Revelation: A Book of Hope

The letters in the last lesson were written to people in suffering, urging them to stand firm. The last book of the New Testament was also written to a suffering church.

Revelation says at the outset what it is: “the Revelation of Jesus Christ” (Rev 1:1). John, who wrote it, had been sent to the island of Patmos, and he tells his readers that he is “your brother and partner with you in the oppression, Kingdom, and perseverance in Christ Jesus” (Rev 1:9). The book has many visions and numbers; the millennium, the rapture, the great tribulation, the beast and its number, and the order and timing of the last things are matters churches understand differently; please ask your own church. This lesson reads only three things in Revelation that are perfectly clear.

First: it was written to suffering churches. Chapters 2 and 3 are seven short letters to seven real churches in Asia. The Lord knows their situation: some are poor, some are under persecution, some have left their first love, some are neither cold nor hot. To those who suffer he says, “Be faithful to death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev 2:10); to the lukewarm he says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him” (Rev 3:20). Every letter says: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies” (Rev 2:7).

Second: the one who reigns is the Lamb. In chapter 4 John saw that “there was a throne set in heaven, and one sitting on the throne” (Rev 4:2)—the church on earth was suffering, but the throne in heaven was not empty. In chapter 5 no one was worthy to open the scroll, and John wept bitterly. An elder said to him, “Don’t weep. Behold, the Lion who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome” (Rev 5:5). John looked, and what he saw was “a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain” (Rev 5:6). The conquering Lion is a Lamb that was slain.

Heaven sings a new song: “for you were killed, and bought us for God with your blood out of every tribe, language, people, and nation” (Rev 5:9). John also saw “a great multitude which no man could count, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” (Rev 7:9)—Lesson 4 said the gospel must go to the ends of the earth, and here we see that great crowd. Loud voices in heaven said, “The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. He will reign forever and ever!” (Rev 11:15).

Third: a new heaven and a new earth. John says, “I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away” (Rev 21:1). God will live with people, wipe away every tear, and there will be no more death. In the city is “a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Rev 22:1), and “There will be no curse any more” (Rev 22:3).

The whole Bible begins with “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen 1:1) and ends with a new heaven and a new earth; it begins in a garden and ends in a city. God says to the thirsty: “I will give freely to him who is thirsty from the spring of the water of life” (Rev 21:6); and the last chapter is still inviting: “He who desires, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev 22:17).

The last words of the Bible are a promise from the Lord and a prayer from the church: “Yes, I am coming soon.” (Rev 22:20) “Amen! Yes, come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev 22:20) Then comes a blessing: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with all the saints. Amen” (Rev 22:21). The seven lessons of New Testament Survey, from the four Gospels to here, have been about one and the same Jesus: he was born, died and rose again, sent out his disciples, shepherded the church through letters, and at the last reigns on the throne—and he is coming again.

You have finished New Testament Survey. You might look back at your Rule of Life card: in these seven lessons, is there a verse you would like to write on it? The Rooting Path has other courses to choose from; after the Rooting Path comes the Sending Path—taking what you have received to the next person.