We begin our study of Revelation itself as Pastor John looks at Revelation 1:1-3 and "Why Study Revelation Now?".

Introduction to The Revelation

Apocalypse: Greek word for Revelation
A letter
A book with pictures
God rules in and over history and is guiding it to the day when King Jesus triumphs and returns- when the new Jerusalem descends from heaven and we will be forever with the Lord.
Revelation gives us strength to live in this world today and hope for tomorrow as it unfolds for us the triumph of King Jesus.

Preliminaries
The Basics
Who? Written by John the apostle
So well known to the seven churches John the apostle needs know further introduction
When? @95
Where from? Isle of Patmos, off the west coast of Turkey. It had a prison for Rome’s prisoners.
Who to? Seven churches in Turkey/Asia Minor near Ephesus
Seven churches- the number of completeness; hence, this letter is for the whole church
All churches in all times
Roman province of Asia is western Turkey
John did live in Ephesus
Why? To prepare his servants for what must soon take place
What Revelation is Not
A puzzle to be figured out
A book that obscures its message
A book to be charted out
A detailed explanation of how everything works out
Not to be Millennial Pictures Looking for Support
Pre- Millennial including a rapture - Christ comes back both before and after the millennium and secretly takes out the church either at the beginning or middle of a seven-year tribulation period preceding the millennium during which Christ reigns
Historic Pre-Millennial (no rapture)
Amillennial- no literal millennium
Post-millennial- Christ returns after the millennium as things progressively improve

Views of Interpretation:
Preterist: this requires John to write it before the year 70 & understand most of it as already being fulfilled Jerusalem’s fall & the subsequent destruction of the Roman Empire (obviously not the last chapters)
Futurist: all fulfillment is near the second coming of Christ
Historicist: setting out the history of western Europe until the second coming of Christ; Revelation 6-19 is in chronological order.
Idealist (Repeated Pattern View) … represents the eternal conflict of good and evil which persists in every age.
Eclectic- a little bit of each. No view works all the way through the book. There is a future crisis; there is application now; the battle of good versus evil does repeat itself; the world’s empires do fall; God wins

Revelation is…
“The things that you have seen,” 1:9-20; “Those that are,” 2:1-3:22; “Those that are to take place,” 4:1-22:5
Shows us scenes in heaven we don’t normally see
Communicates via symbols (1.3), “make it known”, means to communicate by symbols. Symbols surprise us
Has symbols that are unfamiliar
Has common apocalyptic symbols understood in the 1st century
Has symbolism that requires knowing the Old Testament
As one writer puts it, Any time you read Revelation, it is like stepping out of reality and into a carnival of mirrors. Only those mirrors do not, or should not, reflect our own faces, so much as they reflect the prophets of the Old Testament, whose faces were reflected the glory of God’s Son.
Has symbols that are multifaceted, not to be decoded
Has illustrations that grab our attention
Has a promise of blessing in 1.3: notice reads aloud/hears/ keeps

The Big Ideas
God is involved with us
God rules history
God brings history all together in Jesus
God wins
The majesty of Christ/the glory of God
We can understand
We can be prepared
The Revelation always speaks to God’s people
The Revelation always speaks to and encourages the persecuted church

1.1-3 Prologue
Revelation- unveiling
Show- not conceal
Soon take place- preparing for 70AD? Or God’s “soon”?
The revelation of Jesus Christ
As the source?
As the content?
Probably source
Soon
Inaugurated by Christ’s resurrection, Acts 2.16-17
This is the last hour, I John 2.18
Daniel 2.45: A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this.
The message is… the word of God and the testimony of Christ…
Testimony/witness is a theme in Revelation because of persecution
From God the Father….
Given to Jesus Christ…
Made known to John through an angel
John writes it down and all are encouraged to read and hear it
A promise of blessing: In the context, reading aloud in the worship of the church
Prophecy
Of what is to take place
A form of witness
Keeps- takes it to heart

So What About Us?
“A prophetic poem unsurpassed in sacred or profane literature in either the grandeur of its poetic imagery, or the superb sweep of its prophetic vision.’’ (B. B. Warfield)
Read it!
Keep it: Strength for today, hope for tomorrow