Chapter 20: The Last Words of the Apostles: First Peter to Revelation
The Last Words of the Apostles
First Peter to Revelation
The inspired words of the apostles Peter, John, and Jude (our Lord’s half-brother) bring the Bible to a close, and John warns us that nothing should be taken from the Word of God or added to it (Rev. 22:18–19). Translations come and go not because the Bible changes but because languages change. Old words take on new meanings and new words are added to our vocabulary by the thousands, year after year. “Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven” (Ps. 119:89).
First Peter
“You will know the apostle Peter when you get to heaven,” the young preacher said, “because he’s the fellow with the foot-shaped mouth.”
I felt like getting up and walking out. The preacher wasn’t worthy to carry Peter’s shoes let alone make fun of him. Along with his two epistles, think of how much we have in the gospels and the book of Acts because Peter wasn’t afraid to speak up. He won thousands of people to Jesus Christ—and is still doing so—and he also laid down his life for Jesus. His two epistles reveal his love and concern for the people of God. In this first epistle, he aims to prepare God’s people for the impending persecution that the Roman government would unleash (4:12–19); and in his second epistle, he warned the churches about the false teachers who were stealthily creeping into the congregations and causing trouble. Foot-shaped mouth indeed!
How do we prepare for opposition and persecution? Peter gave us five instructions to obey.
Being Sure of Your Salvation (1:1—2:10)
Persecution usually cleanses a congregation and separates the sheep from the goats. It strengthens the true believers and the rest grow weaker and afraid. Peter opened his letter (vv. 1–5) with theology because what we believe helps control how we behave. Mark the theology in this section and imagine how it would help you if the enemy were persecuting you. Words like elect, foreknowledge, sanctification, and mercy are more than words. They are keys that unlock the doors to the spiritual blessings that keep us going when the going is hard and even dangerous.
As followers of Jesus Christ, we have eternal life and “a living hope” (1:3). Please read this section of your Bible and see the theology the Holy Spirit directed Peter to write. Note the variety of names Peter gave to the Christian experience. He told us that trouble is coming to the church, but if we know who we are in Christ and what we have in Christ, we can face the enemy unafraid—even in the midst of persecution.
Maintaining a Godly Walk (2:11–15)
“We ought to obey God rather than men,” Peter said to the Jewish court (Acts 5:29) when persecution was starting in Jerusalem. In his letter, Peter made it clear that we are to respect those in authority even if we disagree with them, but obedience to the Lord comes first. We are to obey the law unless in so doing we disobey the Lord. Peter presents Jesus Christ as the greatest example of obedience, an obedience culminating at Calvary, where He died for the sins of the world. Serving God involves sacrifice, and at times, we can’t do God’s will unless we are willing to pay a price. We must take up our cross and follow Jesus.
A godly walk in everyday life is a witness in itself. Sometimes it’s misunderstood, but for the most part, it is a light shining in a dark world.
Maintaining a Godly Home (3:1–7)
A godly home, with nothing to hide, presents a powerful witness to the lost, many of whom may be struggling with uncooperative or rebellious children—or perhaps it’s the parents who aren’t cooperating. The word submissive (3:1) in this passage irritates some people, but husbands and wives submit to each other in various ways. I have a very poor sense of direction; in that area, I’m the weaker vessel. But my wife has a flawless sense of direction. We have been together in foreign countries, and she has always known which way to go. She used to be a bookkeeper and is efficient when it comes to financial matters, so she handles that in our home. We work together on these things, and depending on the matter at hand, we submit to each other’s experience, training, and abilities. We always had a family devotional time each morning and prayed with the children each evening before they went to bed. A few times we needed extra prayer and discussion, but I can’t recall that we ever had recurring problems that couldn’t be solved.
I like the phrase “heirs together” in 3:7, for the Lord is the giver and the couple are the receivers of His blessing. This could also refer to the gift of children, for Psalm 127:3 reads, “Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD.” But it goes much farther, for as husband and wife work together in building their family and home, they depend on the Lord more and more. “Heirs together” beautifully describes a Christian couple, walking with the Lord and leading their children.
Understanding Suffering (3:8—4:19)
Suffering in the life of the Christian is different from the sufferings of the average person, for the Lord is in control, and we can work with Him in experiencing spiritual growth and blessing. In the believer’s life, suffering is one of the Lord’s “tools” for molding us; removing personal weaknesses; and strengthening our faith, hope, and love. Read Hebrews 12 and see what God says about “chastening.” A judge punishes a guilty criminal, but a loving parent chastens a disobedient child. Many times in church history the Lord used suffering to mature His people and to prepare them for greater service. James wrote, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials” (James 1:2). Why rejoice in trials? Because if we walk by faith, they will mature us and help us grow in faith and obedience. Joseph’s years in prison turned a boy into a man, as did David’s experiences when King Saul was pursuing him. If we deliberately sin against the Lord, we may reap a painful harvest, but if we are obeying the Lord and we find ourselves in trouble, this may be our Father’s loving hand of chastening—helping us grow in grace and holiness.
Submitting to God’s Will (5:1–14)
This closing chapter speaks especially to the church’s spiritual leaders, what Peter calls “the shepherds of the flock.” The sheep are safe and secure so long as they recognize the shepherd’s voice and obey it. If they disobey, they are in danger. You don’t drive sheep; you lead them—and leaders must be good examples. The Holy Spirit is willing to teach us God’s will from God’s Word, and we must be willing to obey.
When it comes to knowing and doing the will of God, Satan our enemy seeks to confuse us and take us off the right path. One of his chief weapons is pride. He convinces us that we are so mature that we need not consult God’s Word or take time to pray or to seek wisdom from our elders. Peter advised, “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time” (1 Pet. 5:6). All of us have cares, and the Lord is willing to help us carry them, understand them, and ultimately remove them. Paul suffered a thorn in the flesh and asked God to remove it, but God did just the opposite! He turned Paul’s weakness into strength (2 Cor. 12:7–10)!
The will of God is an expression of the love of God. “The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations” (Ps. 33:11). God plans for us like this because He loves us, and we obey because we love Him.
There are places in our modern world where Christians are being persecuted, imprisoned, and even killed. Even Christians in the United States have been arrested because they refused to obey laws that contradict God’s laws. “We ought to obey God rather than men,” Peter told the Jewish court (Acts 5:29), and he was correct. May God help us follow his example and the example of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Second Peter
In his first letter, Peter sought to encourage and prepare the scattered believers concerning the persecution that the Roman emperor was planning to release against the churches. But in his second letter, Peter warned the believers to have nothing to do with the false teachers who were infecting local assemblies with their heresies. Notice in 1:12–15, Peter knew his own time was short, just as Jesus had told him years before (John 21:15–19). Before he gave his life for the cause of Christ, he wanted to warn the churches about those counterfeit Christians. If you knew your life were about to end, what special messages would you want to give to your friends and loved ones? Peter’s message can be summarized in three admonitions.
Be Diligent (1:1–21)
Whether they know it or not, careless Christians are working for the enemy and not for the Lord. Peter exhorts his readers to be diligent and to “grow up” in their spiritual life (vv. 1–4). When they were born again into God’s family, they received “all things that pertain to life and godliness” through the power of God and had everything they needed to become mature Christians. It’s easy to deceive children, but mature people can quickly detect a fraud. We have the Word of God before us and the Spirit of God within us to teach us. Verses 5 through 8 describe the maturing Christian and verse 9 the immature one. Careless Christians can’t see and can’t remember! It takes time and diligence to grow in grace and knowledge and get equipped to fight the enemy and win.
In verses 16 through 21, Peter reaffirms the trustworthiness of the Word of God, for God’s Word is our basic manual of arms, and our weapon for spiritual warfare (Heb. 4:12; Eph. 6:10–20). Peter reminded his readers that he had lived and ministered with the Lord Jesus Christ and didn’t get his facts second hand. He mentioned the rich experience he and James and John had on the mountain when Jesus was transfigured and the Father spoke from heaven (Matt. 17:1–13). And I can enjoy similar experiences. I can read my Bible and hear God speaking to me. The Spirit can reveal the glory of Jesus Christ. All the inspired writers of the Bible help us see and hear the truth of God’s Word and obey what the Lord tells us to do.
Peter describes careless believers as short-sighted, blind, and forgetful (2 Pet. 1:9).
Be Delivered (2:1–22)
False teachers intend to take control of churches others have built and lead them astray, and the teachers of truth must guard themselves and protect these congregations. The heretics don’t teach truth, nor do they respect God’s servants, yet many people follow them (2:2). Often, the motive of these liars, of course, is to get money (v. 3). Unless the congregation is well-taught and submissive to their Lord and their leaders, the invaders might take over the church.
Peter knew his Old Testament Scriptures and pointed out that the Lord often defeated the liars and upheld His own faithful people. When the ancient world forgot the Lord and rebelled against the godly life He required, God sent the flood and saved eight people: Noah and his family. God rescued Lot and his two daughters from the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Lord knows His own faithful people and can protect them and deliver them. Peter didn’t mince words when he described the false teachers (vv. 10–17). They may be smooth talkers and pleasant to talk to privately, but they still deceive and destroy lives, and God is able to deliver His servants from the power of the evil one. Read verses 12–22 carefully. Are you enraptured by false teachers—their radio and television programs, the books they write, the letters they send you? Then you need to be delivered!
Be Mindful and Beware! (3:1–18; see verses 2 and 17)
We must be mindful of the truths we have learned from the Scriptures and beware of the false teachers’ deceptions lest we get trapped, start believing false doctrines, and tear down what the Lord wants built up. Bible-rejecting churches exist today that once were centers of evangelism, Bible teaching, worship, and wide ministry. It didn’t happen overnight, but it happened, primarily because the true believers were not mindful of what was going on and opposing it. Beware! The same tragedy has occurred with schools that were once evangelical and sought to win the lost. Today they joke about evangelism, absolutes, and the devotional life. I recall one school that once had several godly presidents who taught and preached the Word of God. Then a president was chosen who was a chameleon—an evangelical when with evangelicals but a false teacher when he was not.
Be mindful and beware! The day of the Lord will arrive, and those who have abandoned the faith will face judgment. Let’s instruct the next generations and prepare them to carry on the ministries of evangelism, church planting, Christian education, missions, and helping the needy. Peter warned us that professed Christians can “fall from [their] own steadfastness” (3:17) and deny the very teachings they once defended. How do we remain steadfast? Practice 2 Peter 3:18: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” And be sure He gets the glory!
The First Epistle of John
The apostle John didn’t arrange his first epistle as neatly as he did his gospel. Reading this epistle is like walking up a circular staircase and meeting the same people at almost every turn. John wrote on about a dozen different topics, and each statement either emphasized an old truth or introduced a new truth. Led by the Spirit, he wrote as though he was holding up a large, beautiful diamond and was causing rays of sunlight to produce different shapes and colors. John wanted us to pause and ponder and not think we have already covered that topic and can move on.
Keep your Bible open, and I will give you the topics and references. Take time to read the verses, meditate on them, and compare them. I might make a comment or two, but the important thing is that you read the verses for each topic and think about what they say.
Life
John began by affirming that he had seen eternal life manifested in Jesus Christ (1:1–2; 2:25; 3:14–16; 5:11–13, 20). It was not a vision or a dream but a “hands-on” experience day after day. John wrote about reality. God had come to earth in living human form! “In the beginning was the Word” opens John’s gospel and his statement in 1 John 1—2 parallels it. Jesus is the eternal Word, the living Word that imparts life to all who hear and believe. John opened and closed this letter with eternity. Think about it.
Fellowship
For three years, the apostles lived with Jesus, ate with Him, traveled with Him, watched Him minister, and listened to Him teach divine truth (1:3, 7). The word fellowship means “to have in common.” Different kinds of people comprise the church, people who nevertheless have in common eternal life, the Holy Spirit within, and a home in heaven. They worship and work together to the Lord’s praise and glory. John wrote his gospel so that sinners would believe and enter the fellowship (John 20:31), and he wrote this epistle so that saved sinners might enjoy and enlarge the fellowship. If we are walking in the light, we are in fellowship with the Lord and His people (1:5–7). The word abide relates to this and is used in 1 John nineteen times and in John’s gospel seventeen times. To abide in Christ means to fellowship with Him and do His will. Read John 15 for more on “abiding.”
Joy
Why did John write this letter? So that we might have joy in our Christian life (1:4). Happiness comes primarily from happenings, but joy comes from the Lord as we fellowship with Him and serve others. Joy comes from the Spirit’s work in our hearts, for “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy …” (Gal. 5:22). We find joy in God’s Word as the Spirit teaches us, and we experience joy in fellowship with other Christians. We all have our difficulties and disappointments, but the Lord will give us joy even when our bodies and our circumstances seem to be against us.
Light
Light symbolizes several things in the Bible, including God (1:5; John 8:12), God’s Word (Ps. 119:105), and God’s people (Matt. 5:14–16). But light also can mean knowledge and truth while darkness can mean ignorance and lies (1 John 1:5–7; 2:8–11). John has much to say about truth (1:6, 8; 2:4, 21; 3:18–19; 4:6; 5:6). Check the “darkness” verses, too (1:5–6; 2:8–9, 11). Note also some of the people in Scripture who are identified with darkness, such as King Saul (1 Sam. 28), Samson (Judg. 16:21), and Judas (John 13:30).
Cleansing
Cleansing pictures the forgiveness of sins (1:7–10). David prayed to be made “whiter than snow” (Ps. 51:7), and in the upper room, Jesus washed His disciples’ feet (John 13:1–17). Additionally, as we meditate on Scripture, the Word of God cleanses us (John 15:3; Eph. 5:26).
Overcoming Power
This means overcoming temptation (2:1–11, 14; 3:4–9). Jesus is our Advocate who represents us before the Father and forgives us when we confess our sins (1:9–10). As our High Priest, He also enables us to resist the world, the flesh, and the devil so that we do not sin.
Love
We are to love God and God’s people, our neighbors, and our enemies (2:7–11; 3:16–23; 4:7—5:5). We are also to love God’s Word (Ps. 119:97). John 3:16 tells us that God loves the world and gave His Son to save sinners, and 1 John 3:16 tells us we ought to lay down our lives in love for our brothers and sisters in Christ.
The Will of God
Make your choice: either the will of the world or the will of God (2:15–17). The will of God is an expression of the love of God (Ps. 33:11); the will of the world involves lust. Doing God’s will involves humility and faith while doing the world’s will requires pride and very high self-confidence. Pleasing the Lord is much easier than pleasing the world, and the consequences are eternal.
Knowledge
Because believers have God’s Word, the Holy Spirit, and prayer, they have access to God’s wisdom and the ability to understand what God wants them to do (2:18–29; 5:18–21). Many times in my ministry, I’ve struggled with a passage and gone to bed with no solution. But in the middle of the night, I’ve awakened and discovered the Lord teaching me! To take advantage of these occasions, I keep a lamp, a pen, and a tablet next to the bed so I can write down what the Lord teaches me. If I don’t, I’ll go back to sleep and forget the night school lesson! “My eyes are awake through the night watches, that I may meditate on Your word,” wrote the psalmist (Ps. 119:148). The Lord will grant wisdom, even if it sometimes comes when we’d rather sleep. He warns us about the enemy and tells us what to do. He encourages us and sometimes rebukes us, but all of this is for our good. Note the phrase “we know” in this epistle.
Hope
Love and hope go together. Jesus loves His “little children” and wants them to live with Him forever (3:1–3). We have a “blessed hope” that our Lord will one day return and take His people home to heaven. If we believe His promise, it should motivate us to obey Him—John calls it “purifying ourselves”—and be ready when He comes.
Holy Spirit
When we obey our Lord, the indwelling Holy Spirit can work in us and through us and glorify the Lord Jesus (3:24—4:6; 5:6–10). (The Holy Spirit is mentioned often in John’s gospel.) John warns his readers not to meddle with false teachers because they are controlled by the antichrist, but “the Spirit is truth” (5:6). The Spirit bears witness to us about Jesus so that we might bear witness to a lost world (Acts 1:8). “God is greater than our heart” (1 John 3:20), and the Holy Spirit can deliver us from thoughts and feelings that might lead us astray. The Spirit within us is greater than the spirits at work in our world. As we meditate on the Word of God, the Spirit bears witness to us and imparts the truth of God.
