Book Overview - Revelation
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Let me just acknowledge that Revelation is one of the most difficult books in the Bible to interpret. There are lots of interpretive questions about which godly, Bible-believing scholars debate. But it's also one of the most appropriate and applicable sections of Scripture for the times we're living in. That's why, in 2023, I've committed to leading us through a 6-month study of the Book of Revelation, beginning on Easter Sunday. I believe this book is a powerful and prophetic word for our church in the day and age in which we're living.
So, while there may be some disagreement within your groups as to the meaning of certain verses in the book (and even disagreement) about some of the Bible Project's interpretations, I want to strongly encourage us to not miss the big ideas in this book for which there should be agreement and celebration:
1. God sovereignly rules over the affairs of the world.
2. Believers are to faithfully live out and proclaim His Word, even if it leads to our death.
3. God will ultimately vindicate His servants by raising us from the dead.
4. God will not allow evil to win the day: He will judge unrepentant sin.
5. God’s Kingdom will come - and everything wrong in this world will be set to rights!
I hope at the end of your reading of Revelation, you will be able to join me in praying, "Father, I praise You that Your plan of salvation and Your coming Kingdom cannot be thwarted. In the words of Revelation 11, which are the inspiration for that great chorus of Handel’s Messiah:
“Hallelujah! for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.
The Kingdom of this world is become the Kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ: and He shall reign forever and ever. King of kings. Lord of lords!”
The Bible Project offers fantastic free resources (like the video below) that will help you get a glimpse of how the passage you’re reading fits in the greater narrative of the book.
