Revelation. Recap of Chapters 1-10 and Chapter 11

Transcription

1 Revelation Recap of Chapters 1-10 and Chapter 11

2 Week Date Topic 1 09 Sep 15 Review and Chapter 11: Two Witnesses and the Seventh Trumpet 2 16 Sep 15 Chapter 12: The Woman and the Dragon 3 23 Sep 15 Chapter 13: The Two Beasts 4 30 Sep 15 Chapter 14: The Lamb and the 144,000 on Mount Zion 5 07 Oct 15 Chapter 15: A Scene in Heaven 6 14 Oct 15 Chapter 16: The Seven Bowls of Wrath 7 21 Oct 15 Chapter 17: The Doom of Babylon 8 28 Oct 15 Chapter 18: Babylon is Fallen 9 04 Nov 15 Chapter 19: The Lord Almighty Reigns Nov 15 Chapter 20: The Second Death Nov 15 Chapter 21: A New Heaven and a New Earth Nov 15 Chapter 22: Final Admonitions

3 Review of Chapters 1-10 Message - Good will triumph over evil (Read Rev 17:14) For early Christians Rome will fall because of their choice to reject God and accept sin as natural and normal. For all Christians God cannot be defeated; those who remain faithful until death will share in the victory and will live forever in heaven with The Father! Written by John the Apostle while in exile on the island of Patmos Written primarily for the seven churches of Asia Minor Understanding Revelation Symbolism is used heavily Must know the Old Testament to understand Revelation It can never mean to us what it never meant to the original audience An interpretation in one place can t contradict plain teaching elsewhere in the Bible

4 Viewpoints The "preterist" view - The book refers to events that were fulfilled in the first century A.D., or shortly thereafter. It was written primarily to encourage the original readers. Its value for today would therefore be to teach the value of faithfulness to God The "historicist" view - The book provides a panoramic view of the experience of the church as it proceeds throughout history. This view finds in the book such events as the rise of Catholicism, Islam, the Protestant reformation, world wars, etc., ending with the return of Christ. As such it would encourage Christians no matter when they lived The "futurist" view - Apart from the first few chapters, the book depicts events which immediately precede the second coming of Christ. Therefore most of the book has yet to be fulfilled (or is being fulfilled now), and its value is primarily for Christians who will be living at the time Jesus returns The "idealist" view - The book does not deal with any specific historical situation. Instead, it is simply enforcing the principle that good will ultimately triumph over evil. As such the book is applicable to any age No one viewpoint is perfect - we will take a preterist and idealist approach

5 Date of Writing Two dates are identified An "early date", around A.D., during the reign of the Roman emperor, Nero A "late date", around A.D., during the reign of emperor Domitian In support for the late date, appeal is often made to a statement of Iraneaus who lived in the late 2nd century A.D. His statement is rather ambiguous In support for the early date, the Syriac version of the New Testament (dating back to the 2nd century A.D.) says the book was written during the reign of Nero External dating is contradictory, therefore we place our focus on internal evidence (evidence from within the book itself) - supporting a date of 70 A.D., before the destruction of Jerusalem and during the reign of Vespasian HOWEVER - don t let the date conflict take away from the central theme of the book for those Christians who lived during the formation of the church

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7 Review - Chapter 1 through 4 Chapter 1 - Greeting and first vision Jesus stood in the midst of the seven golden lampstands - the seven churches of Asia Minor Message: the Lord is ready, willing, and able to act on behalf of his people Chapter 2 and 3 - Letters to the seven churches Introduces themes found throughout the book of Revelation Letters contained a greeting, description of Christ, commendation, condemnation, warning/threat, exhortation, promise Chapter 4 - The throne room of God Centers on worship to God as Creator God was still on His throne, He is the focal point God, not a Roman emperor, was in control Assurance that God had His plans and purposes and would ultimately succeed Purpose: Impact each person s mind and heart with the greatness of God and to draw attention to God s greatness by giving detailed descriptions

