• F. F. Bruce – “There is an emphasis on the idea of the verb [walk away]. He was going away, like one who did not mean to return,”
• The great temple in Jerusalem.
• The destruction of that temple in A.D. 70.

• Two questions:
• When will this happen?
• What will be the sign of Your coming?

• Signs of His coming:
• Those who will deceive.
• Wars and rumors of wars.
• Nation against nation and kingdom against kingdom.
• Famines and earthquakes.

• Persecution
• Defection
• Deception
• Love of most will grow cold
• Lenski – “One of the pitiful sights in the life of the church is the effort to galvanize back into warm activity the love that has been chilled to death.”
• Then the end will come.

• Daniel 9:27a – “And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.”
• Martin Luther – “Notice therefore that Matthew unites the two at the same time conceives the end, both of the Jewish nation and of the world. He therefore cooks both into one soup.”

• A time of great distress
• What is Jesus’ counsel to those going through this distress?
• Fulfillment of Acts 1:8

• Great tribulation
• Days will be cut short – Daniel 12:1
• Christ’s coming “Parousia” – Spurgeon – “Christ’s coming will be sudden, startling, universally visible, and terrifying to the ungodly.”
• “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”

• Darkness = judgment – Joel 2:10; Revelation 6:12-13; Isaiah 34:4
• “The sign of the Son of Man.”

• The lesson of the fig tree.
• “This generation will not pass away.”

• No one knows the day or hour.
• A comparison with the days of Noah.

• Does this passage describes the rapture?
• Matthew 13:24-30

• The first of three parables in which Jesus describes and emphasizes the fact that we should be ready for His coming.

The Book of Revelation

Lesson Two

Introduction and Revelation 1

Introduction

• Writing style of Revelation

• Vivid colors in Revelation

• Setting of Revelation

• Reading Revelation:

Ø Focus on the original purpose of the visions.

Ø Let the original historical context guide your interpretations.

Ø Recognize repetition.

Ø Recognize symbolism.

Ø Read Revelation as Christian Scripture.

Revelation 1:1-3

• The title of the Book.

• Is it a revelation from Jesus or about Him.

• “Slave” versus “servant.”• God – Jesus – Angel – John – Us.

• The message is called prophecy.

• Blessed are those who read, hear, and obey.

• “The time is near.”

• The first three verses speak of John in the third person.

Revelation 1:4-8

• These verses read like the opening of most of the Biblical epistles.

• The seven spirits before His throne:

Ø Isaiah 11:2 – “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him – the Spirit of wisdom

and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of

knowledge and fear of the Lord.”

• Three titles given to Jesus:

Ø Faithful Witness

Ø Firstborn from the dead

Ø Ruler of kings on earth – Daniel 2:21

• “Made us a kingdom, priest.” – I Peter 2:9-10

• The first of 7 doxologies in the Book.

• “From Him who is and who was and who is to come.”Revelation 1:9

• Strange combination: tribulation – kingdom – patient endurance.

• Why was John on the island of Patmos? – “witness”

Revelation 1:10-11

• John was, “in the Spirit.”

• Who else in the New Testament was given an unique vision?

• The “seven” churches.

Revelation 1:12

• Seven lampstands – Matthew 5:14, Philippians 2:15

• “Golden”

Revelation 1:13

• Where is Christ in regards to the lampstands?

• One like a Son of man – Daniel 10:5-6

• Long robe

• Golden sash around His chest.

Revelation 1:14

• The hairs of His head were white.• His eyes were like a flame of fire.

Revelation 1:15

• His feet were like burnished bronze.

• His voice was like the roar of many waters.

Revelation 1:16

• In His right hand He held seven stars.

Ø Lenski – “Here is a vision of the office of the holy ministry which every

church and every pastor should note. Stars – not human gaslights, or will-o’-

the-wisps. Stars – not doormats on which men wipe their feet. Unchanging

stars – not men who are always out of breath in an effort to catch up with the

changing times of the earth.”

• From His mouth a sharp two-edged sword.

• His face was like the sun shining in full strength.

Revelation 1:17

• John here and John at the Mount of Transfiguration.

• Jesus is the First and the Last.

Ø Steffann – “Who would not cling to Him to the end, to whom the end

belongs.”

