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Chapters 21 & 22: The perspective of John’s first century readers is shaped by two things:  first, persecution and martyrdom are on the way. Its already bad will soon get worse. Second, they are the people of the promise waiting for the Day of the Lord, the decisive moment of salvation and judgment promised by […]

The centerpiece of Revelation 20 is the millennium.  It’s hard to imagine a doctrine or place in the Bible more disputed than the millennium.  What the heck is it?  There are three basic options, each with variations: 1. Premillennialism: a literal reading of the passage in which Jesus returns and established God’s kingdom for a literal […]

Two major events occur simultaneously in this chapter: the wedding of the Lamb and His bride and the overthrow of the false trinity.  The images in it draw heavily on Jewish wedding customs and the triumph of the victorious Roman General.  Both images are mixed.  The Bride “has made herself ready” and her bridegroom comes […]

Now John is directed toward the judgment of God on Rome itself.  He sees a woman riding a beast.  The image is probably drawn from one of the goddess “Roma” popular on coins of the time.  The woman is covered with blasphemous names.  These are titles of self-deification rather than slanders against God.  The woman […]

These two chapters detail God’s awesome judgment, the “grape harvest” of chapter 14.  Seven angels are prepared with bowls containing the seven final plagues, “with them the wrath of God is completed.”  As they leave the heavenly temple it is filled with smoke just as the earthly tabernacle and Solomon’s temple were at their consecration.   […]

God now rewards the loyalty of the saints, which has at times cost them their life.  In Revelation 14 John begins the prophetic cycle of God’s ultimate judgment and victory.  As it opens the opposing forces are prepared for conflict.  The Lamb stands on Mount Zion with the 144,000, the ideal number of the redeemed.  […]

There are few figures in literature more compelling than the “antichrist” or the beast of Revelation 13.  For dispensationalists he is the world leader who will emerge from the European Union.   The list of people nominated for the job is impressive including Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev and more.   In this chapter […]

In this chapter John sees a vision of a woman “clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet” in labor and ready to give birth.  She represents the purified people of God and is a counterpoint to the prostitute on the beast in chapters 17 & 18.  She gives birth to a male […]

Chapter eleven of the Book of Revelation is the beginning of John’s ministry after his recommissioning.  Although the narrative will still loop from future to past to present and back again, from here on the primary message is about the ultimate end.  John is told to measure “the temple, its altar, with its worshippers” in […]

Revelation chapter 10 is an important dividing line for understanding the entire book.  Richard Bauckham makes this point, “It is not until chapter 10 that the main content of the prophetic revelation John communicates in his book is given to him.  All that has preceded is preparatory – necessary to the understanding of this revelation, […]

n Revelation chapter 8 Jesus opens the last seal provoking one half hour of silence in Heaven.  This is a dramatic pause that heightens the anticipation for what is to come, God’s judgment on the earth.  Revelation chapters 8 & 9 draw heavily on the story of the Exodus.  In both cases God pours out judgments (plagues) on […]

In Revelation 6 the Lamb begins to open the scroll by breaking the seals on it.  And as each seals is broken something bad happens or is released.  These events are not the contents of the scroll but signs that accompany the breaking of the seals.   The first four seals are accompanied by four separate […]

In Revelation 4 the scene changes and John is brought up through a door to see God’s throne room.  It is a scene of incredible power and purity.  God reigns in majesty and glory as well as in wrath and judgment.  Yet this is tempered by His mercy.  His royal court surrounds him.  It consists […]

This message is part three of a three part series on the Second Coming of Jesus as taught in 1st and 2nd Thessalonians.  It deals with 2nd Thessalonians 2.1-12.  We tend to come to the Bible looking for certainty.  We want to absolutely know God, what it means to belong to Him, etc.  And the […]

This message is part two of a three part series on the Second Coming of Jesus as taught in 1st and 2nd Thessalonians.  It deals with 1 Thessalonians 5.1-11. Recently a man named Harold Camping broadcast the news that Jesus would return May 21, 2011.  According to CNN.com, “He has dissected scripture and crunched his […]

The audio file below this post is part one of a three part series on the Second Coming of Jesus as taught in 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. It deals with 1 Thessalonians 4.13-18.  The second coming of Jesus is a well known teaching in 21st century.  It is one of the distinctive things about Evangelical […]

Contemporary evangelicalism approaches the Gospel from a place of power, of autonomy, and of entitlement.  This impacts the way we understand the Gospel more than we realize.  We ask questions of it that would be unusual to say the least to first century Christians.  We want to know things like “how do I get saved?” […]

In Chapter Two of the Book of Revelation Jesus address three of “the seven churches” of Asia: Ephesus, Smyrna, and Thyatira.  These were actual churches in the first century and John seems to have had a relationship with them.  They were each contending with a problem which we also find in the contemporary church.  Ephesus […]

In chapter one of the Book of Revelation John seems to be saying the visions in it are about to happen.  It is the revelation of what “must soon take place.”  Those who read it out loud and those who listen to it are blessed “because the time is near.” John is communicating with urgency […]

Many people read the Book of Revelation in a way similar to how one might read Nostradamus.  They comb its phrases and images for details about the events leading up to Jesus’ second coming assuming it is full of end time secrets.  In my mind this is faulty for more than one reason.  For one […]

One day, like a thief in the night, Jesus will return secretly to rapture Christians off of the earth just in time for God’s wrath to be poured out on the earth.  Really?  Actually Christians have only believed this for about 140 years.  The doctrine of the Rapture is the product of a unique set […]

Jesus delivered a dark and complex message to his disciples not long before his crucifixion. It contains allusions to beatings, trials, and family violence over the gospel, wars, earthquakes, famines, and disruptions in the spiritual world. We know the message as “the Olivet Discourse.” (Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21) Most people today interpret it […]