You may have studied Revelations before and been either intrigued or overwhelmed by the imagery and interpretation presented in your study. Most studies look at Revelations as a prophetic book of catastrophes, judgments and damnation. In fact in today’s world, the word Apocalypse carries the connotation of total destruction and suffering.
Let me first start with a warning from one of my favorite movies, “You Keep Using That Word, I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means.”
We get this word from the Greek word ἀποκάλυψις (ap-ok-al'-oop-sis), which means an uncovering, a revealing, a disclosure of truth.
What I find most interesting about this word that has come to instill fear into so many, and inspired some really horrible movies over the years, is that when it was used in biblical times, it was used in the context of a message of good news [see Blue letter Bible - ἀποκάλυψις] with benefit for the one to whom the message was being delivered. In fact, this word is only used once in the entire Book of Revelations. It is here that we begin.
Revelations 1:1 - Ἀποκάλυψις Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἣν ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ ὁ θεός δεῖξαι τοῖς δούλοις αὐτοῦ ἃ δεῖ γενέσθαι ἐν τάχει καὶ ἐσήμανεν ἀποστείλας διὰ τοῦ ἀγγέλου αὐτοῦ τῷ δούλῳ αὐτοῦ Ἰωάννῃ
Revelations 1: 1 - The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
The message being delivered is a disclosure of the Truth of Jesus Christ.
Let that sink in.
This is where this study will begin and why it will be different than any Revelations Study you may have ever had.
We will be looking at this message of Truth and how it applies to our lives as followers of Jesus. We will not be getting into any particular eschatological perspective, because We will not be focusing on the “End Times”.
We will be looking at what this message is that Jesus sent his messenger to tell John to show to His servants the things that must take place. [We’ll address this word translated in English as “soon” later. It is only used twice in the Book of Revelations; here and at the end.]
We will be looking at this message as it was delivered to the Seven Churches with all of their glory and all of their faults.
We will be looking at each of the seven sections of the Book of Revelations and each of the seven events within each section.
We will be looking at how these events align with each of the seven churches.
We will be looking at all of this to see how we can apply the this disclosure of the Truth of Jesus Christ in our lives, like He intended these seven churches to apply it in their lives.
It is my prayer that through this study, we will grow in knowledge and wisdom concerning this message and how our lives can be changed by it today, so join me as we work through this study over the next few months.