Revelation 21-22

• 21:1-7 – This scene depicts God’s kingdom officially and completely coming to earth, like we pray in the Lord’s prayer.
• 21:9-27 – The scene depicts the new Jerusalem where God will dwell negating the need for a temple, any other source of light, and presumably many other things necessary in our current construct.
• 22:8-9 – As we all do, John confused something of God with God and worshipped the angel. The angel quickly redirected him to worship God.
• 22:17 – This is an open invitation to all who recognize their need for Christ to come and receive new life.

 

Revelation 19-20

• 19:7 – The church is believed to be the bride of Christ.
• 19:10-21 – Jesus is portrayed as a warrior on a horse. This begins the battle between Christ and the evil forces led by the beast, dragon, and false prophets. We see steady progress of Christ towards victory.
• 20:1-6 – This thousand year time period seems to be one of relative calm in the vision. The angel has contained Satan and those who have been faithful thus far are rewarded.
• 20:7-15 – Satan, all those who were judged as unfaithful, and death and hades are all thrown into the like of fire – aka hell.

Revelation 17-18

• 17:8 – Note that when talking about God we say, “Who was, and is, and is to come”, but here, when talking about the beast, it is described as “who was and is not and is to come.”
• 17:14 – Even though the beast is powerful and will gain power as the kings give it to him, Jesus will still conquer.
• 18:1-3 – This is basically describing Babylon in the worst possible fashion. It will be totally and utterly rejected.
• 18:4-8 – God will remove the Israelites from Babylon and it will pay for its wrongdoings against the Israelites.

Revelation 14-16

• 14:1-5 – A special song of praise was reserved for the 144,000 righteous ones who were set apart.
• 14:13 – Traditionally, Jews believed death was a separation from God. This suggests that now death is a good thing because one can rest.
• 14:14 – Son of man is a term Jesus used for himself.
• 14:15-20 – This seems to be another removal of the unfaithful.
• 15:1 – Though “plague” is never an enjoyable thing, it is good that the wrath of God will soon be over.
• 16:1-21 – This describes a series of seven plagues poured out on the unrighteous of the earth.

16:15 – Here we hear Jesus’ voice inserted in the series of plagues. Jesus is breaking in to give yet another plea for people to repent. The people are hearing what is to come and his hope is to save as many as will turn

Revelation 12-13

• 12:1-6 – The newborn child, though facing peril, was saved and taken to God’s throne.
• 12:7-12 – This depicts a massive battle between God’s angels and the devil and his angels. The devil is thrown down to earth, but is vicious in desperation.
• 13:1-4 – The people should not be worshipping the beast or the dragon. They are not God. They are some of the many other entities that the world chooses to follow other than God.
• 13:5-10 – For a time, evil is allowed to prevail. Those who were not already saved began to follow the evil ruler. Because the saints were temporarily defeated, this was a test of their faithfulness and patient endurance.
• 13:11-18 – Like the people of the Lord were marked and sealed for Christ, now those who follow the beast are marked for him.

Revelation 10-11

• 10:1- The rainbow over the angels head is a reminder of the covenant God made with Noah and of the hope that encompasses all of the judgments.
• 10:1-7 – The angel with the small scroll declares that there the major judgment is coming soon and that the seventh angel would bring more clarity of God’s mystery. Instead of more judgment, this angel simply brings more clarity to what is to come.
• 10:8-11 – The scroll tasted sweet at first because the message is good for the prophet – it is the word of God and the prophet had been faithful. It becomes bitter because the prophet, though he will not face destruction himself, is human and is being made aware of the judgment coming down on humanity.
• 11:1-14 – The two witnesses were witnesses for God. The people of the earth end up killing them and then a large portion of the city and its inhabitants are killed. Those who remain see what happened and repent and give glory to God.
• 11:15-19 – This seems like it could be the ending. God’s kingdom officially comes to earth with the blowing of the 7^th Wrath is poured out on the evil people and joy and celebration is amongst the faithful.

Revelation 7-9

• 7:1-8 – The angels assure that the faithful people of the earth are protected before the destruction begins.
• 7:13-17 – Here a series of people who have sinned, repented, and been forgiven are welcomed in to praise God.
• 8:7-12 – The wrath of God is unleashed after the seventh seal is broken. As the angels blow their trumpets God’s wrath is unleashed in stages.
• 8:13 – The eagle warns that the wrath is about to increase.
• 9:1-6 – Well, this sounds pretty awful. Like during the first Passover, it was important to have the sign of God in order to avoid punishment. All those who God has not sealed got the locusts.
• 9:20-21 – It’s important to remember that people are given chance after chance to repent and turn towards God, but they continually choose not to.

Revelation 4-6

• 4:5 – The number seven is used as a symbol of completion. The seven torches represent that the fullness of God was present.
• 4:8-11 – This section shows that eternity will be filled with God’s praises.
• 5:1-5 – Jesus is the fulfillment of so many things people were waiting on. He is the only one who is the Messiah they had waited on and he was the only one able to break the seals on the scroll.
• 5:6-14 – The creatures, angels, and elders all confirm and celebrate the recognition of the Messiah.
• 6:1-17 – Six of the seven seals are broken by the lamb. As each seal is broken, more of God’s wrath is released onto the earth. This is a part of the final judgment against evil and wickedness.

Revelation 1-3

• 1:1-11 – This section is used to confirm that John received a revelation in a dream from God that was intended to be given to seven churches. This is a vision of the end times.
• 1:12-20 – The number seven is prominent throughout the book of Revelation because it represents completion.
• 2:1-7 – Here there is a word for the church at Ephesus. They are commended for their original faithfulness, but have apparently strayed recently. This is a call to return to their original faithfulness and warning of what will happen if they don’t.
• 2:8-11 – Here the church of Smyrna is warned of upcoming trials they will face.
• 2:12-17 – Here it sounds like the church of Pergamum has some issues to work out. They too are given an opportunity to repent and return to God before destruction befalls them.
• 2:20-23 – Some of the church of Thyatira had begun to engage in sins such as adultery and eating foods offered to idols.
• 2:24-29 – The vision makes for an allotment for people in the church who had not yet fallen into deep sin. There seems to be great hope for these folks.
• 3:1-6 – It is clear that God will not condemn whole people groups when there are still faithful people in the midst. Instead he is separating the faithful from the unfaithful while still giving the unfaithful opportunities to repent.
• 3:7-13 – The letter to the church at Philadelphia is a positive one because they have remained faithful.
• 3:14-22 – This may be the harshest indictment on any of the churches addressed. Laodicea’s church is lukewarm, which is viewed more negatively than even being cold towards God. They basically are choosing not to choose. This does not please God.

Jude

• 5-7 – Jesus came to save us all, but if we deny opportunities for salvation, our alternative is punishment.
• 17-23 – Clearly the recipients of the book of Jude were surrounded by unfaithful people, but this letter is intended to encourage them to remain faithful.