By: Didi Bacon
Our message series for the summer is going to be a journey through the book of Revelation. When I tell people that, their reaction has been mixed.
Some are excited. They see the way the world is right now and believe that the messages of Revelation are more pertinent than ever.
Others give me that look that says,“Are you sure? That is a scary and crazy Bible book.”
I get it. Revelation is both exciting and scary. It is comforting and confusing. It is a hard book to understand because it is full of things that are just weird sometimes!
I have to confess that I love Revelation; it is one of my favorite Bible books. It is a book that captures my imagination. I was an avid comic reader as a kid. I preferred stories in pictures with fewer words. The book of Revelation is a book of pictures in words. They are pictures that communicate a message. That message is actually quite simple when you do the work to investigate the who, what, when, how, and why of the letter.
This is my summary of the message of Revelation:
“To the Church of Jesus Christ suffering in this world because of your faith:
Jesus sees you, so don’t compromise your faith in Him.
Jesus is with you, even in the face of terrible opposition.
Jesus will win, so don’t give up, stay faithful to the end!”
Understand that the word “revelation” means an uncovering. What was hidden is going to be revealed and Jesus is the one who will be doing the revealing. He will reveal what is really going on in the world, specifically with His church.
Jesus revealed what was going on by sending an angel (“angel” means messenger – a heavenly being sent by God with a message) to a man named John. John was one of the original twelve Apostles of Jesus. Jesus wanted the Christians that John served to read aloud the words of the message, to understand it and to put it into practice. Revelation is intended to motivate Christians to stay the course of faith during hard times.
“The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.”Revelation 1:1–3 (NIV)
The first recipients of this revelation were the members of the 1st century church. Specifically, seven churches located in seven cities in the Roman province of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). This is a message for Christians living in this world:
“…To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.” Revelation 1:4–5 (NIV)
At the time of writing, John had been sent to the prison Island of Patmos. John was an old man probably close to his nineties. He was the last living Apostle. He had been sent into exile for a life of hard labor by the Roman authorities for being a leader of the now illegal Christian church. At that time a great persecution had broken out against the church at the order of the Emperor Domitian.
“I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.” Revelation 1:9–11 (NIV)
The visions given to John belong to a particular type of ancient literature called Apocalyptic. It is poetic and visionary. The messages are communicated in numbers, symbols and imagery. The messages are not intended to be taken literally (unless directly stated), nor should they be taken chronologically. Many times the same message is repeated in different ways in order to emphasize different audiences and perspectives. The images used in Revelation are rooted in the Old Testament. The Old Testament was the Bible of the 1st Century Church.
The most important question to ask when reading through the messages of Revelation is this: “What did this mean to the original recipients?” That does take study work. It also means not our own Twenty-First Century American prejudices and agendas.
This is not a series that is going to predict the minute-by-minute details of the end of times. This will not be a series that will get into the politics of nations.
The goal of Revelation was to encourage the church. It was not intended to scare or confuse Christians. That will be our goal this summer as we work through the messages of Revelation.
We would love for you to join us through June, July and August. Take heart, Jesus follower. He sees you in this world. He is with you through the trials. He will overcome evil in the end, so stick with Him if you want to be on the winning side!
“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” Revelation 22:12–13 (NIV)
