The book of Revelation is a book about Jesus Christ. The book is entitled in verse 1 as the revelation of Jesus Christ. It is the Greek word "apocalupsis" meaning to unveil. When Christ came the first time, He was veiled in human flesh. Now, in this book, He is unveiled. Jesus is mentioned in each of the first two verses and in each of the last two verses, and 222 times in between. There are 406 references to God in 404 verses. The book is about Jesus Christ. To read Revelation without seeing Christ is like looking at a picture of Mt. Rushmore and not seeing the faces of the Presidents. There are 36 different images and revelations about Jesus Christ in this book. Who is Jesus Christ in Revelation?

1. Believable and trustworthy  1:5; 3:7, 14; 19:11
2. Conqueror of death 1:5
3. Ruler  1:5; 11:15; 19:12, 20:4, 6
• with a rod of iron  12:5; 19:15
• overcomer  17:14
• the King of kings  17:14; 19:16
• King of the saints  15:3
4. Lover of us  1:5
5. The King who was killed
• Pierced  1:7
• Slain  5:6, 9, 12; 13:8
• Crucified  11:8
6. Freed us from our sins  1:5
7. Redeemed us to God  5:9
8. Made us a kingdom of priests  1:6; 5:10
9. The Lord  1:8; 11:8; 22:20, 2; and the Lord of lords  17:14; 19:16;
10. God  1:8; 21:7
11. Encompassing all:
• alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end  1:8; 21:6; 22:13
• the first and the last  1:17; 22:13
• the beginning of the creation of God  3:14
12. Eternal:
• the one who is and was and is to come  1:8
• lives and was dead and lives forevermore  1:18
13. Returning  1:7
• as a thief  16:15
• suddenly  22:7, 12
• a Conqueror  19:11-16
14. Judges and makes war in righteousness  19:11; and judges the lost  20:11-15
15. The Almighty  1:8
16. The powerful one  12:10
17. Heaven and earth flee from Him  20:11
18. The Glorified One  1:12-16
19. Holds the keys of hell and death  1:18
20. With His churches  1:12-13, 16, 20; 2:1
21. Oversees the churches and grants promises to them  2-3
22. Has the 7 Spirits of God  3:1; 5:6
23. Holy  3:7; 15:4
24. Lion from Judah  5:5
25. Progenitor of David  5:5; 22:16
26. Offspring of David  22:16
27. The Male Child  12:1-5
28. The Lamb  5:6
29. Receives our prayers  5:8
30. Pours out wrath  6:16
31. Treads the winepress of God's wrath  19:15
32. Possesses salvation  7:10
33. Shepherd  7:17
34. Identifies with His servants  14:1
35. Light  21:23
36. Rewarder  22:12
37. The Great Reaper  14:14-16;
38. The Word of God  19:13
39. The bright and morning star  22:16

The book portrays Jesus in equality with the Father and as God. Compare "who is and was and is to come" (1:4 & 8; 16:5); and "the Lord God Almighty" (1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3). Of the 10 times the word "almighty" is found in Scripture, 9 of these are in Revelation (the other time is in 2 Corinthians 6:18) and the word always references God. See wrath as it pertains to Jesus and the Father (6:16; 11:18). Jesus and the Father are both recipients of glory, honor, and power (4:11; 5:12, 13). Jesus is called God (21:7). Jesus as Father (21:7).

Although seen often as a protagonist to man, only once is Satan viewed as a protagonist to God (Chapter 12). Otherwise, he is viewed as a tool of God's wrath. There is no equality of power portrayed between God and Satan. God holds the keys of hell and death. God sends an angel to fight with Satan. Satan is bound without difficulty by an angel and is thrown later into the lake of fire.

Besides the great Christology, the book reveals the future. Revelation 19:10 tells us that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. The book is prophetic. Jesus Himself outlines the book in 1:19 when He tells John to write what he had seen, the things that are, and the things that will take place afterwards. Chapter 1 are the things that John had seen. Chapters 2-3 are the things that are (the churches), and Chapters 4-22 are the things that are afterwards.

The word "angel" is found 186 times in the New Testament and 76 times are in this book. "Heaven" is found in Revelation 54 times out of a total of 280 times in the New Testament. The word "war" is found 25 times in the New Testament and 15 of those times are in this book. The word "blood" (19 times) is found more here than anywhere else.