Revelation 1:18-20

• Jesus is the Living One

The Book of Revelation

Lesson Three

Revelation 2-3 – The Letters

• The Structure of the Seven Letters
• Revelation 2:1-7
• The church in Ephesus
• Local Detail
• Image of Christ
• What Christ sees – Good
• What Christ sees – Bad
• Call to Repent
• Promise to the one who conquers

Revelation 2:8-11

• The church in Smyrna
• Local Detail
• Image of Christ
• What Christ sees – Good
• What Christ sees – Bad
• Call to repent
• Promise to the one who conquers

Revelation 2:12-17

• The church in Pergamum
• Local Detail
• Image of Christ
• What Christ sees – Good
• What Christ sees – Bad
• Call to repent
• Promise to the one who conquers

Revelation 2:18-29

• The church in Thyatira
• Local detail
• Image of Christ
• What Christ sees – Good
• What Christ sees – Bad
• Call to repent
• Promise to the one who conquers

Revelation 3:1-6

• The church in Sardis
• Local Detail
• Image of Christ
• What Christ sees – Good
• What Christ sees – Bad
• Call to repent
• Promise to the one who conquers

Revelation 3:7-13

• The church in Philadelphia
• Local Detail
• Image of Christ
• What Christ sees – Good
• What Christ sees – Bad
• Call to repent
• Promise to the one who conquers

Revelation 3:14-22

• The church in Laodicea
• Local Detail
• Image of Christ
• What Christ sees – Good
• What Christ sees – Bad
• Call to repent
• Promise to the one who conquers

The Book of Revelation

Lesson Four

Revelation 4-5

Revelation 4:1-2

• Who is the “first voice?”

• “Come up here…”

• John was “in the Spirit.”

• At the center of everything is an occupied throne.

Revelation 4:3-6a

• John gives a description of the throne:

• He had the appearance of jasper and carnelian.

• Around the throne was a rainbow.

• There were 24 thrones with 24 elders.

• From the throne came flashes of lightning and peals of thunder.

• The Spirit was before the throne.

• Before the throne was a sea of glass.

Revelation 4:6b-8a

• A description of the four living creatures:

• Six wings and eyes in front and behind.

• A lion, an ox, a creature with the face of a man, and an eagle in flight.

Revelation 4:8b-11

• The first Te Deum.

• They cast their crowns before the throne.

• The second Te Deum.

Revelation 5:1-4

• What is this scroll?

Revelation 5:5-7

• Lion of the tribe of Judah and the Root of David.

• John hears about the Lion, but he sees a Lamb.

• A Lamb with seven horns and seven eyes.

Revelation 5:8-10

• The harp and golden bowls of incense.

• The third Te Deum.

Revelation 5:11-14

• The fourth and fifth Te Deum – worthy is the Lamb who was slain.

The Book of Revelation

Lesson Five

Revelation 6-7

Revelation 6:1-2

• Rider on a white horse.

• Is this Jesus?

Revelation 6:3-4

• Rider on the red horse.

• What does this rider represent?

Revelation 6:5-6

• Rider on the black horse.

• What does this rider represent?

Revelation 6:7-8

• Rider on the pale horse.

• What does this rider represent?

Revelation 6:9-11

• The significance of the altar.

• The significance of the white robe.

Revelation 6:12-17

• What is the significance of the sixth seal?

Revelation 7:1

• The four corners of the earth.

• Holding back the four winds of the earth.

Revelation 7:2-8

• The sealing of the servants.

• The number 144,000

• The 12 tribes.

Revelation 7:9-12

• A picture of the church triumphant.

Revelation 7:13-14

• Coming out of the great tribulation.

Revelation 7:15-17

• The saints of God before the throne

The Book of Revelation

Lesson Six

Revelation 8-9

Revelation 8:1

• What is this silence in heaven?

Revelation 8:2

• Who are the 7 angels?

• What is the significance of the trumpets?

Revelation 8:3-4

• “Another” angel with a golden censer

Revelation 8:5

• A continual “pouring out.”

• This was a scene of judgment.

Revelation 8:6-7

• The first trumpet is blown – this is not a review for a scientific journal.

• Earth’s vegetation is affected.

Revelation 8:8-9

• Second trumpet - Psalm 46:2.

• The oceans and seas are affected.

Revelation 8:10-11

• Third trumpet - Fresh water is affected.

Revelation 8:12

• Fourth trumpet – heavenly bodies are affected.

Revelation 9:1-2

• Fifth trumpet – the identity of the star that fell.

• Where is this bottomless pit?

Revelation 9:3-6

• Locusts given power to torment but not to kill – for five months.

• But not those who were sealed.

Revelation 9:7-10

• A description of the locusts.

Revelation 9:11-12

• Abaddon and Apollyon.

Revelation 9:13-21

• Sixth trumpet – the great tribulation.