The book of Revelation has been deemed as one of the most controversial books in the history of the church. It has even been accused of causing momentous divisions within various church denominations. How could one book be so controversial? To those who would read and truly comprehend its words, an important message concerning the future begins to unfold. To those that will embrace its message, a blessing is imparted from the beginning of its chapters. Here, an outline of the book of Revelation and an explanation of the outline is given to align the reader with its concepts to better understand the direction of the book of Revelation.
General Outline of the Book of Revelation
Revelation of Christ
(Revelations Chapter 1-5)
Prologue
Greetings and Doxology – to the Seven churches in the province of Asia
One Like a Son of Man– First vision of Christ
Seven Churches
Letters to the Seven Churches:
· To the Church in Ephesus
· To the Church in Smyrna
· To the Church in Pergamum
· To the Church in Thyatira
· To the Church in Sardis
· To the Church in Philadelphia
· To the Church in Laodicea
Seven Scenes in Heaven
· The elders around the throne
· The four living creatures
· The sealed scroll
· The worthy Lamb
· Song of the creatures & elders
· Song of the angels
· Song of the universe
Times of Tribulation
(Revelation 6-11)
Seven Seals:
· White horse of earthly conquest and dominion
· Red horse of slaughter and bloodshed
· Black horse of commerce and economic crisis
· Pale horse of death
· The little while
· The day of God’s wrath
· The multitudes of saved
· Seventh Seal Broken
Seven Trumpets: Scourge of earth
· Scourge of sea
· Scourge of rivers
· Scourge of the heavens
· Eagle announces three woes
· The bottomless pit
· 1st woe, Plague of locusts
· 2nd woe, the killing horses
· The little book
· The two witnesses killed
· 3rd woe, God’s wrath and the eternal kingdom
The Judgement of the Beasts
(Revelation 12-20)
Seven Signs:
· A man child is born
· The dragon appears from the sky
· The man child’s ascension
· The dragon’s defeat in heaven
· Heaven’s victory song
· The woman’s escape
· The beast appears from the sea
· Dragon’s authority
· His great deception
· The image he made live
· The mark of the beast
· The number of the beast
· The Lamb on Mount Zion
· Three angelic messengers
· The two reapers
Seven Plagues
· The heavenly singers
· The bowls of God’s wrath
Seven Final Visions
· Mother of Harlots
· An angel explains
· Seven songs of woe to ‘Babylon’
· The angel from heaven
· Second voice from heaven
· Kings of earth
· The merchants
· The sailors
· A mighty angel
· Multitude in heaven
· The wedding supper announced
· King on a white horse
· The Abyss and thousand years
· The dead are judged
The Beauty of heaven
(Revelation 21-22)
· Heaven for the Saved
· New heavens and new earth
· The heavenly city
· The heavenly Eden
Epilogue
· The last words of Jesus
The Seven Churches
During the time that John the apostle wrote the book of Revelation, there were seven churches in existence that the message of Revelation was directed toward. Gaechter (1947) says, “Fundamental problems concerning the Apocalypse are still under discussion and are far from being settled: Is the Apocalypse a collection of fragments of various sources with hardly an element of union between them?” (p. 547). Here we first see that Paul in his apocalyptic writings say these churches were described in the first two books of Revelation. Although the churches were literal, great spiritual significance for believers and churches are apropos and applicable today as well as applicable to the ancient churches from the days of John.
The church of Ephesus had literally forsaken its first love. Although there had been a time when Christ affirmed the Ephesians and acknowledged their hard work and perseverance, He also noted their weaknesses as “yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love” (Revelation 2:4, NIV).
The Ephesians had persevered through great diversity and had not grown weary, however they were not able to have the same passion for Jesus that they’d originally had. Christ therefore called the Ephesians to repentance, “Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first” (Revelation 2:5, NIV). If the Ephesians would remember their heights from their first love and return to the devout and devoted followers it was time for new revival.
The church of Smyrna was warned that it would suffer great persecution. The City of Smyrna was an important city that was famous for its schools of science and medicine and was located on the coast of Asia Minor. The application of the message that Christ gave to the church of Smyrna are just as pertinent today. Christ’s words offer insight into the 1st century congregation. “These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again” (Revelation 2:8, NIV). Although Christ recognized the trials of the congregants of Smyrna, there was much affliction and poverty.
He wanted the congregants to understand the richness of their inheritance and the spiritual wealth that was immeasurable. “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:20, NIV). The Smyrna congregation could have been a group of Gentiles that were calling themselves Jews. It also could have been that they were not following Judaism, but worshipping the Roman emperor and speaking out against Christians in Smyrna.
The church of Pergamum was a church that was in need of repentance. Christ had a special message for this church, “These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword” (Revelation 2:12, NIV).
