The book of Revelation is seen as one of the most difficult books in the Bible to understand. It seems to be veiled in obscurity. God has intended this book to be for revealment not concealment. In Genesis you have the beginning of things and in Revelation we have the end of all things. This book is not to satisfy your curiosity. We are to read this book and change our lives. We see the glory and majesty of Jesus Christ in this book!

1 – The subject of the revelation

It is the revelation of Jesus Christ. We are removing the covering or unveiling of Jesus Christ in His glory. There is an unveiling we can see when we compare the Jesus we see in the Gospels with the book of Revelation.

People who glimpsed the glory of Jesus Christ were changed people. We see it in the Old and New Testament. We see it with Peter and the apostle Paul.

2 – The significance of the revelation

Notice two things:-

• People might be fortified – It is to show the servants of Jesus Christ what was to happen. The Christian church at his time was undergoing great persecution. This was a message of hope to them. John was put on the island of Patmos to shut him up. You can’t shut God up! The message was of great encouragement to the church at that time. It is a message of encouragement to the church today. God will encourage you in times when you are under persecution. We need to apply this book to our lives.
• People might be sanctified – These things must come to pass. We are to put our eyes on Jesus Christ. We are to keep serving the Lord and live sanctified lives. We are to ignore the setbacks and keep doing what is right.

3 – The symbolism of this book

The book of Revelation contains signs and symbols. There are three types:-

• Symbols that are explained to us in Revelation.
• Symbols that are explained elsewhere in the Bible.
• Symbols that are not explained.

We are to understand the book of Revelation literally and symbolically. If it makes plain sense then that is fine. A door is a door. If Jesus has a sharp sword coming out of his mouth then this is obviously symbolic.

4. The sense of this book

There are two extreme attitudes toward the study of the Revelation.

• The book cannot be understood; therefore it should not be studied, taught, or preached. The differences of interpretation, they say, have divided Christians and so we should for the most part ignore the book.
• Some consider themselves to be so sure of every detail of the Book that they set dates and propose fanciful interpretations. To them, Revelation is about the only New Testament book worth studying. Some fanatics and cults who have studied Revelation have given it such weird interpretations that people have been discouraged from studying it. An example is David Koresh.

The proper attitude toward the Book does not lie in either extreme. The Book of Revelation is important and profitable, but it is not the only book in the New Testament. In any study of the Revelation there will be many questions left unanswered, but we must not be discouraged by the difficulties. Let us rather be encouraged by the clear victory which Christ will achieve.

Categories: Revelation