Chapter 1

[1] This is a revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants the events that must soon take place. He sent an angel to present this revelation to his servant John, [2] who faithfully reported everything he saw. This is his report of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
[3] God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near.
Revelation 1:1-3 (NLTSE)

Before we dive in....
Revelations is one of the most requested books to study. I knew when I asked this group what they wanted to study, someone would request Revelations. I didn't realize so many would be interested. It is with much anticipation, excitement and trepidation that we begin this study together. I am excited because I believe that there are blessings for those who read and to those who listen to this book. So that is good.
There are also warnings for those who would misuse this book.
[18] And I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the words of prophecy written in this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book. [19] And if anyone removes any of the words from this book of prophecy, God will remove that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book. Revelation 22:18-19 (NLTSE)

Perhaps more than any other book of the Bible Revelation has been misused and misinterpreted over the centuries. For some Revelations has almost been “an embarrassment”. Many cults have arisen as the result of a misinterpretation of some of the scriptures found in Revelations. David Koresh led many to their peril because of his misinterpretations of this book. The Jehovah’s Witness misuse the reading of the 144,000 as well as other flaws in their reading of scripture.
As we approach this book let us do it with a humble heart and a sharp mind. Let us be careful not to project our own interpretations on the scripture. When we do not know the answer let’s be real enough to admit it. Let us keep our focus on what the Revelation is. It is a Revelation of Jesus Christ.
Before we jump in we need to ask some questions, like: “What kind of literature is Revelations?” It is important to know this because the genre will effect what the intended meaning is. For example, if we are dealing with poetry we will not take things as literal. If we are dealing with a biography we will want to consider what is subjective to the writer and the audience and be careful before we make giant leaps of universal application.
This is more complicated than what you might think. In some ways Revelations is a letter. Revelations is pastoral. Revelations is apocalyptic. And Revelations is Prophetic. Each of these call unique handling. The combination is even more interesting.
If we were just talking about the first three chapters it would not be so difficult to just consider this a pastoral epistle with some prophetic flair. But there is more to it. It is different from prophetic books like Isaiah. It is more akin to apocalyptic literature that was popularized in the inter-testamental period. Yet is self identified as prophetic (Rev 1:3).
The next question we need to ask is who wrote The Revelation? The text says it was John. Until 264 this was unquestionably John the son of Zebedee. Questions of authorship occur because of the change of style and in some ways the mood of the writings of the epistles, the gospel and revelations. Some have attributed to another John or the school of John. Another explanation is John the Presbyter of the area. This would explain the pastoral portions of the letter. As a conservative I find the arguments for authorship other than John less than convincing, but I note the need to consider the variances from the gospel and epistles of John while interpreting Revelations.
Believe it or not some well known theologians have had major struggles with Revelations because of it's emphasis. A prominent example is Martin Luther who said Christ is neither taught nor accepted in this book. He saw the book as neither apostolic nor prophetic. To Luther the overuse of visions and symbols were troublesome.
Another problem for some is the earthly Millennium in chapter 20. Also the cry for vengeance in 6:10 is problematic for people to reconcile for those who see the message of Jesus to be that of a pacifist. I am reading through a book entitled Jesus, Revolutionary of Peace: a Nonviolent Christology in the book of Revelations. Another major concern is the "weakly Christianized Judaism".
As I see it the way through this quagmire is to see Revelations as a unique apocalyptic book that uses the NT as it's basis. That is when we read Revelations through the lens of the rest of the New Testament the issues raised are answered.
The Approach
In recent years the more common interpretative scheme that has been used by many fundamental Evangelicals is the futurist scheme. In this view all the visions in Revelations relate to a period immediately following the advent of Christ at the end of the age. The seals, trumpets and bowls refer to future events, the beasts of chapter 13 and 17 are identified with the future Antichrist. He appears in the last moment in world history and will be defeated by Christ in his second coming to judge the world and to establish his earthly millennial kingdom.
There were early variations of this view held by Justin Martyr, I(165) Iraneus (195) Hippolytus (236) and Victorinius (303). This view was silent for almost 1,000 years. During that time the allegorical view was the most common.
Another common approach was the historicist. In this view history is centered on and continues in Revelations. Thus the events are overlaid upon the historical period as known. A major proponent of this view was Joachim of Floris (1202). He was a monk that assigned a day value of 1,260 days of the Apocalypse. He interpreted Babylon not only as pagan Rome but also Papal Rome. The connection of Babylon with Rome and the papacy later was adopted by reformers such as Luther and Calvin. This approach does not have many people following it's philosophy because there is no consensus as to the historical identification it entails.
Another common interpretive scheme is the preterist. Revelations is to be viewed within the light of what happened in the time of the author. This view has some agreement to the a Jewish apocalyptic method where they produced "tracts for the time" This approach is valued by many in the more liberal camp, partially because they struggle with predictive prophecy.
The fourth common approach to interpreting Revelations is the idealist. It looks at Revelations as being basically poetical, symbolic and spiritual in nature. The purist in this approach would not see any specific historical events at all. Instead it looks at the timeless struggle between good and evil.
There are strong and weak points to each of these approaches. As we study Revelations, let's keep some of the issues that each one raises in mind.
Use of Old Testament & Jewish Perspective
Below is the direct Copy and Paste from The Expositor’s Commentary.
While Revelation does not have a single direct quotation, there are hundreds of places where John alludes in one way or another to the OT Scriptures. Swete mentions that of the 404 verses of the Apocalypse, 278 contain references to the Jewish Scriptures (p. cxxxv). UB
S’s Greek NT (2d ed.) cites over five hundred OT passages in connection with the book (pp. 897–920). In any case, the author’s use of the OT is unique (e.g., Paul’s epistles contain ninety-five direct quotations and possibly an additional one hundred allusions to the OT).
The OT used by John is primarily Semitic rather than Greek, agreeing often with the Aramaic Targums and occasionally reflecting Midrashic background materials to the OT passages; and it can be shown that he used a text other than the Masoretic that has a close affinity with the Hebrew text of the Qumran MSS.2
6 From the Prophets, John refers quite frequently to Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. John also refers repeatedly to the Psalms, Exodus, and Deuteronomy. Especially important are John’s christological reinterpretations of OT passages he alludes to. He does not simply use the OT in its pre-Christian sense but often recasts the images and visions of the OT. While there is an unmistakable continuity in Revelation with the older revelation, the new emerges from the old as a distinct entity.2
7


