Day 362 (Revelation 1-5) - Year 6
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Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap.

John, maybe the apostle, wrote the book of Revelation on the island of Patmos. It was a tiny prison island, kind of like Alcatraz. The church was still undergoing lots of persecution at the time, and in fact, church history tells us Rome first tried to burn John alive in oil, but he survived. And since they couldn't figure out how to kill him, they exiled him to Patmos. This letter he wrote is a singular revelation, not plural, not revelations.

John tells us in verse 1 that this is the revelation of Jesus. Some believe that means the book is revealing Jesus to us, and others believe that means Jesus is the one doing the revealing. While some others think it could actually be both, because if Jesus is revealing something to his people, his body, then that also tells us more about Jesus himself.

So as we read this book, just like with all our books from day one and Genesis 1, we're going to look for Jesus and what we learn about him. And by the way, verse 3 says we'll be blessed if we read this book aloud and pay attention to it. That is the first of seven blessed are statements in this book. Be on the lookout for them. They're called the seven Beatitudes of Revelation. John wrote this letter to seven churches, some of whom we've met already, and his message is first and foremost to them in their immediate context—

Jewish teaching and culture love numbers and symbols. So while this book still has a lot to offer modern readers, most scholars warn against trying to treat it like a combination lock where you can connect the numbers in just the right way to unlock some kind of secret hidden information about the future. The stated purpose of this book is to reveal something. When you're trying to reveal something to your reader, you don't hide it and bury it in code. That means you can take a deep breath because the pressure is off for you to figure out how and when the world ends over the course of the next four days reading.

Whew. I also want to encourage you to watch the video overviews we link to in the show notes. In case you missed the one from yesterday, we'll link to it again in today's show notes. These will be really helpful in filling in any gaps from the recaps because we're moving through this at a fast clip.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the word eschatology, it refers to the end times. So now I'm going to throw another big word at you, eschatological. That's the adjective form. There are a handful of eschatological views in Orthodox Christianity, and if you want to learn more about these viewpoints, check out the links in the show notes. There's a PDF, a quick guide, and a database with loads of info. Eschatology matters.

But just know that God-fearing, Christ-exalting, Spirit-filled people consistently disagree on this. Since it's an open-handed issue, by which I mean our eschatological views aren't foundational to our understanding of who God is or what it means to know Him, try to hold any of your ideas about the end times with an open hand, especially if you're new to studying Revelation and you've gotten most of your information second-hand.

I'll try my best to keep my lens from impacting the way I walk through this. My views have shifted over the years, and there's always a chance they'll change again. There are a few things worth standing firmly on in Scripture, and I only want to put my foot down firmly in those places where Scripture screams. In chapter 1, John has a vision of Jesus in all his power and glory, and he tells John to write to seven churches in Asia. Some of these churches have fallen into sin, some are undergoing persecution, and some are thriving.

He speaks to them in regard to their individual circumstances and offers warning, encouragement, and hope. These churches are represented by a seven-candle lampstand, just like the menorah from the temple in Exodus 25. And Jesus himself is in the midst of the lampstand, in the midst of the church. In Scripture, we see a lot of symbolism around the numbers 3, 7, 10, and 12. In their own way, each of these numbers symbolizes perfection and completion, and you'll see that all over this book as well.

Four times today, we encountered the sevenfold Spirit of God. Some say this is a way of symbolizing the wholeness and perfection of God's Spirit, and others say it points to different attributes of God's Spirit. Perhaps like we see in Isaiah 11 too. It says, Like we said,

All of these churches are in different situations. You probably recognized yourself in one of them. And he gives different rebukes and encouragements. But to all of them, regardless of circumstance, he mentions listening, obeying, and conquering. He says things like,

Given the context, what do you think he means by conquering? Defeating Rome and their persecutors? Hopefully by now you know that that's not what he's calling them or us to do. His call is to persevere in the faith, to overcome the temptations of the world, whether they're temptations to pursue earthly pleasures or to escape hardship and persecution. To be a conqueror is to love better. To be a conqueror is to keep loving God regardless of what life throws at you, blessings or challenges.

In chapter 4, John gets a glimpse into God's throne room, with his throne surrounded by the 24 elders. Some scholars believe this is literal and that these are the 12 apostles plus the 12 tribes of Israel. Other scholars believe this is symbolic and it indicates that God is surrounded by all of his people, with the 12 tribes representing the Old Covenant family and the 12 apostles representing the New Covenant family.

Also in the room are four seraphim. If you were with us in the Old Testament, you may remember these creatures from the visions of Isaiah and Ezekiel. And you may have remembered our trick for distinguishing between seraphim and cherubim. Cherubim have four wings, and seraphim, which starts with an S, have six, which also starts with an S.

Cherubim typically serve as guards of holy places, and seraphim typically praise God non-stop. So that's what they're doing in the throne room. That's what everyone is doing, actually. There is a lot of face-falling and crown-tossing because it's the Lord. In chapter 5, John sees that God is holding a scroll sealed with seven seals.

These kinds of scrolls issued by kings are usually a decree of their will, their plans. This scroll contains God's purposes for mankind. But no one can open the scroll and John is despairing until Jesus, the Lamb of God, shows up on the scene. He takes the scroll, then everyone in the throne room falls down to worship him. Tomorrow we'll see what happens when he begins to open the scroll.

I'll be honest, I was kind of dreading trying to recap Revelation. It's a daunting task, especially when you're trying to teach with an open perspective and not through one particular lens. But then I hit the verses where I saw my God shot, and all of a sudden I was so excited about it, I couldn't stop smiling. It's in verses 1, 17-18, where Jesus is talking, and he says,

This book can feel scary, but some of his first words are, Then he tells us who he is.

If we first recognize who Christ is, then we can rightly understand and view what's going on in this book. Who he is precedes everything, and who he is undergirds everything. We walk through this book with the King of glory at our side, and he's where the joy is. ♪

You guys, it's almost our last day of this trip through the New Testament or the whole Bible, depending on which plan you're doing. I'm so excited for you and for me and for us. And if you haven't already, be sure to do three things between now and the end of the year. First, invite a friend to join you when we start the Old Testament on January 1st. This is so much more fun and community. Second, listen to our Prep for Next Year episode from December 18th so you can find out about a few of the ways you can switch things up for next year or dig deeper.

We've dropped a link to that episode in today's show notes for easy access. And third, sign up for our email lists. We've got two of them. There's our monthly newsletter called The News Cap, and we also have a daily email called The Pre-Cap. You can sign up for both of them on the homepage at thebiblerecap.com or click the link in the show notes. So let's go. Let's finish this year strong by laying the best possible foundation for next year.