8 Review - Chapter 5 through 7 Chapter 5 - Book with seven seals Message - conveys the idea of God s great power, specifically about man s redemption through Christ, the Lamb The chapter also shows that victory has truly already been won because of Christ s death o the cross and that victory cannot be taken away Introduces the book with seven seals (completely sealed) Chapter 6 - The first six seals Commentary on man s self-destructive nature when they turn from God The first four seals, depicted by horse/rider show Christians the importance of choosing God over self - to reject God is to choose death, as the Roman s did The fifth seal reveals that Christianity sometimes brings suffering and physical death The sixth seal reveals a more direct answer to the Christian martyrs concerning how God will avenge them - destruction would impact all mankind Chapter 7 - An interlude (144,000) The 144,000 is figurative number representing the redeemed of God on the earth at any given time

9 Review - Chapter 8-10 Chapter 8 - The seventh seal and the first four trumpets Keep in mind, that none of this is literal, it is a vision to show God s people how serious sin is and how sinners must be called to repent Chapter 9 - The fifth and sixth trumpets Opening of the seventh seal - seals are broken (revelation), trumpets sound (warning), and bowls are poured out (punishment) First four trumpets closely related to the first four seals, causing damage to the world Sounding of the trumpets show how sin affects the sinner and the effect it has on others Message - sin never wins and is always a path to eternal destruction Chapter 10 - The little book An interlude chapter between the sixth and seventh trumpets The book is related to the overall plans and purposes of God Message - God s people are going to be challenged to apply the message of God to our lives and to do so we must appreciate the positive aspects of salvation and the terrible aspect of eternal condemnation because of sin

10 Revelation 11 Overview Concludes the interlude from Chapter 10 Reference Luke 21:20-24 Purpose: to explain to the church what to do during troubled times Key symbols Scholars believe this chapter is one of the most important in the book because it seems to contain a summary of the entire message of Revelation, ties to OT and NT scripture Temple - Representing the redeemed and the courtyard representing the remainder 42 months/1260 days/3.5 years - same thing, defining something that was temporary Two witnesses - represent faithful Christians in any age who are willing to stand up for Christ Beast - enemy of God (Romans) Seventh trumpet God s plans and people would be triumphant over the Roman empire God s plans and people would be triumphant in the end times as well

11 Revelation 11:1-6 Temple to be measured (11:1-2) Temple of God - representing the redeemed - Greek word for temple - naon The altar Those who worship in it The court is not measured, it belongs to the ethnos (nations), not in Christ Measure as to the word of truth, people of God would be measured Protected (measured) and unprotected (not measured) Two witnesses prophesy (11:3-6) A series of scenes that illustrates three messages The conflict between good and evil The apparent defeat of good The ultimate victory of good The two witnesses some think are literal (Biblical characters) or symbolic (Law and Prophets of the Old and New Testaments)

12 Revelation 11:7-14 The two witnesses are killed by the beast and the people will gloat over their death (11:7-10) Spiritual battle, not physical Not much is known about the beast, but it is mentioned 36 more times in the rest of the book The two witnesses are resurrected (11:11-14) They ascend to heaven on a cloud The word of God lives! By the breath of life from God Great fear fell on those watching This would bring reassurance to the persecuted Christians - even in death, you will rise and be taken home to God A great earthquake follows, partially damaging the city Reminded that the second woe (satan s army) has occurred; the third woe is coming

13 Revelation 11:15-19 The seventh trumpet sounds The kingdom of the world had become the kingdom of God and His Messiah The 24 elders fell face-down before God, worshipping Him God s justice for the first century Christians Three woes - 5th, 6th, and 7th trumpet Emphasis of God s plans and God s people over the Roman Empire Fulfillment of Daniel s prophecy in Daniel chapter 7 He would bring down the great corrupters of the the earth He would ultimately bless the faithful Temple of God opened - where God could be found, and the glory of God is revealed in the ark of the covenant - the promise of God to His people

14 Next Week Chapter 12 Woman and the Dragon