Christ was warning the congregants of the Church of Pergamum that the Lord’s judgements were coming. Although Jesus did recognize there were positive actions, and that He felt they had remained faithful to His name. They did not renounce their faith in Him, nor did they renounce it during times of trials and persecution as did Antipas who died as a faithful witness in Christ. Christ cautioned the congregation that they held within their community, those who honored the practices and teachings of Balaam. Jesus urges the Pergamum’s to repent and issues a clarion call to them, “Repent therefore!” (Revelation 2:16, NIV).
The Church of Thyatira was housing a false prophetess and was a well to do town on the Lycus River. The Lord had a message for the church that was delivered through an angel, “I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first” (Revelation 2:19, NIV).
These qualities to the Thyatiran church were mentioned; love, faith, service, patient endurance and greater works. The Lord then acknowledges their sin that they were willing to tolerate a woman who considered herself to be a prophetess. She was misleading humble servants of the church into sexual immorality and eating foods that were inappropriate having sacrificed to idols. This compromise was one that would cost the believers to be “cast on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. I will strike her children dead” (Revelation 2:22-23, NIV).
The church of Sardis was a church that had fallen asleep. The Lord had a special message for the congregation, “I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead” (Revelation 3:2, NIV). Although on the outside it would appear that this church was in good standing, it was lifeless on the inside.
There were too many unsaved people that were just going through the motions of being faithful. There were many tares amongst the wheat. (Matthew 13:24-30)
The church of Philadelphia was a church that had waited patiently and endured much for the sake of the kingdom. Jesus says to the church of Philadelphia, “I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name” (Revelation 3:8, NIV). Although this church had some weaknesses, they had been faithful during many trials. The Lord promised them that He would remain faithful to His promises and that the church of Philadelphia would have victory in the face of adversity. He says to the Philadelphians, “Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth. I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown” (Revelation 3:10-11, NIV). Because the church had remained faithful, it would serve as a blessing and a profound message to all who would remain faithful until the end.
The final letter written to the seven churches was written to the church of Laodicea who had fallen into lukewarm faith. Jesus conveys an important message to the Laodiceans, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm-neither cold nor hot-I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked” (Revelation 3:15-17, NIV).
Christ refers to the spiritual apathy of the Laodiceans as being apathetic three times. Christ wanted these congregants to know that their material wealth had absolutely no eternal value at all. This church was filled with deceiving and self-deceived hypocrites.
Jesus urged these individuals to turn from their shameful ways and repent. “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:19-20, NIV).
The book of Revelation as it relates to the New Testament appears to have been written by the Apostle John. This book has been seen by many as being mysterious and is well beyond the comprehension of most readers. Callahan (1995) says, “Any modern description of the author’s extraordinary language must begin with Charles’ analysis of the linguistic peculiarities of the Apocalypse” (p. 454). As it references angels and messengers, its lengthy descriptions of Christ appearing in His heavenly kingdom as well as the mystic
number sequences of three, seven and twelve along with symbolism and definite time periods, all suggest some kind of esoteric meaning that can only be deciphered by an expert. There has been some confusion about the difference between prophecy and apocalyptic writing. To have more clarity about the distinction between the two, the writers of the book of Daniel in the Old Testament also correlate to the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha within the Old Testament. Within a careful study of these works, there are a number of commonalities. They were all created during a time of crisis, conflicts between good and evil are described through visions and dreams. Future conflicts are being predicted and the end of evil and strife will come soon for those that remain faithful.
When the messages of the Old Testament are looked upon with these characteristics, it is easier to understand John’s Revelations because it is not original to any of the New Testament writings. The number of symbols used and writing style for the purposes being written, follow a more well-known precedent from older writings. Revelation was written during a time when the Roman government toward Christianity was extremely hostile.
With Nero charging the Christians with being responsible for the burning of Rome, it was a false charge. The Jewish population as well as the Roman population could not stand being condemned for many of the practices, traditions and beliefs that they carried. As opposition to Christianity became more heightened and intense, they were eventually required to denounce their faith and worship the Roman gods. Many Christians were put to death and tortured when they refused to adhere. In the end, the everlasting significance of Revelation is in John’s conviction that the Messiah will return to ultimately have victory over all evil.
References
Alexander, P., & Alexander, D. (2009). Zondervan Handbook to the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Callahan, A. (1995). The Language of Apocalypse. Harvard Theological Review. Volume 88, Issue 4, (pp. 453-70).
Gaechter, P. (1947). Semitic Literary Forms in the Apocalypse and Their Import. Theological Studies. Volume 8, Issue 4, (pp. 547-73).
The Holy Bible, New International Version. The Zondervan Corporation. Grand Raids, MI (2002).
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