The book of Revelation is challenging to read and understand. Do you read it literally, symbolically, metaphorically, or some other way? Is it about the past, the present, the future, or all three? What do you do with the violent and alarming images found within the book? Do we ignore it and pretend the Bible ends with the book of Jude? Or do we spend so much time in the book trying to understand “the end of the world”?

The book of Revelation is actually a book about kingdoms in conflict- the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of this world. It is a book about a world of beauty as we read about the self sacrificial love of Christ as he triumphs over evil, death, sin, the Satan, and hell.

Yesterday we looked, not at the book of Revelation, but another text that talks about the second coming of Jesus-that being 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. We explored this text that many believe teach the idea of a rapture. But is that what is happening in this text? Take a listen and explore the scripture and the idea of a rapture with us.