REVELATION – PART II OF THE INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION:

1. We sometimes hear people use the word “apocalypse”.

2. This word has some history attached to it.

3. Originally there was a Greek word – “apokalypsis”.

4. Apokalypsis happens to be in Revelation 1:1.

5. From this Greek word came a Latin word – “apocalypse”.

6. English took the word and changed it to the word “revelation”.

7. This is why “apocalypse” and “revelation” are sometimes used interchangeably.

8. When John started to write this book he used the word “apokalypsis”.

9. Revelation is the “apocalypse”.

10. The word that John used – apokalypsis – is important.

11. The original word means “the unveiling; the uncovering, the revealing”.

I. IN THE GREEK TEXT, THIS IS THE FIRST WORD THAT APPEARS. THE BOOK STARTS

WITH THE WORD “APOKALYPSIS”.

A. Some have concluded that Revelation cannot be understood.

B. If some things can be learned from it, only the most scholarly can do so.

C. To these ideas John says, “No. They’re wrong.”

D. This book unveils, uncovers, and reveals some things. They are understandable.

E. This is what God says about this part of His word.

F. The first word of the book says that the book can be understood.

G. Having said this, I need to make this disclaimer:

1. I do not understand everything that is in this book.

2. There are parts of this book that are difficult.

3. Some texts are explained very differently by different people.

H. Yet, in spite of these things, this book can be grasped. We are going to study it.

I. As we study this book some things will be obvious.

1. For example, we will find many references to the Old Testament.

2. Someone once counted the verses in Revelation.

3. They came up with 404 verses.

4. Out of these 404 verses, they made a special note of 278.

5. These 278 verses make some kind of reference to the Old Testament.

6. About 69% of Revelation looks back to the Old Testament.

J. If we are going to understand this book, knowledge of the Old Testament will be helpful.

K. One of the reasons why some have read Revelation and not understood much is the lack of

knowledge of the Old Testament.

L. Though about 69% of Revelation alludes to the Old Testament, there is not a single OT

passage that is actually quoted.

M. Bear this in mind as we study this book. All we have are allusions.

N. The Old Testament books that John most frequently draws from are these:

1. Psalms, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah and Daniel.

2. These are not the only ones but they are the primary OT books.

3. It is interesting that John draws most often from these books.

4. Daniel and Ezekiel wrote when a nation had great power – Babylon.

5. Zechariah wrote when a nation had great power – Persia.

6. In Isaiah’s day, the great power was Assyria.

7. These great powers impacted the writings of the prophets.

8. In John’s day there was also a great world power – Rome.

9. A lot of Revelation deals with Rome just as the writings of Daniel, Ezekiel and

Zechariah deal with the powers in control in their time.

O. We could study Revelation to better our knowledge of theology.

P. Revelation teaches a number of things about God.

Q. We will find in this book “pictures” (snapshots) of God.

1. God will be presented as the creator; judge; guardian for His people.

2. God will be presented as the Almighty.

3. Isaiah presented God by saying that He is Holy, Holy, Holy.

4. John uses this kind of picture in Revelation.

5. Ezekiel described God as the “Lord God”; John uses this in his book.

6. Daniel, you may remember, spoke of the “God of heaven”.

7. Similar wording is used in Revelation.

8. The Fatherhood of God will be spoken several times.

R. In addition to the Father, we will see pictures of the Son.

1. Jesus is called the Christ. Revelation 1:1

2. He is the Lord Jesus in Revelation 22:20.

3. Revelation 22:21 calls him Lord Jesus Christ.

4. In the second chapter (2:18) He is the Son of God.

5. The expression “word of God” is found in 19:13.

6. Jesus is repeatedly called the “Lamb”.

7. He is described as the Amen; faithful and true witness.

8. 3:14 says He is the beginning of God’s creation.

9. In 1:5, He is the firstborn of the dead.

10. According to 22:16, He is the root and offspring of Jesse.

11. The bright and morning star describes Him in 22:16.

12. The lion of the tribe of Judah is used of Him in 5:5.

13. King of Kings and Lord of Lords – 19:16.

S. In addition to these descriptions, some things are said about His work.

1. He redeems men from sin – 1:5.

2. His final return is promised in 1:7.

3. The final return is pictured in Chapter 19.

4. He has the keys to death and Hades – 1:18.

T. If Revelation served no other purpose, we can use it to learn about God.

U. We have looked at material that distinguishes between the Father and the Son.

V. We could also study material that unites the Father and Son.

W. Some material applies to each of them. Some examples:

1. Both are called the Alpha and Omega – 1:8 and 22:13.

2. Salvation is ascribed to both – 7:10.

3. Resurrected martyrs are priests to both – 20:6.

4. Both are worshipped – Chapters 4-5.

5. Both jointly share a throne – 22:1, 3.

6. Wrath comes from both – 6:16.

7. Both share the kingdom as equals – 11:15 and 12:10.

8. Both are the temple of the holy city – 21:22.

II. IF WE ONLY WANTED TO STUDY SOME GENERAL THINGS ABOUT REVELATION, WE

COULD. ONE GENERAL STUDY COULD FOCUS SOLELY ON GOD. HOWEVER, THIS

WOULD NOT BE ALL THAT WE COULD GET FROM A GENERAL STUDY OF THE BOOK.

A. We could also learn quite a bit about evil.

1. There are references to the devil – 20:2.

2. Revelation gives us different names for the devil:

3. Satan, a dragon, the ancient serpent.

B. We learn how the devil is opposed to God and heaven’s will – 12:1-6.

C. We see what Satan wants to do to the church – 2:13, 24.

D. We are told he is the deceiver of the world – 12:9.

E. 20:8 tells us that he instigates rebellion against God.

F. The limits of Satan’s power are described and his end is foretold in 20:10.

G. If we studied about God and evil, we could also study the church.

H. Unity is a theme that is developed concerning the church.

I. The church is controlled by the Son of God, not men – 1:13-20.

J. Revelation teaches that the church needs to oppose things that are wrong.

K. Some congregations had some problems – Chapters 2-3.

L. The price for being a faithful member of Christ’s body is described.

M. Revelation pictures the universal priesthood of all believers.

N. If we could not explain any verses in Revelation, we could at least draw out this general

information and profit.

III. WE ARE GOING TO PURSUE A STUDY OF REVELATION THAT IS OF A TEXTUAL

NATURE. TONIGHT I WANT TO OFFER AN IMAGE THAT MAY BE HELPFUL AS WE

ENTER INTO THIS STUDY.

A. Think of a large theatre production; a play if you will, drama.

B. Revelation 1:1 says, “It’s curtain time.”

C. The curtain is being raised.

D. The producer of the production is God the Father.

E. The “star” of the show is Jesus.

F. The director of the show is the Holy Spirit.

G. We are, in many respects, the audience.

H. History, including the plan of redemption, is the story (tale).

I. There are some facts about this production that are essential for the audience.

1. One fact comes from Revelation 1:1 – READ.

2. John used the word “signified”.

3. This word expresses the idea of “signs/symbols”.

4. Revelation is a book of symbols.

5. Next week I hope to deal with this more fully.

6. Bear in mind that if we liken Revelation to a play, there are signs that we need to interpret.

7. Things like numbers, colors, animals, etc. have meaning.

J. If we liken Revelation to a play, there is another consideration.

1. If we see a production, we can benefit from having some knowledge beforehand.

2. A play by a famous playwright is not going to be fully understood unless we have some

background information.

K. A similar thing is true of Revelation.

L. Rome ruled the world when John wrote this book. What was she like?

1. Rome had reached the height of her power.

2. Her dominion went from British Isles to African desert.

3. She controlled the area from the Atlantic Ocean to the Euphrates.

4. This is why 17:1 refers to Rome as “sitting upon many waters”.

5. 17:15 identifies her “waters” as people; multiple nations and tongues.

6. In John’s day it seemed like Rome was the whole world.

M. Rome kept her vast empire together with well-trained armies.

N. This nation seemed to be invincible.

O. The greatness of Rome comes through in the pages of Revelation.

1. Rome had become great because of two things: conquest and commerce.

2. This can make just about any nation great.

3. Rome’s commerce is reflected in Revelation 18:11-14.

4. In this passage 30 different articles of trade are mentioned.

5. These traded items represented trade relations with:

6. Spain; Tyre; N. Africa; Central Africa; India; East Asia; Arabia; Egypt; and Gaul.

P. The wealth of Rome, even for Americans, is hard to imagine.

Q. An emperor spent $500,000 on a banquet. (Summers, p. 90)

R. A supporter of Emperor Nero spent $160,000 on roses.

S. Nero had a banquet hall that was circular and it revolved.

T. Slaves were everywhere. Many slaves were more educated than their owners.

U. Women were known for having many slaves.

1. We sometimes see “makeup” people helping actresses.

2. Can you imagine being a non-actor and having help?

3. Your help would be set up in this way:

4. There would be one slave for every color of makeup on your cheeks.

5. There would be one slave for every color of lipstick you would be wearing.

6. There would be one slave for every color of what is put on eyebrows.

7. A woman might have had 50 slaves just for makeup.

V. An emperor’s wife wore a set of earrings valued at 2 million dollars.

W. With this great wealth also came great poverty. Some of the people were dirt poor.

X. Aside from the economic conditions, there was education.

Y. Generally speaking, teachers taught morality but lived immorally.

Z. Seneca taught that material wealth was contemptible.

A. He then amassed over 12 million dollars in a few years.

B. If you want an idea of how bad Rome was, read Romans 1.

C. Children were considered to be a burden. They were left to slaves.

D. Or, parents would sell their children into slavery.

E. On top of all this, some of the emperors wanted to be worshipped.

F. Can you imagine how hard it must have been for Christians?

G. No wonder Paul said, “Shall we continue in sin …”.

H. Christians lived in a Roman society.

I. This was a culture that wanted to throw out what was good.

J. Christians were even asked to acknowledge an emperor as God.

K. Christians were probably wondering, “Didn’t God care? Wouldn’t God intervene?”

L. “Where was the help from heaven?”

M. Revelation answers these questions.

N. John’s message was: God is aware of Rome. God has a plan.

O. Thus, Revelation 1:1 begins with the word “apokalypsis”.

P. “Here is the unveiling.”

Q. Next week we will look at some material that will help us throughout our entire study of this book.

CONCLUSION:

1. Tonight we again wish to close with this point:

2. God always wins. Being on His side is the only sensible choice.