O The Book of Revelation

Session 1: Introduction
The Revelation: singular, not plural.
 Apocalipse - noun (19 times): “revelation,” to unveil or uncover.
 Apocalipse- verb (26 times): “to reveal.”

“He Shall Glorify Me” John 16:14

 Old Testament – Christ in Prophecy
 Gospels – Christ in History
 Acts – Christ in the Church
 Epistles – Christ in Experience
 Apocalypse – Christ in coming Glory

To Whom Given?
Ap 1:1 Revelação de Jesus Cristo, que Deus lhe deu para mostrar
aos seus servos as coisas que brevemente devem acontecer; e,
enviando-as pelo seu anjo, as notificou a seu servo João;
Ap 1:2 o qual testificou da palavra de Deus, e do testemunho de
Jesus Cristo, de tudo quanto viu.

...rendered into “signs” (sememes)…

Basic Units
 Alphabet = of written language;
 Phonemes = of spoken sound;
 Pixels = of images;
 Sememes = of meaning:
 semaino; from sema, a mark (4591 times):
 1) to give a sign, to signify, indicate;
 2) to make known.

Signified by God = in “code” (1:1) “to give a sign or signal.” There are, in the Bible 4591 semas: The word is
translated “sign” (15:1), “wonder” (12:1, 3) and “miracle” (19:20). This same word is used by John for the miracles
of Christ. It’s a “spiritual code,” understood only by those who know Christ personally.

Revelation is in code: every code is explained in Scripture (virtually every other book required)!

The Apocalypse
Where to begin a serious study? Revelation is excellent...Everything begun in Genesis is consummated in
Revelation: integrated design…

 Catastrophic end-crisis of present age

 Spectacular reappearance of the King of Kings in His global empire
 Internment of Satan in the Abousso
 Millennial earth-reign of Christ

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  Final insurrection and the abolition of sin
 New Heaven and New Earth

A Unique Promise
Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the
time is at hand.

Two Basic Discoveries

1) The Bible consists of 66 separate books penned by over 40 authors over a period of several thousand years
that are an integrated message system.
2) It can be demonstrated that the origin of this message is from outside of our dimensions of space and time.

The Central Theme

 The OT is an account of a Nation.
 The NT is the account of a Man.
 The Creator became a Man. His appearance is the Central Event of all history.
 He died to purchase us and is alive now.
 The most exalted privilege is to know Him. That’s what the Bible is all about.

Our Presuppositions
 God means what He says and says what He means.
 The Bible is an integrated whole: Every detail is there by design (Mt 5:17,18).
 Nothing is trivial: All things are for our learning (Rom 15:4).
 God is His own interpreter.

At 17:11 Ora, estes eram mais nobres do que os de Tessalônica,

porque receberam a palavra com toda avidez, examinando
diariamente as Escrituras para ver se estas coisas eram assim.

Luke is warning you: Don’t believe anything that Chuck Missler says! Check it out for yourself!

Revelation: “The Unveiling”

 The consummation of all things.
 The only book promising a special blessing to the reader.
 404 verses containing over 800 allusions from the Old Testament.
 It presents the climax of God’s Plan for Man.

John, the Author

 The Gospel of John.
 Three Epistles (1 John, sermon on love; 2 John, personal letter to Mary(?); 3 John, personal note to Gaius).
 The Apocalypse.

John was born at Bethsaida to Zebedee and Salome and was a Galilean fisherman; partner with Peter and Andrew.
He was an early disciple of John the Baptist and seemed to be well connected (High Priest, Nicodemus, et al , cf. Jn
18:15).

John was one of the inner circle: Mt. Transfiguration (Mt 17); raising of Jairus’ daughter (Mt 9:18); Olivet
Discourse (Mt 24); Gethsemane (Mt 26:37); Assigned care of Mary (Jn 19:26); ultimately retires to Ephesus after
his exile.

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The Patmos Exile
Patmos is a small island, 6 miles by 10 miles, 40 miles from Miletus and 24 miles from the coast of Turkey. John
was exiled by Domitian (A.D. 81- 96), the brother of Titus who destroyed Jerusalem. According to Irenaeus (2nd
century A.D.), Revelation was written by John during the reign of Domitian.

Irenaeus, Clement, and Eusebius wrote that after Domitian died, John returned to Ephesus, went to the churches, and
appointed leaders, and set things in order.

Alternative Views
 Preterist Then only
 Historical History only
 Idealist Allegorical
 Futurist Prophetic

The Book of Revelation claims the latter (1:3; 22:7, 10 18-19; cf.10:11).

Why Prophecy?
 Old Testament: 1,845 references to Christ’s rule on the earth; 17 OT books give prominence to the event.
 New Testament: Of the 216 chapters, there are 318 references to the Second Coming; it is mentioned in 23 of
the 27 books.
 For every prophecy relating to His First Coming, there are eight treating His Second Coming.

Still, most people assume that the future is but a linear extrapolation of the present; life will just go on. But the Bible
says otherwise.

Eschatology

Amillennial Problems
 Messianic Promises throughout the Old Testament.
 Destiny of Israel in God’s Covenants.
 Promise given to Mary by Angel Gabriel.
 Numerous reconfirmations in the New Testament.

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The Heptadic Structure: The Sevens

Seven Beatitudes

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(More Subtle) Sevens

Tenses of Redemption

Three Tenses of “Being Saved”

Types

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