The experience of reading and understanding the
book of Revelation recorded by John is indeed a challenging one. The book of
Revelation begins with an introduction where John described his writing as a
“revelation” (Rev 1:1) of God’s plan for the end time.
(Rev
1:1) “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to
show his servants what must soon take place. He made it know by sending his
angel to his servant John.”
The other important fact to note is that it is a
record of “everything he saw” (Rev 1:2). In Rev 1:11 and again in Rev 1:19, our
Lord Jesus’ instruction to John was to “Write down on a scroll what you see”.
However, since the book of Revelation is a book on
the predictions of the future, it might seem presumptuous to offer any kind of
definitive outline. But as Ramsey
Michaels pointed out, “Once we recognize that we are dealing simply with
what John saw and not with the literal course of future events, we are more
free to let the visions speak for themselves.” The book is not
written to be understood only by some biblical scholars, but also by everyone
with the supernatural help of the Holy Spirit. In understanding what the book
of Revelation is about, we could start by attempting to place ourselves in
John’s place and trying to see the visions as he saw them.
The book of Revelation is a book of visions; it is
a book of “revelation” of God’s plan for the end time. Since it is a record of what
John saw, we could attempt to place ourselves in John’s place and try to see
the visions as he saw them. Putting ourselves again in John’s position;
the witness of the events that would happen to the Church and the things that
would happen during the Tribulation must have filled him with holy fear and
reverence. But after witnessing the glory of the new heaven and new earth, it
must have filled him with joy that rendered him to conclude with the prayer,
“Amen. Come Lord Jesus.” (Rev 22:20)
Reading through the Revelation again recently has
filled me with excitement and awe. It is a book that laid out God’s strategic ‘battle
plan’ for the last days, and a ‘prayer manual’ to guide the saints how to pray
in the end times. When Jesus comes again, when the New Jerusalem descends to
the earth with Him, the two realms – the natural realm and the supernatural
realm become one. It is the ultimate consummation of God’s redemption plan and
what those who love Jesus can look forward to at the time of His coming.
Uncle
Henry
Monday,
30 Apr 12
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