So it seems that the Book of Revelation is not prophesising the end of the world but is a polemic against the Roman Empire. Stylometric analysis, a process which analyses an author's style of writing, shows that the Book of Revelation and John's Gospel display more differences to each other than any other two books in the New Testament. e. Amen : This word – in the ancient Greek language, brought over from the Hebrew of the Old Testament – simply means “ Yes.” It isn’t a wish that it may be so, but it is an affirmation that, through God, it will be so. Jesus will be praised.

is the mystery of the seven stars you saw in My right hand and of the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who overcomes will not be harmed by the second death. ii. Jesus is the one who lives, and was dead, and is alive forevermore . He has the credentials of resurrection, and lives to never die again. The victory that Jesus won over sin and death was a permanent victory. He didn’t rise from the dead just to die again. b. The Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End : The idea behind these titles for Jesus is that He is before all things and will remain beyond all things. Alpha was the first letter of the ancient Greek alphabet, and Omega was the last letter. Jesus says, “I am the ‘A to Z,’ the Beginning and the End .”b. Which God gave Him to show His servants : This is an important reason why God gave this Revelation of Jesus Christ . He gave it to show His servants . God gave this revelation that it might be shown, not hidden. This is an apocalypse– a revelation, not apocrypha (something hidden). The infamous seven-headed Beast that rises from the sea demanding to be worshipped symbolises Rome. By John's time seven emperors had ruled over Rome and Rome was known as the city of seven hills.

one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed to open the scroll and its seven seals.” ii. Some would say that we should not be concerned with prophecy, that it is a frivolous exercise – but if God was concerned enough to talk about it, we should be concerned enough to listen. “Some tell us that what is yet future ought not to be examined into till after it has come to pass. I can hardly realize that this is seriously meant.” (Seiss) g. Who bore witness to the word of God : In this prologue, we see John knew this book was Holy Scripture, the word of God . We sometimes wonder if the apostlic authors of the New Testament knew they wrote Holy Scripture. At least in this case, John knew. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. a. His head and hair were white like wool : The white hair speaks of old age, and is therefore in that culture connected with the idea of great wisdom and timelessness. The phrase white as snow also emphasizes the idea of purity (Isaiah 1:18).

usage For revolution

the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

Scholars conclude that John was a Jew from Palestine. His use of the Greek language indicates that he was not a native speaker but of a Semitic mother tongue, and he is very familiar with the Hebrew Bible. iii. “A lamp is not light in itself, it is only the instrument of dispensing light, and it must receive both oil and fire before it can dispense any; so no Church has in itself either grace or glory, it must receive all from Christ its head, else it can dispense neither light nor life.” (Clarke) Christian tradition tells us that he was a prisoner of the Roman Empire, but again scholars disagree and say he may have been exiled to Patmos for being a bit troublesome or he may have gone there to preach. This summary of the book of Revelation provides information about the title, author(s), date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the Book of Revelation. Author

up and strengthen what remains, which was about to die; for I have found your deeds incomplete in the sight of My God. each of them was given a white robe and told to rest a little while longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers, were killed, just as they h

c. The Poetic View: This approach believes that Revelation is a book full of pictures and symbols intended to encourage and comfort persecuted Christians in John’s day. In the Poetic or allegorical view, the Book of Revelation isn’t literal or historic. Revelation is a book of personal meaning. ii. Adam Clarke believed the angel of each church was its pastor. “ Angel of the Church here answers exactly to that officer of the synagogue among the Jews called… the messenger of the Church, whose business it was to read, pray, and teach in the synagogue.” (Clarke)

John was telling first century Christians to galvanise themselves against compromising with Rome, and that their faithfulness would be rewarded. The origin and influence of Revelation Working on the same principle of numerology, academics work out 616 to indicate the Emperor Caligula. Caligula had had a statue of himself erected in the temple in Jerusalem, greatly offending Jews. If John indeed was a Jew from Palestine he would have known this.