oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo THE REVELATION TO JOHN Commentary/Classbook TWENTY-TWO LESSONS With Class Questions for Each Lesson By: Reg Ginn oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Contents LESSON PAGE Lesson One: Introduction to the Revelation ...................................................................... 1 Outline of Revelation ................................................................................................ 11 Lesson Two-- Chapter One: Christ Among the Lampstands ............................................ 14 Lesson Three--Chapter Two: Letters to Four Churches .................................................... 19 Lesson Four-- Chapter Three: Letters to Three Churches ............................................... 29 Lesson Five-- Chapters Four & Five: God on His Throne; The Book and the Lamb...... 40 Lesson Six-- Chapter Six: The Book Unsealed .................................................................. 50 Lesson Seven-- Chapter Seven: The Sealed and the Saved ............................................... 59 Lesson Eight-- Chapter Eight: Opening the Seventh Seal; Four Trumpets ..................... 70 Lesson Nine-- Chapter Nine: Two More Trumpets ............................................................ 84 Lesson Ten-- Chapter Ten: The Little Book ...................................................................... 95 Lesson Eleven-- Chapter Eleven: The Two Witnesses; The Seventh Trumpet ................ 103 Lesson Twelve-- Chapter Twelve: The Beautiful Woman and the Red Dragon ............. 114 Lesson Thirteen-- Chapter Thirteen: Beasts from the Sea and the Land ........................ 124 Lesson Fourteen-- Chapter Fourteen: Firstfruits and Harvests ....................................... 134 Lesson Fifteen-- Chapter Fifteen: A Great and Marvelous Sign ...................................... 143 Lesson Sixteen-- Chapter Sixteen: Seven Bowls of Wrath ................................................ 150 Lesson Seventeen-- Chapter Seventeen: A Marriage Made in Hell ................................. 162 Revelation-- Contents [Continued] LESSON PAGE Lesson Eighteen-- Chapter Eighteen: “Babylon the Great Is Fallen”.............................. 173 Lesson Nineteen-- Chapter Nineteen: Heaven Rejoices; More Victories Won................... 180 Lesson Twenty-- Chapter Twenty: Satan Bound and Released; The Last Judgment...... 188 Lesson Twenty-one-- Chapter Twenty-one: Home at Last-- All Things Made New........ 202 Lesson Twenty-two-- Chapter Twenty-two: The New Heaven and a Final Warning .... 213 Lesson One: Introduction to the Revelation The Study of the Book: Attitudes toward the study of John’s Revelation differ widely. Many people are con- vinced that time and energy expended in such a study is time and energy wasted. They be- lieve that the book is so confusing in its presentation and so vague in its message that one should direct his attention elsewhere. It is not uncommon for Bible classes to eliminate Revelation from their planned curriculums. On the other hand, many others are just as sure that Revelation’s message is relatively easy to understand if one is able to see its con- nection with world events of modern times. To them, every detail in the book has its ful- fillment in a corresponding occurrence yet to take place. Consequently, many speculations and false doctrines have arisen among religious people because of the careless handling of the things that were sent by God to the seven churches of Asia. For example, a “Bible” lectureship conducted some years ago in a major city featured lessons to “explain” the meanings of John’s Revelation. Some of the topics discussed were: “The Beast and the New World Order”; “The Real Truth About the Antichrist”; “The Beast’s Greatest Deception Affecting You”; “Ghosts, Spirits and Armageddon”; “1,000 Years and the Lake of Fire”; “The Middle East Key to the End Times”; “The Mark of the Beast”; “The Seven Last Plagues”; "The Scarlet Harlot and the Woman in White”; and other equally exotic and appealing subjects. A gullible public is usually eager to devour such a diet of “compelling” information about matters hitherto withheld from the average person. Our attitude toward the study of this awe-inspiring revelation of John should be one of cautious optimism. Revelation challenges the Bible student with a study much more diffi- cult than the study of most other books in God’s word. But the basic lessons of John’s message can be understood if the student is willing to offer the necessary effort. Its treas- ures can be mined by those who dig deeply enough. The comfort and encouragement it affords present-day believers make it well worth their while. The Quality of the Book: Serious students of Scripture