The opening words of the book of Revelation begin with “The revelation of Jesus Christ” (v.1). This means that this book’s purpose is to reveal something. God gave it “to show to His servants the things that must soon take place,” and “make it known” to His servant John. We begin by finding that Revelation is a message from the triune God through John to seven churches in Asia. Before the salutation that begins in Revelation 1:4, John penned a prologue that provides four vital pieces of information to help us understand the book. According to the opening verses, Revelation is an apocalyptic prophecy, a historical letter, a gospel testimony, and a means of blessing for God’s needy people.

The first three verses of Revelation form a prologue or preface which tells us the purpose of the book, the importance of the book, and the spirit or attitude in which it is to be read. There are two words in this paragraph that reveal to us the special nature of this book: it is called a revelation and a prophecy. The Greek word which is translated “revelation” is apokalupsis, which literally means “an unveiling of something hidden.” It might be used of a sculpture that has been covered by a cloth (veil), which is now pulled away. The apostle Paul used this word to describe Jesus’ second coming (1 Thess. 1:7). Revelation is more accurately, an unveiling of the plan of God for the history of the world, especially of the Church. A revelation removes the veil which obscures our understanding, it unravels the mystery, and it makes the meaning plain.

As we move through the book of Revelation, we will find many mysteries made clear. We will learn why evil persists on the earth, and what the ultimate fate of evil will be. The mystery of godliness will also be explained, so that we can discover how to live a godly, righteous life in the midst of a broken, evil world. Many other mysteries will be unveiled in this book of apokalupsis, of revelation.

Then there is the other word used to describe the book of Revelation: “Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy.” This is a book that deals in predictions. It deals with people and events which lie in the future. Powerful personalities are waiting to make their entrance on the stage of human events. Extraordinary circumstances are waiting to unfold as the juggernaut of history rumbles toward its fateful consummation. We will meet these personalities and witness these events in the book of Revelation.

The book is called the “revelation of Jesus Christ,” and John says that Jesus Himself “made it known by sending His angel to His servant John.” The English phrase “made it known” actually has a deeper meaning in the original Greek, where instead of three words there is just one Greek word, semaino. This word should be translated “signified” – or, if you want to really get the true sense of this word: “sign-i-fied.” In other words, Jesus made His revelation known to John by signs or symbols. Once you grasp the symbolic “sign-ificance” of this book, you can begin to understand and apply the book of Revelation.

Revelation is a book of symbols, and these symbols are important. Symbols help to simplify difficult concepts and to clarify things which are baffling or murky. The book of Revelation uses symbols with great precision and clarity. The weird beasts and strange persons of Revelation are all symbols of things which are real and literal. As we journey through this study together I think you will be surprised to see how many seemingly difficult images and events in the book of Revelation become clear. The key to understanding the symbols of Revelation is recognizing that almost all of these symbols have been given to us elsewhere in the Bible.

Who is the author of the book of Revelation? At first glance, the answer might seem to be John. But look again. John writes that this book is “the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him,” and which Jesus in turn made known to John. The author of Revelation is God Himself! John was certainly involved in the process of producing this book, but it truly had its origin not in the mind of John, but within the Godhead, in the mind of God the Father. The Father revealed it to the Son, who in turn made it known to a human being named John.

Why did God the Father have to give this revelation to Jesus the Son? Remember that in Matthew 24:36 Jesus said that though He understood many of the events of the last days of the age, He did not know the time when these events would happen. This knowledge, He said, belonged only to the Father. Now of course, since Jesus is risen and glorified, He knows all that the Father knows, but while on earth the timing of these events was unknown even to Jesus Himself.

So God the Father gave this revelation to Jesus, who in turn entrusted it to John by means of an angel. Thus, while all Scripture is inspired by God, the book of Revelation occupies a unique place in the Bible, because no other book in the Bible has been given to us in this way. John’s roll in the writing of this book is virtually that of a secretary taking dictation. John is the writer, but God is the Author of the book of Revelation.

As we begin our journey through the vision God gave to John, notice the inspiring promise we find at the onset: “Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it.” God has promised all the readers of this book – including you and me – a special blessing if we read, hear, and take to heart the words of this prophecy. What kind of blessing? I believe the Lord is promising that we will find comfort, guidance, and assurance, even through such times of upheaval and fear described in Revelation. The twenty-first century is full of troubled and confused times, filled with temptations, pressures, and anti-Christian philosophies – and the days will grow darker as we near the conclusion of history. But the person who understands the book of Revelation will have a faithful guide through the tumult and confusion of this dying age.

