What Is In The Book Of Revelation?

           In a few weeks, the Wednesday night class will begin a study of the Book of Revelation. The last New Testament book in the Bible, many Christians view Revelation as one of most mysterious (at times, even impenetrable!).  What makes the book so mysterious?  One answer is the use of symbolic language. Through an Angel, Jesus communicated the Revelation to John using the Old Testament prophets’ symbolic language (e.g., Daniel, Ezekiel, Zechariah, Jeremiah, and Isaiah).  This language would have been quite familiar to the Jewish people (Christians and non-Christians) of the First Century. Another answer is the book is rarely interpreted within the intended context: To warn all Jews living in Jerusalem and Judea to repent and become Christians before Jerusalem was destroyed and to warn Jewish Christians to flee Jerusalem before it was too late (and to preserve the church).
What is in the book of Revelation?  Our history! Specifically, the first-century history of the church of Christ. The first three chapters (1-3) reveal Jesus as reigning on the throne as King, equal with God, and at the center of churches of Christ that He purchased with His blood (Acts 20:28). The next eight chapters (4-11) describe what is known as the “Heavenly” Apocalypse. John sees Israel’s future desolation and Jerusalem’s destruction as ordered and directed by the throne of Jesus communicated through His Angel to John. The next nine chapters (12-20) describe the “Earthly” Apocalypse. John sees the future desolation and destruction of Jerusalem as coming from the Roman Empire assisted by the world’s false religions as Satan sought to destroy the church of Christ. Satan aimed to accomplish this by destroying Jerusalem and Jewish Christians who lived and served God there.  While in Jerusalem and before He went to the cross, Jesus told his disciples the warning signs of Jerusalem’s destruction, so they would know the time to flee (Matt 24:15-18; Mark 13:14-16; Luke 21:20-21).
Revelation is a New Testament book of prophecy (Rev 1:1-3). It is about the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., the desolation of Israel’s nation, and the avenging of the Prophets and Apostles’ blood. The book concludes with the spectacular outcome that God authorized, Jesus directed, and His Angel communicated: The removal of the Old Jerusalem so that the world could become citizens of the New Jerusalem that on earth is the church of Christ, the city of God (Rev 21; 22). There is so much more to learn, but we will save it for the Wednesday night class starting February 24th!    ~Herb Turner