What you should understand about the book of Revelation

“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.”-Revelation 1:1(ESV)

It is with these words that perhaps the least understood book of the Bible begins. But like all of scripture it is divinely inspired and ordered by the Holy Spirit for our instruction. As Paul points out in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness”, and this would certainly apply to the Revelation of Jesus Christ, just as it does to the entirety of the cannon. When reading the book of Revelation, we must as with all of scripture, “rightly divide the word of truth.” We do this by first understanding the context of the passages involved; remember that although all of scripture is for us, it was not written to us. All of scripture, including the book of Revelation was written to specific groups of people living in a real historical context and culture. So in order to better understand the message that the Word of God has for us, it is helpful to understand to whom that Word was originally addressed. In the case of the book of Revelation, this letter was addressed by the Apostle John to “…the seven churches that are in Asia.” These churches are listed for us in Revelation 1:11 as Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Again these were real cities with real Churches facing a very difficult time in history and the more we understand about what was addressed to them, the better we can understand what the Holy Spirit has for us.

First we must understand this is a book about Jesus Christ, and the unveiling of things to come and the revealing of the Lord of Glory. This book is not about the anti-christ, it is not about a tribulation, the book is about what every book of the Bible is about, Jesus Christ. Every book in the Bible, regardless of its genre or story is ultimately about Jesus Christ. As Christ told the Pharisees in John 5:39 “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness of me”, so the book of Revelation with all of its seemingly mysterious text is about Jesus Christ.

Next, the book was written by John as instructed by Lord who came to him in a vision while exiled on the isle of Patmos.
– “I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Sprit on the Lord’s Day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet…”-Rev.1:9-10.
John refers to the Lord’s Day, but this is not a reference to the day of the week but rather it is an Old Testament reference to “the day of the Lord” which speaks of the judgment of God on disobedient Israel. In fact, as pointed out by the Christian Research Institute the book of Revelation contains 404 verses, of these, 278 allude to Old Testament prophetic passages.

Patmos, the place of John’s exile was no Bahamian vacation in fact; the isle of Patmos is only ten miles long and six miles wide. Patmos is located in the Aegean Sea ten miles southeast of Ephesus (modern day Turkey). According to the New Testament scholar Sir William Ramsey, exile was “preceded by scourging, marked by perpetual fetters, scanty clothing, insufficient food, and sleep on the bare ground in a dark prison, and work under the lash of military overseers.” It was in this harsh and cruel environment that John saw the Lord. Finally as Bible teacher David Jeremiah points out, John received this vision while in the Spirit which is referenced in Revelation 1:10; 4:2; 17:3; 21:10.

In this glorious vision John sees the Lord in a magnificent manner which syncs with the entirety of scripture when describing the greatness of our God.
• His clothing: Rev.1:13; Isaiah 6:1; Isaiah 11:5; John 13:4-5
• His head and hair: Rev.1:14; Daniel 7:9-13
• His eyes: Rev.1:14b; Psalm 11:4; Heb.4:13
• His feet: Rev.1:15; Isaiah 52:7; Rom.10:15
• His mouth: Rev.1:15b-16; Psalm 29:4; Ezekiel 43:2; Eph.6:17; Heb.4:12; Rev.19
• His hands: Rev.1:16; Daniel 12:3
• His face: Rev.1:17; Matt.17:2; Acts 26:13

This vision has a very profound impact on John. This picture of Jesus paralyzed John until touched by the Lord and then Jesus tells John not to fear for three reasons
“Fear not, for I am the Eternal God”
“Fear not, for I am the Resurrected Christ”
“Fear not, for I have the keys of death and hell.”

 It should become clear to us that the same Christ which spoke to them and called them by name continues to guide us by his Word. So that we, as did the seven churches in Asia, can be confident in the fact that Christ knows where we are at and what we are facing and has not, nor will not forsake us.