These issues are important not only in seeing how to approach the Revelation, but it also gives credence to John the Apostle’s authorship. He was semitic first. Also John was a follower of John the Baptist. This highlights the similarities between the Hebrew of the Qumran MSS.

Literally?
One of my pet peeves is when someone says: “I literally….” When in fact they don’t mean it literally they mean it figuratively. For example: “I literally died that day.” No you didn’t literally die. You might have figuratively died. As we approach the scripture we want to interpret it literally, but we need to consider when it is poetic literature, when it is symbolic and when it is direct and literal. Revelations is filled with symbols and pictures. Even the numbers are interpreted as symbolic by scholars.
1:1
Our Guide and Our Goal
This is a revelation from Jesus Christ. (NLT)
The revelation of Jesus Christ (NIV)
I wanted to get to the bottom of this. From the very start of the book there are two little words that make a big difference in how we understand The Revelation. Some translate the word as of and some from. The Greek is Ἰησοῦ. So I did a fancy word study since I don’t know Greek. And I found that either translation is appropriate. And I am choosing both understandings. The goal of this Revelation is that we see Jesus Christ. & Jesus Christ will serve as a guide as we journey through the Revelation.
Think about it. Jesus loved John and the churches so much. He saw what they were going through and he knew that more persecution was on its way. So He appeared to John on the isle of Patmos. And there He showed John who HE was, who HE is and who HE will be through all eternity. Let’s keep Jesus as the center of our study here. More than eschatology, the study of end times, this is a study of Jesus!
Soon
These are the events that will SOON take place. There is a sense of imminence to this Revelation. Whether you approach this from a historical or preterist view or a futurist view there is a sense of immediacy to this Revelation.
Angels
Two more focal points of the book are introduced by the words “by sending his angel to his servant John.” First, they introduce us to the significance of angels in the worship of God, in the revelation of God’s Word, and in the execution of his judgments in the earth. Angels are referred to sixty-seven times in Revelation.
Servant
The second focal point is the word “servant” (doulos). All of God’s people are known in Revelation as his servants. No less than eleven times in the book are they so described (e.g., 2:20; 7:3; 22:3). John is one servant selected to receive this revelation and communicate it to other servants of God. “Servant,” used throughout the NT to describe those who are so designated as the special representatives of the Lord Christ himself, becomes a beautiful title of honor for God’s people. Here, then, in the Prologue are five links in the chain of authorship: God, Christ, his angel, his servant John, and those servants to whom John addressed his book.


1:2
Word and Testimony
In the Revelation there is an important linking of the eternal Word of God that came through the prophets and the Holy Scriptures to the direct Testimony of the servant of God, beginning with Jesus continuing through John and then the saints. “Testimony” translates the Greek martyria, another important term for the author. It is variously rendered as “witness,” “attestation,” “validation,” “verification.”
Please note the context of martyr found within the Greek.
1:3
Listen! There is a key to understanding that is understood when we hear the Revelation. For a moment as we continue I want you to listen as I read the Revelation.
4 John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia:
Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits
a before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
7 Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him.
So shall it be! Amen.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God,
“who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
One Like a Son of Man

What did you see as you heard the Revelation read?
Why These Seven Churches?
Did you notice the trinity?
“I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”
I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.
Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. ” (Revelation 1:9–20, NIV84)
Pay special attention to the “in” statements.

• brother and companion in the suffering and
• kingdom and
• patient endurance
• that are ours in Jesus

• I was in the Spirit

• The Word of God and
• The Testimony of Jesus Christ