Revelation

The first book of the Bible that I made an effort to study by myself was Revelation. I know, I know.. silly right?

In the spring of 88 I went to my church's youth group retreat. I decided, if half of what the speaker said about Jesus was true, it was worthy of consideration. I inquired further and talked it over with my pastor, by weeks end, I felt intrinsically compelled to follow Christ. So, having started down this road, I was naturally curious about where all of this was going. Where it would end? Logically, I turned to the most obvious book of the Bible. Revelation.

Much of it was confusing but, some of it was quite clear. After a simple reading, I knew that Christian faithfulness is hard, that there would be trials and tribulations ahead, that Christians would not always be looked upon favorably by others. But as bad as these trials and tribulations were, the temporary hardships for believers to endure would pale in comparison to those who would suffer God's eternal wrath.

Since this initial reading, I haven't taken as much pleasure in reading Revelation. The book is filled with futuristic, fantastic symbols that are hard to understand. Some of, *Stuart and Fee's suggestions made it more enjoyable.

Here are some of their suggestions:

1.) Understand that Revelation is a blend of three type of literature. It's an apocalyptic, prophetic letter.
2.) While Old Testament prophets and Jesus used symbols when they spoke, they used real images. Revelation, however, is full of fantastic, unearthly images. So while Revelation build on the old testament's apocalyptic literature, it's images make it truly unique. In this way Revelation is not like any other book in the Bible.
3.) This letter it is written by a man who saw the end as "already /now " and "not yet".
4.) John intended this prophetic, apocalyptic letter to be the Word of God to these churchs in their present days of tribulation.

With this backdrop, they also gave some additional helpful suggestion.
1.) When John explains a symbol, take note (e.g. the dragon IS Satan). These explaination serve as starting points for other images. Revelation is the very best tool to help you read Revelation.
2.) Consider the vision as whole visions. Don't get too bogged down in trying to figure out what each part of each symbol means. Try to read it all in one sitting to get a better feel for the over all vision(s).

They also suggested the following outline
I. Chapter 1-3. Setting the stage for the main characters of the book
A. John 1:1-11
B. Jesus 1:12-20
C. The Church 2:1 - 3:22
II. Chapter 4-5. Further sets the stage: Images of worship
III. CHapter 6-7, 8-11, The Drama Unfolds
IV. Chapter 12 - Satan's time is limited
V. CHapter 13-14 - Satan uses Rome to attach the Church
VI. Chapter 15 - 16 The Roman Empire and the Emperors are doomed.
VII. Chapter 17 - 22 The Tale of Two Cities. (the City of this Word, the City of God)

*How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth