01 Revelation 12
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Dedicated to the Covenant Discipleship Group which meets at The Christian Living Center. Denver, Colorado A VISION OF HOPE A Study of the Book of Revelation by James T. Reuteler, Ph.D. Covenant Bible Studies Aurora, Colorado © 1 A VISION OF HOPE TABLE OF CONTENTS The Preface........................................................................................................................ 4 The Introduction................................................................................................................ 6 1. The Vision of Christ (1:1-20) ..............................................................................10 2. Messages to Four Churches (2:1-29) ..................................................................16 3. Messages to Three Churches (3:1-22) ................................................................26 4. God and the Lamb (4:1—5:14) ...........................................................................34 5. The Seven Seals (6:1—8:5) ................................................................................40 6. The Seven Trumpets (8:6—11:19) ......................................................................52 7. The Woman and the Beasts (12:1—13:18) .........................................................62 8. The 144,000 (14:1-20) ........................................................................................72 9. The Seven Bowls of Wrath (15:1—16:21) .........................................................78 10. The Mysterious Babylon (17:1—19:10) .............................................................84 11. The Defeat of Satan (19:11—20:15)................................................................... 92 12. The Second Creation (21:1—22:21) .................................................................100 Appendix ......................................................................................................................108 1. Chart of the Book of Revelation (1-22) ............................................................109 2. Outline of the Book of Revelation ....................................................................110 3. Chart of the Seven Churches .............................................................................112 4. Chart of the Seven Seals ...................................................................................113 5. Chart of the Seven Trumpets .............................................................................114 6. Chart of the Characters and Plagues .................................................................115 7. Chart of the Judgment and the New Creation ...................................................116 8. Apocalypticism .................................................................................................117 9. The Persecution of Christians ...........................................................................119 10. The Roman Emperors .......................................................................................120 11. Symbols............................................................................................................. 122 12. The Names and Symbols of Evil....................................................................... 123 13. The Four Living Creatures................................................................................ 124 14. The 144,000 ......................................................................................................126 15. The AntiChrist ...................................................................................................127 16. Chapter 11 .........................................................................................................129 17. Three and a Half Years...................................................................................... 130 18. The Two Beasts .................................................................................................131 2 19. The Unholy Trinity............................................................................................ 133 20. Comparing the Images ......................................................................................134 21. 666..................................................................................................................... 135 22. Numerology ......................................................................................................137 23. Chapter 14 .........................................................................................................138 19. The Order of Events.......................................................................................... 139 20. Historical Postmillennial View ..........................................................................141 21. Historical Premillennial View ...........................................................................142 22. Fundamentalistic Premillennial View ...............................................................143 23. Historical Amillennial View ..............................................................................144 24. Gog and Magog................................................................................................. 145 25. The Second Coming.......................................................................................... 147 26. Images of Heaven and Hell ...............................................................................148 Afterword..................................................................................................................... 154 Other Study Guides and Books .................................................................................156 3 THE PREFACE The Book of Revelation is a vision of hope from beginning to end. Yes, there are images of cataclysms and disasters, but there are also visions of consolation, adoration, and hope. There are 150 verses describing the disasters, but there are also 150 verses describing hope. There are also 120 verses describing what our relationship to God should be like. Like the prophets of the Old Testament, the Book of Revelation focuses on life in this world. Yes, it also focuses on life in the next world, but its purpose is to give us hope in the midst of evil. The Book of Revelation emerged from unfulfilled prophecy, which led to apocalyptic preaching. The prophetic literature had the following characteristics: 1. The prophets reminded the people of the past, and told them what God had done for them. 2. The prophets gave an analysis of the present, and described human relationships and the evil forces at work in the world. 3. The prophets proclaimed their insights into the future, and called their listeners to repentance, warning them of the disaster which would come if they refused to repent. Apocalyptic preaching slowly replaced prophetic preaching. Apocalypticism had the following characteristics: 1. It is eschatological, that is, it has to do with “last things” or the end the age. 2. It is dualistic. Evil and good are locked in a conflict, and it is not obvious to everyone as to which one will win. 3. It is deterministic. In the end, evil will be defeated. 4. it is esoteric and highly symbolic and sometimes viewed as in a special code, which not everyone can understand. 5. It is comforting to those who are on God’s side, for God will ultimately win. The difference between prophecy and apocalypticism is as follows: In prophecy we are actors called to change the future. In apocalypticism, we are spectators to events we cannot change. 4 THE BOOK OF REVELATION INTRODUCTION (1:1-8) THE VISION OF CHRIST (1:9-20) THE SEVEN CHURCHES (2:1—3:22) THE Ephesus Smyrna Pergamum Thyatira Sardis Philadelphia Laodicea SEVEN (2:1-7) (2:8-11) (2:12-17) (2:18-29) (3:1-6) (3:7-13) (3:14-22) CHURCHES Lost Love Suffering Tempted Too Tolerant Asleep Open Door Luke-Warm Love Poverty Truth Discernment Life in Christ Faithfulness Hope VISION OF GOD ON THE THRONE (4:1-11) VISION OF THE SEALED SCROLL (5:1-5) THE SEVEN SEALS (6:1—8:5) White Horse Red Horse Black Horse Pale Horse Martyrs Day of Wrath Interlude Silence (6:1-2) (6:3-4) (6:5-6) (6:7-8) (6:9-11) (6:12-17) 144,000 (8:1-5) Bow & Crown Sword Balance Hades White Robe Sun, Moon, (7:1-8) 7 Angels given War of Civil War Famine Death Complete Stars & Sky Multitude 7 Trumpets Conquest Number (7:9-17) THE SEVEN TRUMPETS (8:6—11:19) Hail Mountain Star Sun Locusts Angels/Horses Interlude Messiah (8:6-7) (8:8-9) (8:10-11) (8:12) (9:1-12) (9:13) Angel & Scroll (11:15-19) 1/3 of Earth 1/3 of Sea 1/3 of Rivers 1/3 of Sun Led by 200,000,000 (10:1-11) Apollyon Sweet Bitter 2 Witnesses 1/3 of objects destroyed by the upheavals of nature 1/3 of the people killed (11:1-14) Olive Lamp Trees Stands THE CHARACTERS (12:1—15:8) The Woman Beast from Beast from Number of The Lamb & The Three Son of Man 7 Angels and the the Sea the Earth the Beast His People Angels (CrownSickle) with Dragon (13:1-10) (13:11-17) (13:18) (14:1-5) (14:6-13) (14:14-20) 7 Plagues Harvest: Roman Empire Roman Cultus (12:1-17) 666 or 616 144,000 Grain/Wine (15:1-8) THE SEVEN BOWLS OF WRATH (16:1-21) Earth Sea Rivers Sun Throne Euphrates Interlude Air (16:2) (16:3) (16:4-7) (16:8-9) of River (16:13-16) (16:17-21) the Beast (16:12) 3 Demons at (16:10-11) Armageddon THE JUDGMENT (17:1—20:15) The Great The Fall The Great The Marriage Rider on the The 1000 The Final The Final Harlot of Babylon Hallelujah of the Lamb White Horse Year Reign Conflict Judgment (17:1-18) (18:1-24))