Prayer
What a privilege it is to “take it to the Lord in prayer” (5:14–17). If the Spirit leads us and we claim God’s promises in the Scriptures, we can pray with confidence. The better we know the Lord and His Word, the more effective our praying will be. But if we know there is sin in our hearts, the Lord will not hear us (Ps. 66:18). The Spirit and the Word of God will convict us, and we must confess our sins (review 1 John 1:5–10).
There are other topics we could consider, but this selection gives you a good idea of the spiritual truths John offered us. Don’t let the “circular staircase” of truths discourage you. Each time you read John’s first epistle, you will see truths that you never saw before, so keep studying!
The Second Epistle of John
John didn’t identify “the elect lady,” but he did identify his theme—“the truth”—and described our responsibilities regarding God’s truth. First, we should love the truth (1:3). It isn’t enough for us simply to know God’s Word or even respect it, but we must love the Word of the Lord. “Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day” (Ps. 119:97, and see vv. 48, 113, 127, 159, 165, and 167). When we receive an email or a letter from someone we love, we drop everything and read it. If we truly love the Lord, we will love what He says to us. For years, I have set aside time at the beginning of each day to read the Scriptures, pray, and lay hold of the principles and promises the Lord wants me to know.
Our second responsibility is to walk in the truth (2 John 4–6). That means to obey it in every aspect of life. John emphasized the new commandment Jesus gave us that we love one another (John 13:31–35). To live motivated by love is to live as Jesus lived and to experience the blessings that the Holy Spirit wants to share with us.
Holding on to the truth is our third responsibility (2 John 7–11). The world around us does not believe in absolutes, and it knows how to manipulate lies and occasional truths. Remember the college student who said, “There are no absolutes”? If there truly aren’t any, that would include the student’s statement; the paradox there ends the conversation. During my lifetime, I have heard truth attacked, mangled, denied, laughed at, and cursed—yet the truth remains. Don’t let anybody rob you of the truth! Obeying God’s truth not only gives us wisdom and blessing, but it defeats the enemy and enables us to serve a needy world. John warns us to be cautious how we entertain people who deny God’s truth lest we give others the impression we agree with them. Loving our unsaved friends and neighbors is one thing, but opening the door to cultists is quite another.
All of this leads us to the fourth responsibility: enjoy the truth and share it (vv. 12–13). It’s enriching to spend time with Christian friends and interested unsaved friends discussing God’s Word and applying it to our lives and ministries. It’s good to read the truth and absorb it, and it’s also good to discuss it and tell others what God’s truth means in your own life. The apostle John wrote much that has blessed the world; we can learn from others, and they can learn from us. The best way to promote and defend the truth is to practice it in daily life.
The Third Epistle of John
This letter mentions three different people—Gaius, Diotrephes, and Demetrius—and we may learn something from each of them.
Gaius (vv. 1–8) was evidently converted under John’s ministry, for John called him one of his spiritual children (v. 4). John was concerned about his friend’s health and prayed that he might be as healthy physically as he was spiritually. Both should concern us when we intercede for others. Didn’t Jesus and His disciples heal the sick and afflicted and feed the hungry? Gaius also helped support traveling evangelists who were devoted to the Lord and to sharing the truth. Those who go out to minister and those who serve at home by helping support them are both important “fellow workers for the truth” (v. 8).
I suppose almost every church has in the congregation a troublemaking dictator like Diotrephes (vv. 9–12). He did not respect John’s authority as an apostle and put himself above everybody else in the congregation. He ignored a letter John had written to the church and insisted that he was first in leadership and had the final say-so in everything. He had to approve who could join the fellowship, and he thought he could even dismiss people from the church! How painfully sad and how destructive it is when a church has members like this! John made it clear that he would visit the church, confront Diotrephes personally, and set matters straight. Everything rises and falls with leadership, and if the leadership is proud and selfish, the church will not prosper.
On the other hand, in my own pastoral ministry, I’ve always been grateful for people like Demetrius who live godly lives and have good testimonies. We need more church members who are walking with the Lord and working with others to help the church grow in grace and in number. When Jesus washed His disciples’ feet (John 13:10–17), He made it clear that we are to serve one another and not use one another to build our own “kingdom.” If you want to know how to treat other people in the church, take time to find and read the “one another” statements in the New Testament.
The Epistle of Jude
Jude and James were half-brothers of Jesus (Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3; Acts 15:22). Jude’s epistle deals with the false teachers who were getting into the churches and leading people astray. Jude intended to write on a different theme but the Lord led him to warn the churches of this dangerous situation. His brief but powerful letter may be outhned as follows:
What the False Teachers Do
They are not open and honest in their ministry but secretive, having “crept in unnoticed” into the churches under false pretenses (v. 4). They masquerade as devoted children of God when they are actually seeking to lead the church family into false doctrines. The apostle Peter issued the same warning in his letter as Jude does here (2 Pet. 2:1–3). The false teachers aimed to “turn the grace of God into lewdness” (Jude 4). In other words, they told the people that God’s grace gives believers freedom to do as they please. Paul refuted this lie in Romans 6, and John dealt with it in 1 John 3:4–9. These false teachers denied that Jesus was God come in human flesh. They denied what John affirmed in his first epistle (2:18–23; 4:1–4). They did not believe God’s Word or believe in God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
In verses 5–7, Jude reached back into the Old Testament to show that the Lord judges those who commit such sins. God judged the people who refused to enter Canaan, and they wandered for forty years (1 Cor. 10; Heb. 3—4). He judged the angels who rebelled against God (2 Pet. 2:4–5); the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (v. 7; Gen. 18:16—19:29); and Cain, Baalam, and Korah as well. Cain was an unbeliever (Gen. 4), Baalam was greedy for wealth (Num. 22—24), and Korah would not submit to God’s authority as vested in Moses (Num. 16). False teachers speak abusively and argue with the Lord (Jude 8–10). “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31).
What the False Teachers Are
Jude listed ten characteristics of false teachers that make them very dangerous. They are blemishes on the body of Christ, even at the church love feasts. Peter used the same image (2 Pet. 2:13). Their evil doctrines and practices defile the church. They are selfish (Jude 12), serving themselves instead of serving their people. Jude’s phrase “clouds without water” means they promise showers of blessing but have no refreshing water (Prov. 25:14). They are rootless and fruitless, twice dead! Wild waves are destructive, and wandering stars will lead the traveler astray; so will these teachers. False teachers are ungodly, unappreciative, and arrogant in their scoffing at those who are faithful to the Lord. Each of these images exposes the deception false teachers practice, and every believer must be alert and aware. They are not spiritual people but sensual, resulting in divisions in the church (“Are you for me or against me?”). Division weakens the church and opens the way for trouble.
What God’s People (True Believers) Must Do
We must start with love. Jude called his readers “beloved” (vv. 3, 17, 20), an indication that he knew them. Start “building yourselves up on your most holy faith” (Jude 20), he first admonished because “love never fails” (1 Cor. 13:8). As Paul wrote, “The fruit of the Spirit is love” (Gal. 5:22). Some people are wrong in their thinking because they are ignorant, or perhaps they have been taught by the wrong people. The more we grow in faith and knowledge, the better able we are to help others abandon false thinking and receive the truth.
Prayer in the Spirit is the next essential, asking the Lord to cleanse our minds and hearts and grant us spiritual wisdom and insight. Remember, we are fighting against Satan and his demonic forces, and prayer is one of our best weapons. Waiting patiently for the Lord to work in the minds and hearts of teachers and followers is important. As we watch and pray and wait and pray, the Lord will work in their hearts and ours. The Lord will give us discernment (Jude 22–23), and we will know what to say and do. Verses 24 and 25 are a benediction of blessing I have used for many years. We are not able to change people, but God will use what we say and do to transform them.
Revelation
The Holy Spirit used the apostle John to give us three different kinds of inspired literature: the gospel of John, where the emphasis is on believing (20:31), the epistles of John, with an emphasis on behaving (1 John 2:1), and the Revelation of Jesus Christ by John, where the emphasis is on beholding (The word behold is used twenty-six times). The Lord showed John one prophetic tableau after another, and we are invited to study them. What a privilege!
The persecution that both Peter and Jude wrote about did come, and John was sent as a prisoner to work in the mines on the island of Patmos. But the Lord can teach His children no matter where He places them, and He gave John remarkable visions of the future that still stir minds and hearts today. One of the key words in the book is seven, a number that carries the idea of completeness. As you examine this simple outhne of the book, note that the events work together to bring God’s plan to a successful conclusion. Our Lord is the beginning and the end, and what He starts He finishes.
Please remember that this book is about Jesus Christ and not just about prophetic events. From beginning to end, Jesus is seen, is heard, and is glorified. Take time to get acquainted with the various names and titles of Christ in this fascinating book.
It’s also interesting to contrast the Revelation (the end of the Bible) with Genesis (the beginning of the Bible).
Genesis
The Revelation
The first creation (1:1)
New heaven and earth (21:1)
Satan’s first attack (3:1–24)
Satan’s last attack (20:7–10)
The sun shines (1:16)
No sun needed (21:23)
The sea created (1:10)
No more sea (21:1)
The serpent cursed (3:14–17)
No more curse (22:3)
Adam given a wife (2:18–23)
Marriage of the Lamb (19:6–9)
The serpent judged (3:15)
The serpent doomed (20:1–3)
The fact that the letters to the seven churches were first on the agenda (1:4–8; chs. 2—3) suggests that what the Lord revealed to John was important to the ministry of the churches in that day. The churches in John’s day were not unlike our churches today, and we would be wise to learn about them and examine our own ministries. Some of the churches were faithful and fruitful, but others tolerated sin and sinful people. The seven churches have been understood to represent seven stages in the history of the church, but even if so, the first application must be for us today. These churches existed at the same time and may in some ways illustrate religious history, but the first application must be to our own lives and ministries today. Read the letters to the churches carefully and apply them first to yourself and the church where you worship.
Looking further into this book, it’s interesting that our Lord is identified with both a lion and a lamb (5:5–6). It’s a paradox, for the two animals are quite opposite each other. The lion makes us think of a king and the lamb a sacrifice, but is not Jesus both? He was as gentle as the lamb led to the slaughter (Isa. 53:7) and as powerful and kingly as the lion.
You will want to note the seven beatitudes in the book of Revelation: 1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14; and you should mark the twenty-six times the Lamb is mentioned (5:6, 8, 12, 13; 6:1, 10, 16; 7:9–10, 14, 17; 12:11; 13:8; 17:14; 19:7, 10; 21:9, 14, 22–23, 27; 22:1, 3). Elsewhere in Scripture, Isaac asked his father, “Where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” (Gen. 22:7). John the Baptist answered the question: “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Back in Revelation, the huge heavenly choir exalted Him: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain” (5:12). There are also four doxologies: 1:4–8; 4:11; 5:13; and 7:12. To worship and praise the Lord is the chief occupation of the residents of heaven, as it should be.
Please note that the furnishings of the tabernacle and temple are mentioned in the Revelation: the brazen altar (6:9), the laver (4:6), the incense altar (8:3–5), the lamps (4:5), the cherubim (4:6–7), and the throne (4:2). The word throne is mentioned forty-seven times in the book; there is an emphasis on the majesty and regal ministry of the Savior.
There are a dozen references to the “earth dwellers,” in other words, the people who live on the earth and for the world and who have not trusted the Savior (3:10; 6:10; 8:13; 11:2, 10; 12:12; 13:8, 12, 14; 17:2, 8). The followers of Jesus Christ are in this world to serve, but they are not of this world to sin. First John 2:15–17 settles that, and see John 17:12–19. The “earth dwellers” belong to Babylon, but the people of God belong to Jerusalem. It doesn’t take much to understand why.
Definite patterns appear in The Revelation of Jesus Christ, but students don’t all agree on what they teach us. Some see Jesus returning before the tribulation while others see a mid-tribulation rapture of the church or even a post-tribulation rapture. The important thing is not that I have an accurate calendar but that I am ready today for the Lord to return, faithfully doing what He has called me to do. The students of prophecy who have set dates have all been wrong. The believers who have set their hearts on waiting, watching, and working will be ready.
ADVENTURE ASSIGNMENT #20
We have covered a lot of territory. Has one book in this last section especially captured your interest—not because it’s brief but because it offers you opportunities to learn and grow? Read it again and make your own outhne. Make a list of the images and symbols it contains, and trace some of the cross-references to other books in the Bible. If you still have some energy, use your own outhne of the book and decide how you would teach the book to a class.