For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.

(1) General

• 1 Paul 87 chapters ~ 1/4 of NT
• 2 Luke 52 chapters ~ 1/4 of NT
• 3 Thus P + L = 1/2 of NT
• 4 Matthew 28 chapters
• 5 Peter 24 chapters
• 6 John 50 chapters
• Heb, Jas, Jud (19 chapters in all)
• 260 chapters in the NT, of which John's contribution is about 15% (by pages).

2) Name

• Revelation
• Not ‘s’ (even though multiple things are revealed)
• Apocalypse 

3) Geography

• Patmos = island a few hours off the west coast of Asia Minor
• Rome = chief city of the empire
• Ephesus+ (7 cities in all) = principal city of western Asia Minor
• Asia = westernmost province in Asia Minor (modern Turkey)

4) Literary genres

• Prophecy - “Book of prophecy”: Telling people what they need to hear.
• Letter (2-3 only): epistles 
• Apocalyptic (mainly): An OT genre find in the latter parts of Daniel and Zechariah, but also in many other locations. In the NT, most prominent in Matt 24 (= Mark 13 = Luke 21) and Rev.

5) Text

1:1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servantswhat must soon take place; he madeit known by sending his angel to his servantJohn, 2 who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.

3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it; for the time is near.

4 John to the seven churches that 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 of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and freedus from our sins by his blood, 6 and madeus to be a kingdom, priests servinghis God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

7 Look! He is coming with the clouds;
    every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him;
    and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail.

So it is to be. Amen.

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

9 I, John, your brother who share with you in Jesus the persecution and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus 10 I was in the spiriton the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, “Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”

12 Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash across his chest. 14 His head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining with full force.

17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he placed his right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades. 19 Now write what you have seen, what is, and what is to take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

• Revelation (v.1) = apocalypse. One like the Son of Man -- he is an apocalyptic figure.
• Prophecy (v.3)
  • Biblical prophecy normally deals with the immediate, not distant, future.
  • Nearness of fulfillment: "what must soon take place" (v.1); "the time is near" (v.3). See Dan 8:26. 
  • This does not mean that the fundamental truths of Rev no longer apply. But exercise caution when interpreting.
• Letters, perhaps including all of Rev (v.11).
• Notice too the quotations from and allusions to various OT passages.

6) Keys to interpretation

• Familiarity with apocalyptic: fantasy, symbolism, numerology, things are not what they seem: Revelation = unveiling, revelation, disclosure.
• History: Rome mainly; also Israel and early church
• Old Testament—most important

7) Key points:

• God is in control, not Caesar.
• Hold to your faith.
• Things may get worse before they get better.