Fear No Fear

(All scripture from Lexham English Bible, Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software)

“The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his slaves the things which must take place in a short time, and communicated it by sending it through his angel to his slave John, who testified about the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud and blessed are those who hear the words of the prophecy and observe the things written in it, because the time is near!” (Revelation 1:1-3)

The only book of the bible that has a blessing that it imparts on those who read it aloud is the Revelation to John that he shared with us. After failing to die when submerged in boiling oil – a miracle – John was exiled to the Isle of Patmos and left to hopefully die living in the caves just outside the Roman prison on the island – a common fate for those who didn’t fit into exact categories. One day while there, sometime between 90 and 95 AD, the Lord came to John in a vision and gave him a sneak peek at the end of the book. At what’s going to happen in times to come – some events close to John’s life and some still to come for us. It was like looking over a mountain range and seeing all the peaks, but none of the valleys. No exact times. Much figurative language. It was revealed, or at least written down, in the language of Jewish mystery writings. It is full of the themes of the Passover and the Exile (when God brought His children out of Egypt). It is a fore-shadowing pattern of what it will be like when the end of fallen creation comes. Worldwide passover-exodus. Ultimately God and His people (Jew and Gentile) will have a great and final victory. It has relevance to every believer in every time period, but more relevance the closer we get to the end.

Chapter one contains John greetings to his audience, a picture of what was going on at the time, and the beginning of his vision.

Chapters two to three are the last letters of the New Covenant. Not from John, Paul, Peter, Jude, or James, but from Jesus. Holy Spirit says these things to the church. Seven churches in seven congregations, but clear messages, warnings, and encouragements to us all.

Chapter four is the beginning of John’s vision of Heaven (chapters 4-11). It is a picture of God’s throne and meshes with Ezekiel’s vision of it (Ezekiel 1), as well as Daniel’s (Daniel 7).

Summary

Key Players: God, Jesus, John

Key Verse(s): Revelation 1:12-18; 2:4-7; 3:7-13; 4:2-8