Description
Preview
What you get:
- Tips for teaching Revelation in a Bible study
- Over 130 discussion questions WITH answers
- Atlas of 32 high resolution maps about Revelation
- 99 PDF pages of resources
Sample 3D-style map in Revelations Atlas
The end
This is the story of the end of the world.
The universe, too, it seems.
โEarth and sky were goneโฆBoth had served their purposeโ (Revelation 20:11).
A mysterious man named John, exiled to an island, sees it all happen in a graphic and violent stream of unconsciousness: visions, trances, and perhaps out-of-body experiences. Itโs hard to tell which.
An angel carries his spirit into Godโs sprawling throne room in heaven. There he sees someone who talks like Jesus: โI was dead, but Iโm alive for good now. Iโve shown that Iโm stronger than death and the graveโ (1:18). This spirit being tells John, โWrite down what youโre going to see thatโs happening now and thatโs yet to comeโ (1:19).
Some of the horrors John reports sound very much like what first-century historians said Romans did to Christians.
Some details also sound like what happened to Christians and Jews living in the Jewish homeland when Romans invaded in AD 67 to crush a Jewish revolt. Romans leveled Jerusalem and destroyed what became the last Jewish Temple.
“Babylon,” code for “Rome”
Later, Babylonโa code name for Romeโfalls. John sees it and reports it, presumably, as a message of hope to Christians facing Roman persecution and martyrdom. Rome apparently got its code name โBabylonโ because Romans did what Babylonians had done in 586 BC: they leveled Jerusalem and destroyed the Jewish Temple.
Some of Johnโs reporting doesnโt seem to fit on historyโs timeline. John writes many events into the future.
He sees worldwide disasters that begin with a series of wars, famines, and diseases that wipe out a fourth of humanity. A massive earthquake erupts, leveling mountains and sinking islands. Then John says falling stars pummel humanity into what sounds like a new Stone Age. โTerrified, everyone hid in cavesโ (6:13, 15).
Satan mounts a final attack on Godโs people, with coalition forces from nations all over the world. But a white-horse cavalry of celestial beings, led by Jesus it seems, destroys the army, captures Satan, and doggone well pitches him into a lake of fire.
An angel takes John to a mountaintop for the perfect view of New Jerusalem floating down from heaven. He says he saw the new heaven and earth God had made for his people. He said he heard a voice say, โLook at that! God has moved in with people! Heโs going to live right there with them.โ (21:3).
John’s extreme symbolism
John doesnโt write in journalistic style, most Bible experts seem to agree. He writes in a genre thatโs closer to poetry than prose: apocalyptic lit. Itโs famous for its extreme symbolism and code words. That makes it hard to know when to take him literally or when to dive deeper and look for the hidden meaningโwhich might be tougher for us to figure out than it was for his readers who might have known the code.
Though it can be tough to follow Johnโs meaning from one dramatic scene to the next, itโs hard to miss where it all leads.
Bad guys lose. Satan is toast. Heaven is real.
In addition to Revelations Leaders Guide & Atlas
You might consider the Comprehensive Bible Atlas
Best resource for comparing other Bible translations:ย Bible Gateway. This isnโt an ad. Itโs a recommendation from the Casual English Bible.
To support the work of paraphrasing the Casual English Bible and keeping it free online:
