Revelation 1-3
{TO THE CHURCHES}
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{BACKGROUND}
- Unsealing Daniel - (Daniel was commanded to seal the scroll, but John is told NOT to do so since the season is now at hand) - {PDF Copy}
- Introduction to Revelation - (A brief overview of the book of Revelation) - {PDF Copy}
- Fourfold Structure - {PDF Copy} - (The four major literary divisions are marked by John coming to be in spirit)
- Call to Action - {PDF Copy} - (Through a series of seven beatitudes, Revelation summons believers to faithfulness despite hostility and persecution)
- Isle of Patmos - {PDF Copy} - (John was exiled to Patmos for his testimony – A fellow participant in the Tribulation and Perseverance in Jesus)
- Unlocking Prophecy - (Jesus, the Word become flesh, is the interpretive key that opens the Hebrew scriptures and the book of Revelation) - {PDF Copy}
- Common Errors of Interpretation - (The real-life relevance of Revelation for today is lost if we begin to interpret it with incorrect presuppositions) - {PDF Copy}
- Provided Interpretations - (Revelation communicates symbolically, and it provides the reader with many key interpretations of its images) - {PDF Copy}
- Revelation's Recipients - (Revelation is addressed to seven real churches that resided in the Roman province of Asia) - {PDF Copy}
- People of the Last Days - {PDF Copy} - (The church is the battlefield where the final war is being waged between the Lamb and that Ancient Serpent, Satan)
- The Missing Seventy Weeks of Daniel - {PDF Copy} - (The book of Revelation never refers or alludes to the "Seventy Weeks" prophecy of Daniel)
- Linear Chronological Sequence? - (Are Revelation’s visions presented in chronological sequence?) - {PDF Copy}
- Literal and Nonliteral Language - {PDF Copy} - (From its opening verse, the book of Revelation demonstrates that it communicates via symbolism)
- The Wrath of God - (Wrath refers to the final judicial sentence of God on His enemies. Tribulation is what the church endures) - {PDF Copy}
{FIRST VISION}
- What Must Come to Pass - {PDF Copy} - (Revelation states that its purpose is to show God’s servants “what things must soon come to pass”)
- Prologue to Revelation - {PDF Copy} - (Revelation 1:1-3 - The first paragraph introduces the key themes, characters, and the addressees of the book)
- The Season is at Hand - {PDF Copy} - (In Revelation, the period known as the last days began following the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth)
- Greetings from the Throne - {PDF Copy} - (The salutations from the throne highlight key themes of the book, especially the victory and present reign of Jesus)
- The Faithful Witness - {PDF Copy} - (In the salutation to the seven churches, Jesus is called the Faithful Witness because of his self-sacrificial death)
- The Firstborn of the Dead - {PDF Copy} - (Jesus is the Firstborn of the Dead, a reference to his past resurrection and the basis for the future resurrection of the saints)
- Supreme Sovereign - {PDF Copy} - (The faithful witness, Jesus, now reigns supreme over the kings of the earth and even his enemies)
- He Who Is - {PDF Copy} - (God is the One who is and who was and who is coming, the Almighty who sits on the throne at the center of Creation)
- The Seven Spirits of God - {PDF Copy} - (Greetings are sent to the seven churches of Asia from God, Jesus, and the seven spirits of God that are before the throne)
- Kings and Priests - {PDF Copy} - (Disciples reign with Jesus as priests that render service in his Tabernacle and mediate his light in the world)
- Tribulation, Kingdom, Endurance - (Exiled on Patmos, John is a “fellow-participant” in the tribulation, kingdom, and endurance - “In Jesus”) - {PDF Copy}
- The Lordly Day - (On Patmos, John found himself “in the Spirit,” and projected to the “Day of the Lord” – Revelation 1:9-10) - {PDF Copy}
- Call to Action - {PDF Copy} - (Through a series of seven “beatitudes,” Revelation summons believers to faithfulness despite hostility and persecution)
- King of ALL Kings, and Ruler of the Kings of the Earth - (Revelation 1:4-6 - Jesus was exalted to rule the nations because of his Death and Resurrection) - {PDF Copy}
- First Vision - Son of Man - (Revelation 1:9-20 - John's vision of the Son of Man walking among the seven golden lampstands) - {PDF Copy}
{SEVEN LETTERS}
- Seven Churches - Overview - (The visitation of Jesus to the churches of Asia prepares the reader for the visions that follow the seven letters) - {PDF Copy}
- Tree of Life - Ephesus - (The messenger at Ephesus is commended for rejecting false apostles, chastised for leaving his first love, and summoned to return to his first works) - {PDF Copy}
- Faithful Until Death - (After persevering through persecution, the ever-faithful church at Smyrna was promised even more tribulation but also exceeding great rewards) - {PDF Copy}
- Hold Fast My Name - (Pergamos receives praise for remaining faithful to his name, but correction for tolerating the teachings of “Balaam”) - {PDF Copy}
- Martyrs and Overcomers - (In Revelation, overcoming saints persevere in the testimony of Jesus no matter the cost, “even unto death”) - {PDF Copy}
- Inhabitants of the Earth - (The “inhabitants of the earth” represent the men excluded from the “book of life” for aligning with the "beast") - {PDF Copy}
- Hear the Spirit! - (The call to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches begins to intensify after the warning about the teachings of “Jezebel”) - {PDF Copy}
- The Nicolaitans - (Deceivers within the churches were encouraging believers to compromise with the idolatrous rites of pagan society) - {PDF Copy}
- Arrayed in White Garments - Sardis - (The church in the city of Sardis receives no commendation, only warnings, and a summons to repent) - {PDF Copy}
- Pillar in the Temple - Philadelphia - (Philadelphia receives no correction since she has remained faithful, and therefore, she will be kept from the hour of trial ) - {PDF Copy}
- Kept from the Hour - (Revelation 3:10 - Did Jesus promise to remove the first-century church of Philadelphia from the earth?) - {PDF Copy}
- Gold Refined by Fire - Laodicea - (Laodicea receives no commendation, only corrections, and warnings. Its hope lies in becoming “gold refined by fire”) - {PDF Copy}
- Beginning of the Creation - (Revelation looks forward to the reign of Jesus in the New Creation, a reality inaugurated by his Death and Resurrection) - {PDF Copy}
{RELATED TOPICS}
- The Isle of Patmos - {PDF Copy} - (John was exiled on Patmos for the testimony of Jesus)
- Tribulation of the Saints - (In Revelation, faithful saints experience tribulation, but the unrepentant inhabitants of the earth undergo wrath) - {PDF Copy}
- Why do the Nations Rage? - (The conspiracy by the earth’s kings to unseat God’s Son is applied by the New Testament to the plot to destroy Jesus) - {PDF Copy}
{ONLINE COMMENTARIES}
- The Epistles to the Seven Churches, (By Richard Trench. PDF - Read online or download [public domain])
- Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia, (By William Ramsay. Read online or download PDF [Christian Classics Ethereal Library - ccel.org]).