I just finished a 7 month #sermon series on the entirety of the book of #Revelation. 🫡✝️Here are 7 tips to help you understand this often misunderstood book.
1. Get well acquainted with #Genesis, #Daniel (Especially chapter 7), #Exodus and the Temple vestments (#Menorah, priestly garments etc). Revelation is chalk full of imagery, allusions and hyperlinks to the Old Testament, especially those books. If you don't know your Old Testament, you will most likely misinterpret Revelation.
2. Discard your expectations and bias for how a message should be communicated. Revelation is not written like your average book. John often takes several images and allusions from different places in the Bible and mashes them together. He doesn't tell you when he does this, he just expects you to get the hint and understand the vision in light of those old Testament passages and images. The revelation doesn't care about your preferred literary methods, submit your bias to the text.
3. Study numbers and what they mean in Biblical history. There's a reason I've chosen to give you 7 tips for this tweet. 😉 Revelation uses numbers like 7, 10, 12, multiples of 12, and a few others to communicate important truths. The numbers are rarely literal, if ever. The book is broken into 4 sets of 7's. Understand the numbers have meaning, find the meaning by mining their usage in the #OldTestament especially.
4. Revelation is the story of history, especially of the time between Christ's resurrection and second coming, told through a spiritual lens. The book is broken into 5 sets of 7s, which build on, repeat and inform each other.
The 7 letters to the 7 churches
The 7 seals
The 7 trumpets
The 7 signs (this one is a bit harder to discern, but it's there)
The 7 bowls of God's wrath.
7 is the number of completeness. In these different iterations of 7, the completeness of God's purpose are revealed. If you read these as different chronological events, you will miss the entire point.
5. Revelation is a message of victory over Satan and his earthly manifestations. This book describes a series of divine victories cloaked in defeat. The insights concerning the working of the devil in history are priceless. The beast, the harlot of Babylon etc, all describe Satan's tactics during the church age. He works through governments, kingdoms, religions and economics. If you're a statist the revelation should offend you and expose you as, at best flirting with Satan, at worst worshipping him.
6. Satans kingdom (The beast) is a counterfeit of God's kingdom. The Mark of the Beast is a counterfeit of the Seal of God. The beast, the harlot and the false prophet are a counterfeit of the Trinity. The mortal wound of the beast being healed is a counterfeit of the resurrection. Etc. If you understand all the works of Satan as counterfeits, you will do well. These are the tactics of Satan throughout time, they repeat. There is not just 1 mark of the beast, but many. Be wise and discerning to see them when they come, or are staring you in the face already.
7. This is a book of hope, grace and strength. If you read it and your interpretation causes you despair, fear and weakness, YOU ARE MISINTERPRETING IT. Or..... you're lost and ought to fear. In which case repent and receive hope, grace and strength.
I have only scratched the surface of this book. 7 months to preach it all, and I feel like a noob still.
I hope these tips were a blessing and will be used of God to draw you closer to Him!!!!
BTW, kinda interesting that it took 7 months to preach it 😉🤫....
