study of this book we must be reminded of five characteristics of this book.
It is a misunderstood book
It is a messianic book
It is a mysterious book
It is written in code. It is written with the dialect and the customs of an ancient Hebrew period as a backdrop.

It is a meaningful book.
Most people misunderstand what this book is all about. Therefore, we must purge our minds of all preconceived notions or ideas about this book.
We could say that basically there are three types of people when it comes to the book of Revelation.
1.There are those who have either not read or lightly read Revelation and see no reason why they should study it.. 2.These are the ones who show up in church without a Bible and judge the service based own how entertaining it is or how it feeds their emotions.
3.There are those who have read Revelation and are either in fear of its prophetic message or who are not morally inclined to know it’s truths.
Finally, there are a few who seek to study it, understand it, and live by it’s wonderful words. They are few.

Daniel 12:10
Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; and none of the wicked shall understand it: but the wise shall understand.
If we, who know the Lord, struggle to understand this book; can you imagine those who have no interest in God ever picking up this book?
Most Christians pick up the book out of fear or selfishness. They are looking for it to tell them they don’t have to go through the tribulation. They want it to tell them that they are not going to have to sacrifice anything for the sake of the gospel.

1st Corinthians 2:14
But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
There are Christians who are not interested in Revelation because it takes them out of their comfort zone. Revelation is about judgment and change.
Then there are those who are hostile towards the book and will not take a literal translation of it. They spiritualize it so the truth is compromised and its message means absolutely nothing.

It is a messianic book - The Revelation of Yeshua, Jesus

In reality, Revelation is very simple. It is a book about Jesus Christ! Many over the ages including Martin Luther did not see Jesus in the book, yet it’s all about Jesus. It is truly hard to figure how these people missed Jesus in this book. The only explanation is that it was simply not God’s plan that it be revealed. The book is the revelation, or unveiling, of Jesus Christ. Look at the very first verse of Revelation chapter 1.
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass: and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John.
Jesus is the unseen head of the church; the despised carpenter of Nazarus is the object of all heaven’s worship. The King that Israel rejected is sovereign and sits at the right hand of the Father waiting for his Father’s command to go get his children.
The Holy One of God, who was with God before the foundation of the world; the one man who volunteered to be convicted as a criminal and sent to Calvary after living the first perfect earthly life is the coming judge of all mankind. His long awaited coming will bring judgment against all who have followed the King of darkness. There is no other book in the Bible that totally reveals Jesus Christ as does revelation. The Gospels present the Lord as a humiliated servant. He was born in a manger, and walked the dusty paths of this world. Then he went to the cross and was executed as a criminal. He appeared in the Gospels as a servant, with only a hint of his glory which came primarily from his own lips and the miracles that he performed.
But Scripture announced His coming, His purpose and His mission.
Philippians 2:9-11
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name. That at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the father.
There is no place in the Bible that you see Jesus Christ like this except in the book of Revelation. In Revelation; he is no longer seen in the manger. He is no longer walking the dusty roads of Israel. He is not seen on the cross. He is no longer seen as a humble servant. He is seen coming in glory with his saints to set up his kingdom on earth and rule with a rod of iron.
To study this book is to fall deeper in love with Jesus or else we have missed the very point of the book. Those who will read this book, study this book and live by this book have the promise of sharing his glory.
Revelation is the only book in the Bible in which God specifically blesses the reader.

Revelation 1:3
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.

Revelation is a mysterious book filled with symbols.

Many misunderstand this book or are intimidated because of the symbols in the book. God used symbols in Revelation so that time could not erode the message and so the truth would survive until Jesus second coming.
Revelation portrays the seen and the unseen. It portrays that which is seen in the natural and that which can only be seen with spiritual eyes.. Spiritual things cannot be seen with our fleshly eyes. The only way to see spiritual things is through the spirit of God. He controls what we are able to discern spiritually. One of the wondrous truths of the bible is the flow of power from God, through Jesus, into His children and back to God. We’ll talk more about that later.
Symbolism is not weakened by time
Symbolisim imparts values and arouses emotions

So Revelation is an Apocalypse - It is part of a body of Apocalyptic writings. Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, ect
It is written in literary style. The Prophecy is given through a series of visions.
Unveiling, a Revealing of Jesus
It is an intentionally veiled style with:
Coded Imagery
Coded References. Written to a specific group of people. It references something you studied or know.
The study of Revelation will therefore encompass a study of much of the bible.