Overview of the New Testament Part 2
Revelation – Part 2
Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia
As Viewed from the Total Context of Revelation
1. Addressee
2. The commandment to write
3. “These are the words of….”
4. A depiction of Jesus, the Son of Man related to his depiction in 1:9-20
5. Opening, “I know….”
6. Exhortation
7. The call to “anyone who has an ear”
8. Closing promise to “whoever conquers” or “overcomes”
1. God’s power to reward and punish
2. A single message to churches from the one who will be the final judge
3. Truth of the messages underscored by “who says them” - Jesus
1. Final judgment fuels these exhortations
2. Mood, “If you care what happens to you on the last day, listen up today”
1. Persecution (see reference in 2:3, 2:13, 3:8-10)
a. Compare these references to Revelation 17, the references to Babylon the Great. Babylon was thought by the early church to be a “code name” for Rome, also used in I Peter 5:13
b. Note the destination of Babylon in Revelation 18
2. False Teaching (2:6, 2:9, 2:14-15, 20-23, 3:9
3. The problem of “accommodating the world”
- food sacrificed to idols: connection with paganism
- sexual immorality
- Roman social norms
E. Need for “endurance”: Can one endure the hard Christian road?
Primary context of the images in Revelation: can we endure the battle between good and evil to the end?
1. Compare the messages at the end of each letter to the seven churches to Revelation 13:1-10, particularly vs. 10
2. Compare the opening of Revelation 1:9-20 to the statements made about “the Lamb” in Revelation 17:14. This provides be basis for encouragement to “endure to the end”.
Overview of the New Testament Part 2
Revelation – Part 2, page 2
Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia
As Viewed from the Total Context of Revelation
II. The Seven Seals (Revelation 4:1 – 8:5)
Chapter 4: The Heavenly Worship of God
- Note similarities between Ezekiel 1, 10 and Isaiah 6
- Context in Ezekiel is Babylonian captivity, and the supremacy of YHWH over Babylonian Gods: See Ezekiel 1:28
- The living creatures: note Ezekiel 1:5-21, 10:20-22, Isaiah 6:2
Chapter 5: The scroll and the lamb
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1. White horse = victory
2. Compare Revelation 17
Red horse = violence and war
Black horse = famine and suffering
Pale Green horse = plague
Faithful martyrs. Compare words to the seven churches about those who remain faithful unto death.
Calamity upon the earth. Compare:
1. Mark 13:5-37
2. Matthew 24:4-36
3. Luke 21:8-36
Between sixth seal and seventh seal
· 144,000
- These are “sealed” on the foreheads. See similar image in Ezekiel 9:4, in context of all of Ezekiel 9
· Great multitudes of the elect from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages. (see also 10:11, 13:7, 14:6, 17:15).
Overview of the New Testament Part 2
Revelation – Part 2, page 3
III. The Seven Trumpets (Revelation 8:6 – 11:19)
In scripture, trumpets “announce” what is to come:
1. Exodus 19:16, 19 – Moses leading the people to “meet God”
2. Matthew 24:31 – Angels sent to gather the elect from the four corners of the earth
3. I Thessalonians 4:16 – The Lord coming with a loud command, and the dead in Christ rising first
4. Revelation 1:10 – A voice “like a trumpet” announcing to write what is heard
1. Hail and fire mixed with blood: a third of the earth burned up
2. Compare Exodus 9:22-26
1. One third of the sea becomes blood
2. Compare Exodus 7:14-25
1. One third of the fresh waters becomes bitter wormwood
2. Compare Jeremiah 9:15-16
1. One third of the sum, moon, and stars are darkened
2. Compare Exodus 10:21-23
1. First of three woes
2. A star falls (a demon possibly) and opens up the abyss, and lets loose a plague of locusts with scorpion like stingers, led by Abbadon (Abbadon is Aramaic for ‘destruction’, and Apollyon in Greek is “destroyer”)
3. Compare Exodus 10
1. Second woe
2. An invasion from the east
3. Could be the Parthians from the East who were rivals of Rome
4. Compare the sixth bowl, in Revelation 16:12-16
H. The Seventh Trumpet
Supplementary visions (10:1 – 11:14): See parallels in Ezekiel 2:8 – 3:3, and Daniel 7:25, 12:7)