Lesson 22: The Revelation (part 1) Antioch Bible Institute Spring/Summer 2014 Rev. Christopher J. Respass

The Revelation God has given us His word as a blessing, yet many Christians have totally ignored The Revelation. Some have expressed fear of what its chapters reveal, while others mention “a dragon” or the difficulty of understanding the book’s imagery. The Revelation will be a blessing to you and each believer should read it for the following reasons—at least:

The Revelation Reasons for reading The Revelation 1.It’s God’s word 2.It Comes Directly from Jesus Christ The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place (Revelation 1:1 ESV). 3. Filled with Songs of Praise 4. Points to the Return of Christ

The Revelation I.Authorship, Dating, Purpose & Style A. Authorhip:Apostle John B. Date:around 95 AD or 96 AD. C. Purpose:To remind suffering believers of God’s sovereignty, Christ’s redemption and Christ’s coming kingdom.

The Revelation D. Style:The Revelation contains elements of the following literary styles: 1. Prophecy: declares God’s plan for the future. 2. Letter: letter-like qualities (e.g., communication to the 7 churches in Asia (Rev. 2-3).

The Revelation 3. Apocalyptic: Uses vivid imagery as it looked forward to God’s intervention in history to eliminate evil.

The Revelation II.Theme: A Vision of our Conquering Christ A.Christ Strengthening the Churches (1:1- 3:22) B.Christ’s Judgment on Sin (4:1-16:21) C.Christ’s Victory over evil (17:1-21:8) D.Christ’s Ultimate Triumph (21:9-22:21)

The Revelation III.Important Concepts in discussing The Revelation and Eschatology A.Ways to Interpret The Revelation 1. Idealist View—views the revelation as a picture of the continuous struggle between good and evil. It views the book as teaching general truths about God, the church and the future victory of Christianity without specific references to historical events. Hesitant to emphasize predictive prophecy.

The Revelation 2. Preterist View—believes that the teachings in Revelation were fulfilled in the days of the Roman Empire. Those who hold to this view see The Revelation as giving encouragement for those who faced persecution in Asia Minor in the 1 st Century, but they do not see it as having any reference to future events.

The Revelation 3. Continuous-Historical View—relates the Revelation to historical events. Those who hold this view see the book as a forecast in symbols of the history of the church. It often sees the Revelation as a history of the apostasy of the Roman Catholic Church from NT faith. It seeks parallels between events in the Revelation and secular events such as the invasions from the Huns, Muslims and Turks.

The Revelation 4. Futurist View—This view is the opposite of the Preterist view. The Futurist view views much of the Revelation as dealing with events at the end of the world (eschaton/eschatology). Those who follow this view feel that The Revelation contains events that are closely connected to the return of Christ.

The Revelation B.Millennial Views The Millennium Kingdom refers to the 1000 year reign of Christ discussed in Rev. 20: Postmillennial View—the Church will bring in the Millennium. Preaching will cause the world to get better and better

The Revelation 2. Amillennialist View—holds that there is no literal 1000 year reign of Christ, but that Christ’s present rule over the Church is the Millennium. 3. Historical Premillennialist—Christ returns before the 1000 year reign and he will reign with his saints

The Revelation 4. Dispensational Premillennialist—Christ returns before the 1000 year reign which he has with his saints. They also believe that Christ’s return will be in two stages: 1) Rapture of the Church and 2) Christ’s later return in glory.

The Revelation C.Timing of the Rapture of the Church (1 Thes. 4:15-17, see also Dan. 9:24-27, Matt. 24:15- 28,). 1. Pretribulation View: the church is raptured out before the period of tribulation begins.

The Revelation 2. Mid-tribulation View: the Church is raptured out after 3 ½ years in a 7 year span (see, Daniel 9:27). 3. Post-tribulation View: the Church is raptured after going through the tribulation period.

QUESTIONS