Revelation 1:1-3 Study Questions:

Who is this book all about and what do we learn about him in the opening verses 1-8?

What does it mean that this book serves as a “testimony” or “witness” (v. 2)?

Welcome to the study of the last book in the Bible, the Book of Revelation. Many people today regard Revelation as the hardest book in the New Testament. It’s full of strange, lurid, and sometimes bizarre and violent imagery. You might have thought that in a world of clever movies and DVDs, stuffed full of complex imaginative imagery, we would take to Revelation like ducks to water, but it doesn’t always seem to work that way. As a result, many people who are quite at home in the Gospels, Acts and Paul find themselves tiptoeing around Revelation with a sense that they don’t really belong there. But we all do!

The book in fact offers one of the clearest and sharpest visions of God’s purpose for the whole of creation, and of the way in which the powerful forces of evil, at work in a thousand ways but not least in idolatrous and tyrannous political systems, can be and are being overthrown through the victory of Jesus the Messiah and the consequent costly victory of His followers. The world we live in today is no less complex and dangerous than the world of the late first century when this book was written, and we owe it to ourselves to get our heads and our hearts around Revelation’s glorious pictures as we attempt to be faithful witnesses to God’s love in a world of violence, hatred and suspicion. The Book of Revelation is vibrant, alive, and profoundly applicable to the times in which you and I live today.

It’s no accident that the Book of Revelation appears as the last book of the Bible. Revelation gathers all the threads of theme and historic events contained in the rest of the Bible, weaving them into a seamless whole. The entire scope of human history – and of eternity itself – comes into brilliant focus in the Book of Revelation. Someone has rightly observed that the Book of Genesis and the Book of Revelation are like two bookends that hold the entire Bible together. In Genesis we have the story of the origin of human sin; in Revelation we have the complete and final victory over sin. Genesis presents the beginning of human history and civilization; Revelation presents the end of both. In Genesis we learn the beginnings of God’s judgment and His grace toward mankind; in Revelation we see the awesome result of His judgment and the triumph of His grace. The great themes of these two books are intricately intertwined.

John, its author – sometimes called “John the Seer” or “John the Divine,” sometimes (probably wrongly) identified with the John who wrote the Gospel and epistles – is picking up a way of writing well known in the Jewish world of the time. This way of writing was designed to correspond to, and make available, the visions and “revelations” seen by holy, prayerful people who were wrestling with the question of the divine purpose.

Revelation – the idea, and this book – are based on the ancient Jewish belief that God’s sphere of being and operation (heaven) and our sphere (earth) are not after all separated by a great gulf. They meet and merge and meld into one another in all kinds of ways. For ancient Jews, the place where this happened supremely was the temple in Jerusalem; this is not unimportant as the action proceeds. Most humans seem blind to this, only seeing the earthly side of the story. Some are aware that there is more to life, but are not quite sure what it’s all about. Ancient Jews struggled to see both sides of the story, though it was often too much of an effort.

When John was writing Revelation, the early Christian movement grew and developed momentum throughout the latter part of the first century. Still, many questions emerged. What was God doing now? What were His plans for the little churches dotted around the Mediterranean world? Where was it all going? In particular, why was God allowing followers of Jesus to suffer persecution? What line should they take when faced with the fastest growing “religion” of the time, namely, the worship of Caesar, the Roman emperor? Should they resist?

There may have been several groups of Christians in ancient Turkey, where John seems to have been based. They would have been mostly poor, meeting in one another’s homes. By contrast, people were building grand and expensive temples for Caesar and his family in various cities, eager to show Rome how loyal they were. What would Jesus Himself say about this? Did it mean that, after all, the Christians were wasting their time, following a crucified Jew rather than the one who was rather obviously the “lord of the world”?

As we will see through our studies, Revelation is written to say “no” to that question – and say much more besides. At its center is a fresh “revelation of Jesus the Messiah” (1:1). John, with his head and his heart full of Israel’s Scriptures, discovered on one particular occasion, as he was praying, that the curtain was pulled back. He found himself face to face with Jesus himself.

Revelation Study Suggestions:

As you begin each study, pray that God will speak to you through His Word.

Read and reread the Bible passage to be studied.

Then after your study, pray to God thanking Him for what you have learned and pray about the applications that have come to mind.