We’re running out of time to understand the end times and book of Revelation!
How We Teach Biblical End Times
I really enjoy this straight-forward, simple approach to Revelation. This last and final book in the modern Bible always seemed to me to be so full of mystery and hard to understand, with teachings everywhere that all contradict each other, trying to answer the question, “what does it all really mean??”. When God said “x”, what was He really trying to say?
Taking this book one chapter, one verse at a time, helps us not to try and “boil the ocean,” so to speak. In this deep-dive study, we cross-reference Revelation with other Scriptures like the book of Daniel – another “end times” book. This helps us not to take any concept out of context – “By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.” (2 Cor. 13:1)
Revelation is often misunderstood, or people throw up their hands and say “I don’t get it!” I like the analogy of Revelation to a car manual in 500 A.D.: Would people have been interested then in a car manual or understood it? Of course not. They could easily have read the manual, but without yet having cars invented, they wouldn’t be able to get a whole lot out of it.
Once cars were invented, that book would then make A LOT of sense! THAT is how this works, and one of the most significant signs that we are in the end times is that when we study Revelation, we are understanding it more and more as time goes on (Go to Lesson 1 for Scripture that proves this). I know that’s true for me – I read and think, I just heard something similar in the news the other day!
End Times lesson structure
For purposes of this study, we’ve divided Revelation into 3 sections:
- Rev. 1: Revealing to John of the Person of the Lord Jesus
- Rev. 2-3: Letters to the Seven Churches
- Rev 4-22: Vision of Heaven / The Future
Important Nuggets I Learned (within the first 15 minutes!)
One really important phrase in the very first verse of Rev. 1: “This is the revelation of Jesus Christ,” not the revelation of John. This hit me as a new idea! I’ve always studied Revelation previously in the context of John’s exile on the Isle of Patmos. While his location is stated in the Bible, we don’t actually know why he was there or exactly when this was written, but we do know that it’s not his revelation.
An Encouraging Note
Did you know you are blessed simply from reading the book of Revelation? Yep! Check out Rev 1:3: “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it.” (ESV). I see that those who “hear” are also blessed, so take a listen now!
All messages on VRM are free of charge, and available to you solely by donations. Donate now via Venmo, CashApp, or PayPal to keep the Gospel available worldwide.