have long appreciated the value of this book. Homer Hail- ey, in his Revelation, an Introduction and Commentary, has this observation of its worth: In the Bible, God’s great temple of spiritual truth, there is one special room filled with mysteries and wonders that fire the imagination to celestial heights and leave us amazed at the grandeur of its portrayal of the spiritual. The room is designated as The Revelation. Man may fathom many of the mysteries of the physical world, coming to an almost complete understanding of them, at least to the point that he loses his sense of awe in their presence. But in contrast, although we can grasp some- thing of Revelation’s meaning and use for us, we never cease to stand in amazement and wonder at its mysteries which continue to challenge us. William Hendricksen, in More Than Conquerors, says: Beautiful beyond description is the last book of the Bible. Beautiful in form, in symbolism, in pur- (1) Revelation-- Introduction INTRODUCTION pose, and in meaning. Where in literature do we find anything that excels the majestic description of the Son of Man walking in the midst of the seven golden lampstands, Rev. 1:12-20? Where in Scripture do we find a more vivid and picturesque portrayal of the Christ, Faithful and True, going forth unto victory, seated upon a white horse, arrayed with a garment sprinkled with blood, follow- ed by the armies of heaven, Rev. 19:11-16? Where, again, do we find a sharper contrast than that between the doom of Babylon, on the one hand, and the felicity of Jerusalem the Golden, on the other, Rev. 18, 19, 21, 22? And where are the Throne set in heaven and the blessedness of heaven- ly life depicted in a manner more serenely simple, yet beautiful in its comfort; what an insight into the future; above all, what an unveiling of the love of God is contained in the words of the prophecy of this book! And Jim McGuiggan is equally impressed with the impact of John’s Revelation as he introduces his discussion of the epistle in his The Book of Revelation: Revelation has one grand thrust. Comfort in the knowledge of ultimate triumph! It has an his- torical setting and deals with historical events. It is Rome against the Church-- it is Satan against Jesus! The principles involved in the book-- the principles of good and evil-- are timeless. Truth will triumph whether in the first centuries or in these. Evil will wage an unceasing war with truth. The record of the victory of the Church of God over Rome stands for all time as a token of its death- lessness! Of the supremacy of its Lord; the truth of its doctrines; the strength of its hope and the reality of its joys. The Uniqueness of the Book: When one begins to read the book of Revelation, he soon realizes that this is a book different from any other he has encountered in his New Testament. If he were reading from the Greek text, the strangeness of this book perhaps would not surprise him. Its title is “Apokalupsis Ioannou Tou Theologou,” literally, “The Uncovering of John the Divine.” Apokalupsis [“unveiling”] is transliterated, “apocalypse,” and from it the genre of apoca- lyptic literature takes its name. Thus, the original Greek name for this book was, “The Apocalypse,” an “uncovering, a laying bare, making naked” [Henry Thayer]. Immediate- ly, it is apparent that the message of this book will be presented in an unusual way. Through the centuries, apocalyptic literature has been popular in stressful times. Both religious and nonreligious writings have been clothed in its symbolic language to preserve the interests of their authors and advocates. The Old Testament books of Ezekiel, Daniel, and Zechariah are examples of apocalyptic literature. The noncanonical collection of works known as the Apocrypha [Enoch, Assumption of Moses, Baruch, Fourth Ezra, etc.] is also classified with this type of writing. Inspired apocalyptic literature is intended to comfort God’s people and to prepare them for their future trials. The “covering up” of the message also is designed to protect the recipients from any harm that might come to them from their enemies should the content be “uncovered.” The characteristics of apocalyptic literature, as noted by Ray Summers in Worthy is the Lamb, are: (2) Revelation-- Introduction INTRODUCTION (1) It always has historical significance; (2) It always presents its messages through visions; (3) It has a strong predictive element; (4) It makes extensive use of symbolism. Summers says, “The writer [of Revelation-RG] was faced with the task of seeing the invisible, painting the unpaintable, and ex- pressing the inexpressible.” Summers’ definition of symbolism is, “a system in which qualities, ideas, principles, etc. are represented by things concrete. These symbols have a meaning for the initiated