Today we look at the imagery of the end of the world from a 30,000 foot view. It's very low on detail and the next few chapters will unpack this picture with even more vivid imagery.

John here is painting the picture of the helpers that the dragon calls upon to accomplish his work. The two beasts have the same function but using different tactics. One will use the political system to lead us astray while the other will infiltrate the spiritual things of the world to mislead us to following the dragon.

John is going to describe the past, present and future realties all in one story of a woman, child, dragon and wilderness. We are the ones journeying in that wilderness. We are susceptible to the trouble yet not overcome by it.

Throughout the end times we'll see highs and lows, good times and bad, but in it all we'll see God providing for us as we remain reliant on him.

In our time through the book of Revelation things can be fairly daunting. We struggle with what all of this means and honestly it's hard to hear of some of these devastating events. This chapter gives us a brief pause from these events and shows us a little something different.

A quick explanation of how the book of revelation is written and how we can understand it.

The events of the end are coming fast. Here we see the unveiling of the devastation that comes in the days of Christ's return but we have hope as we stand in his promises.

John describes a sight where the angels are preparing for the end of the world, but are not allowed to do anything until all are ready. How many will there be? What is this reference to 144,000? We'll look at this in our short time together today.

John is witnessing some of the signs leading to the unfolding of the end times. He sees what are called the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Each of these horses represent another layer of turmoil that will come on the earth.

John takes us into the throne room of God. Here we see the power and majesty of God but also the presence of Jesus pictured as a lamb killed but alive again.