MY BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF REVELATION

MY BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF REVELATION

 

John, was the friend of Jesus, gospel writer and evangelist. The purpose of Jesus’ incarnation was so real and empowering to John. He watched Jesus die. He saw him alive again. He saw Jesus ascend through clouds and out of sight. He knew everything Jesus said about the devil and sin and redemption, and the Kingdom were true. He wrote that God loved the world so much that He sent the divine Son, Jesus, so whomever believes in Jesus will have eternal life. 

John heard Jesus alert his followers to the fact that in this world where sin is prevalent, being faithful to God as follower of Christ is difficult and dangerous. John was sent to the island of Patmos as a prisoner of the Roman State. Before Jesus died, John heard Jesus promise that though he was leaving, he would send His Holy Spirit to be with them and in them. Now on the island, John found himself possessed powerfully by the Holy Spirit, as the LORD gave him a vision of the future. We read that this vision contained an immediate message to each of seven churches that existed at that time. Those messages contained commendations, warnings and promises. Since this is inspired scripture from God, the information to the churches is transferable to churches in every age, because evil exists in every age. 

Jesus’ earthly work and his prayerful intention was and is that all the people whom the Father gave to Jesus should be with him where he is presently. That is what the book of Revelation was telling the congregations of the seven churches and is telling us. How unspeakably glorious that is going to be for us when God takes us individually to be with him. As those early believers discovered, and until we ourselves arrive in God’s heavenly presence, there is much through which we struggle on planet earth because Satan and sin has ruined so much. John cannot adequately describe his vision in ordinary, everyday terms. Instead, he uses language suitable to the grandeur and greatness of what he sees. It’s apocalyptic language, and it was used in other inspired passages of the Bible before John used it. It’s full of numbers and symbols and overstated descriptions that must be treated emblematically. They denote truths underlying the astonishing imageries. As we read it now, two thousand years later, we must be careful to read the vision details as closely as we can, as the first century readers would have understood it. We must let symbols be symbols. We must teach ourselves the previous meanings behind these same flamboyant images and meaningful numbers.

Intimidation, opposition and cruelty against Christians was undeniable when John wrote the book and is indisputable now. Persecution of Christians by other people of faith and by godless governments was real in century one, and has been ever since then. Of course, the first century Christians would not have imagined that world time would last so long as it has. They couldn’t have thought in terms of 2022. They couldn’t envision a church in the city of Rome becoming a monolithic power over the known world, by being allied with the most powerful Roman civil government and its armed forces. They wouldn’t have imagined the extent of corruption that would characterize a church called Christian. They couldn’t dream how intense would be the horrors and attacks and losses suffered by believers over an extremely long time. They wouldn’t have considered Christ’s loving message could generate so much hatred on earth, that professing Christians would murder one another over differences in faith. They had no thought that a Reformation would occur and reformers would not agree with one another and the church would be so divided that unity of faith is unknown. They may not have appreciated their current opposition was just a small part of an extended earth-shattering conflict between the Prince of this world and the King of Kings. Yet all of this is what John’s vision concerned and it isn’t over yet. There has been two thousand years of unrelenting tribulation. 

As 21^st century readers, we must be careful not to project an interpretation of this book into some future far beyond ourselves so that we fail to recognize where we actually are in this continuum. We easily interpret a short-lived tribulation from which we escape, when we should remember the awful tribulation of Christ’s church that has been going on ever since he left earth. We should be concentrating upon how we then should be living so that we stand strong in the storm if it intensifies where we live as it is for so many believers in other countries.  

What the seven church congregations were to understand and what bolsters our endurance, is the closing description of how God’s people experience and endure on earth until at last God takes us individually home and until he closes the book with a resounding victory over evil and we are forever with the LORD.