Revelation by Mike Sullivan (2021)

In Revelation, John the Apostle relays a message about the future that he received by direct revelation from Jesus. It is a message to the suffering first century churches in what is modern day Turkey. The question is what did the message mean to John's original readers? They recognized that John used Old Testament imagery and symbols throughout his letter. They would have known the lamb imagery was referring to the suffering savior and the glowing description of Jesus implied a sovereign king. Where the Old Testament does not identify the imagery, John explicitly reveals it.

Jesus addresses a letter directly to the church in Pergamum to praise them for being faithful witnesses but to also admonish them for failing to address false teachings happening in their church. Jesus calls them to aggressively confront the Nicolaitans, who were known for unrestrained indulgences, or he would come and use the sword of His mouth (the Word) to deal with this false teaching. \r\nA church that refuses to speak truth in love is a church that is trouble. Jesus offers his provision to the church that commits to refuting false doctrine.

The church at Laodicea was not being rebuked for being wealthy, but for having an attitude of not needing anything due to their great wealth. When in fact they were spiritually destitute. Everything they had was from God, but they did not see that. The had become proud and forgot who really provided for them. In the US, we are the wealthiest country that has ever been. Instead of trying to become less wealthy, we should change our beliefs about wealth. The promise of wealth that it can meet our deepest needs is false. Jesus says to change our minds about wealth's false promises and in stead zealously believe Jesus' true promises to meeting our deepest needs beyond what we can imagine.

The fourth and fifth chapters of Revelation focus on a period of history when God judges sinful humanity. These chapters address the question of who is worthy to judge the whole world. Only a perfectly sinless being could stand in judgment of another being. God is holy and perfect; he has never sinned. He is qualified to judge. \r\nA morally perfect God must judge sin. His perfect justice does not allow sin to go unpunished. So, he sent his perfect, sinless Son to pay the penalty we all deserve.

John, the apostle, was given a revelation from Jesus about what must take place before he returns again. In Chapter 6, Jesus is given a scroll with seven seals upon it. Jesus opens six of the seals in order. The first three seals involve false Christs , war and famine being present in the world but this is not the end. This is a period of passive judgment that humans bring upon themselves. Seals four and five indicate intensification of the previous signs and widespread martyrdom. This will be closer to the end, but still not the end. Breaking seal number six ushers in the The Great Day of Wrath. This occurs during the Great Tribulation when God brings upon sinful humanity his righteous judgment.

In Genesis, God makes a promise to the Jewish people that he would make them a great nation, through whom he would bless all the nations. God keeps his promises. In Revelation 7, the 144,000 Jewish bondservants are used by God to reach the great multitude of people who ultimately lose their lives in the Great Tribulation for putting their faith in Jesus . Although they suffer and die, they are blessed with eternal life.

In Chapters 8 and 9, God is ready to act upon the prayers of the martyrs to unleash judgment on the rebellious world that caused their death. During the Great Tribulation, people will not repent of their evil ways but will reject God's moral leadership, thinking that they will occupy the seat of power instead of God. They are unaware that to not worship God is to worship Satan. They will bear the consequences of that decision to reject God's authority.

During the Great Tribulation there will be tremendous judgments poured out upon the people of the earth for refusing to repent. But there will also be, at the same time, God going to great lengths to reach people who are far from him. God will send 144,000 bondservants to proclaim the Gospel; he will send two witnesses to Jerusalem for three and a half years to appeal to people to turn back to God; he will even send Jesus to appear in person after the two witnesses are taken up into heaven. And if that wasn't enough, a mighty angel will fly around the world making one final effort to exhort the remaining people to repent and turn to God before time is up.

In Revelation, John describes the three beasts that will be revealed during The Tribulation period, the dragon, the antichrist, and the false prophet. Much of John's language is cryptic and some of it is impossible to understand until it is revealed and then it will be unmistakable. Some possible reactions to this uncertainty is skepticism, unhealthy speculation, or fear. The best response is faith. God has given us so much prophesy that has come true that we can have confident faith that these mystifying prophesies will also come true in due time. In the mean time we should be trusting and obeying what we do know to be true from Scripture. God wins in the end and we have eternal life in him. Our focus must be on sharing his good news with others who do not know him yet.

Babylon the Great is the ultimate expression of human empires that defy God's rule. It seduces governments and businesses thorough the allure of material wealth. It seduces individuals by turning good things into idols that corrupt and enslave. As believers, we are not citizens of this world system and so should not get caught up in arguing the relative value of different political systems but instead should make the ongoing decision to resist the seductive influence of Babylon the Great.

The Bible is clear, Jesus first came to earth as a suffering servant and he will return to earth as a conquering king. When he returns, he will defeat his enemies and will put an end to rebellion forever. Satan and his antichrist will be thrown into the lake of fire forever. There will be a wedding celebration for all those who have put their trust in Jesus to save them. If you are a believer, the question is are you ready for his return? As a non-believer, will you put your faith in Jesus and join the celebration?

The Millennial Kingdom is the period of time after the church age ends. It is a thousand years of Jesus and his resurrected followers reigning over the mortal survivors of the Tribulation. Satan will be bound during this time. People will live long without illness. After the thousand years, Satan will be released to deceive the nations one final time but he will be destroyed and thrown into the lake of fire forever and ever. \r\n\r\nIt will be a period of true social justice and lasting world peace. There will be world-wide spiritual enlightenment and a time of unprecedented celebration and joy. Nature will be substantially restored.

Many people, Christian and non-Christian alike, are uncomfortable with the idea of final judgment, or hell, but it is a reality. Hell is necessary because sin is a reality that must be dealt with. God loves people and sin hurts the people God loves. Because God values free will, he honors our choices. Because God is righteous and just, he must punish sin. Because he is loving, he offers an alternative to hell for anyone who chooses to receive the forgiveness Jesus offers through his death on the cross.

God's eternal kingdom will be a physical, material world where we will have transformed physical bodies. It will be relational because God is a community of love relationships. There will be complete healing and wholeness. It will be never-ending where our life before was a brief prelude to our forever life in heaven. We can have complete confidence this will happen because God's record of fulfilling His predictions is flawless. Remarkably, anyone who is thirsty for this eternal life is welcome to receive it for the asking. No money, no good works, no ritual observances, no degree of sinlessness is required to receive water from the spring of life.

John describes the new city of Jerusalem coming down to earth from heaven. Scholars argue whether his language is literal or figurative. Regardless, there is symbology we can decipher, such as the cube shaped city represents the three types of people who will make up its residents, Old Testament believers, the Apostles and New Testament believers. It will be a place of great wealth and beauty. All ethnic groups will e present with their diverse cultures. God will dwell with His people and His people will reflect His glory. Believers in this life can have a taste of the next life in this life when we reflect His glory, experience His presence and experience the glory of the nations.

In God's eternal kingdom, Jesus rewards His followers for their faithful service. God motivates us to live faithfully for Him by promising us rewards when this life is over. We will get the satisfaction of seeing the full significance of our service to Him. Things we did that we thought were insignificant or unsuccessful will be praised by God because they had significant ripple effects that we could not see. We will have the joy of being praised by God for our service.

In the final chapter of Revelation, God comes full circle. He restores what was lost in the garden of Eden. He restores life where there was death. He restores our separation from God, from self and from nature. All ills will be healed. We will have direct access to God and eternal life. We will co-rule with God. God has always had a plan and all problems will be resolved. He promises he is coming quickly. Do you believe it?