The book is much into numbers. Every number from 1 to 12 is found in this book in one form or another. See the following table:

24 is used 7 times; 42 is used 2 times; 144 is used 1 time; 666 is used 1 time; 1000 is used 6 times; 1260 is used 2 times; 1600 is used once; 7000 is used once; 12,000 is used 13 times; 144,000 is used 3 times; 100,000,000 is used 1 time; 200,000,000 is used one time; and w/o number 1 time. Of the 86 times in the New Testament that the word "seven" is found, 53 are in this book. God keeps count.

There has been a great deal of disagreement on the proper interpretation of Revelation. I take a straightforward interpretation of the text, in line with the way Scripture interprets itself. The book has a beginning and an end and a clear progression in between. At points, the author carries a thought through and then goes back to bring another story line up to the present time. However, the author never retreats from the progression he has in mind.

Date:  95 A.D.

I. Introduction  1:1-8

II. The things that were (The vision of Christ)  1:9-20

III. The things that are (The letters to the seven churches)  2-3

1. Ephesus (lost their first love)  2:1-7
2. Smyrna (persecuted church)  2:8-11
3. Pergamos (tolerating church)  2:12-17
4. Thyatira (immoral church)  2:18-29
5. Sardis (dead church)  3:1-6
6. Philadelphia (missionary church)  3:7-13
7. Laodicean (lukewarm church)  3:14-22

IV. The things that are to come  4-22

1. The Scene in Heaven  4-5
1. God the Father  4
2. The Lamb  5
2. The Seven Seals  6-8:6
1. The conqueror  6:1-2
2. Taking away peace  6:3-4
3. Famine  6:5-6
4. Fourth of earth killed  6:7-8
5. The cry for vengeance  6:9-11
6. Unsettling phenomena  6:12-17

MIDPOINT OF TRIBULATION

7. Two great groups of people  7
1. 144,000 Jews  7:1-8
2. Great multitude of Gentiles  7:9-17
8. Silence  8:1-6
3. The Seven Trumpets  8-11
1. First four trumpets  8
1. 1/3rd of vegetation destroyed
2. 1/3rd of sea destroyed
3. 1/3rd of fresh water destroyed
4. 1/3rd of day destroyed
2. The three woes  9-11
1. Tormenting locusts for 5 months  9:1-12
2. Destroying army kills 1/3rd of men  9:13-21
1. Seven thunders  10:1-7
2. Little book  10:8-11
3. Two witnesses  11:1-14
3. The announcement in heaven  11:15-19

END OF TRIBULATION

4. Related Events  12-14
1. The Coming of Satan  12
1. Satan's loss of the manchild  12:1-6
2. Satan's loss of heaven  12:7-12
3. Satan's rage on the earth  12:13-17
2. The Coming of the Antichrist  13:1-10
3. The Coming of the False Prophet  13:11-18
4. The View from God's Eyes  14
1. The Lamb with the 144,000  14:1-5
2. The Proclamation of the three angels  14:6-13
1. The everlasting gospel  14:6-7
2. The destruction of Babylon  14:8
3. The end of the antichrist worshippers  14:9-13
3. The Great Harvest  14:14-20
1. The Great Reaper  14:14-16
2. The gathering  14:17-20
5. The Seven Bowls  15-16
1. Prelude  15-16:1
2. Foul and terrible sore  16:2
3. Complete corruption of the sea  16:3
4. Complete corruption of fresh water  16:4-7
5. Sun grows hotter  16:8-9
6. Darkness and pain  16:10-11
7. The gathering together for battle  16:12-16
8. The final cataclysmic events  16:17-21
6. Babylon Destroyed  17-18
1. Religious Babylon  17
2. Economic Babylon  18
7. The End of the Earth  19-20
1. Praise to God for His righteous judgments  19:1-10
2. The return of Christ  19:11-21
3. The 1000 years of Christ's reign  20:1-6
4. The final insurrection  20:7-10
5. The great white throne judgment and end of the earth  20:11-15
8. Eternity  21-22:5
1. Life in the new heaven and earth  21:1-8
2. The new Jerusalem  21:9-22:5

V. Conclusion  22:6-21

1. Promise of a quick return  22:6-12
2. The last invitation  22:13-17
3. The last warnings  22:18-19
4. The last exchange  22:20-21

Key Idea:  The revealing of Jesus Christ

Key Passage:  16:15

Key Lesson:  Be always prepared

Do you know Him?