This is a summary or survey of the book with only a few short paragraphs for each chapter. It is designed to give you an overall view of the entire book quickly. This survey is very similar to my first study of Revelation.
Chapter One.
Chapter One begins with an introduction to the book of Revelation. In his opening statements, John describes how this book was handed down from God to himself. He then establishes his own authority and the book’s authority as being God’s word. John finishes his introduction by stating his own situation when the vision is given to him.
The second half of chapter one contains the first real vision of the book of Revelation, The Vision of the Son of Man. Upon hearing a voice behind him, John turns to meet his Lord Jesus Christ face to face. The appearance of Christ is more a symbolic view of His personality and qualities rather than His physical appearance. Jesus commands John to write down what he sees and give it to the seven churches.
These two chapters continue the Vision of the Son of Man, which we saw in Chapter One. Christ goes on to deliver a series of seven letters, each addressed to a church found in the Roman province of Proconsular Asia Western Turkey today). They were seven different churches and what can be clearly seen is that they were in seven different spiritual conditions. Where one church was weak another was strong. Where one church faced struggles in one area another struggled in a different area.
In most cases He had both positive and negative points to make about each church. For the church at Smyrna, Christ does not mention any problem or give any warning. His message is similar for the church at Philadelphia where He had nothing but praise and promises. On the other hand for the churches at Sardis and Laodicea, Christ has almost no praise at all.
The one common theme through all of these letters was the persecution and tribulation about to be faced by all of these seven churches. This is the link that ties these letters together and to the rest of Revelation that carries this persecution, and the overthrowing of those who caused this persecution as its central theme.
Why seven churches?
They were seven individual churches but they are also representative of the church as a whole. The number seven was considered by the Jews to be a complete or perfect number. Therefore, the idea of seven churches means John intended his message for the whole church or all the churches. These seven churches were chosen because John was well known to them but other well known churches from that area, such as Galatia and Colossae that had to be left out.
In Chapter Four we pick up the story again from chapter one. This is often known as the ‘Throne Scene’ as its central theme is God on His throne.
John, in a spiritual state, sees a door or view, opened up into Heaven. God is on His throne, guarded by the 4 living creatures and surrounded by the 24 elders. They are all praising and worshipping God.
As the Throne Scene continues, God is seen holding a sealed book or scroll in His right hand. A call goes out to find someone who is worthy enough to break the seven seals and open the book. John despairs when no one is found.
Finally a Lamb steps forward to take the book. We are given seven points by which we can identify this Lamb as Jesus Christ, the only one found worthy enough to open the book.
The chapter ends with the 24 elders, the 4 living creatures and the entire host of Heaven worshipping the Lamb (Jesus Christ).
In Chapter Six we are still in the Throne Scene where the Lamb (Christ), who took the sealed book from the hand of God, now begins to open it. As each seal was opened we were presented with an image or vision.
1st Seal. . . . . . . . The White Horse – The Conquer. Rev 6:1-2.
2nd Seal. . . . . . . The Red Horse – The Persecutor. Rev 6:3-4.
3rd Seal. . . . . . . The Black Horse – Famine, Forerunner of Death. Rev 6:5-6.
4th Seal. . . . . . . The Livid Horse – Death and Hades. Rev 6:7-8.
5th Seal. . . . . . . The Souls of the Martyrs. Rev 6:9-11.
6th Seal. . . . . . . The Announcement of Judgement. Rev 6:12-17.
The first four seals fit together as they show the four horsemen, ones who will carry our God’s Judgement or you could say the means by which God will carry out His Judgement. When we get to the 5th seal the theme changes as we view the souls under the altar, those who are calling for God’s vengeance, calling for God to act. Finally there is the 6th seal. Although it seems as if this is God’s Final Judgement, taken against the overall context of Revelation we find that this is only a warning of the coming Judgement.
Chapter Six finished with the question “Who is able to stand?” Well, now in Chapter Seven, we take time out from the Revelation story to answer this question. This is like an interlude that can be divided into two visions, each a view of a group of God-fearing people.
In the first view we see 144,000 people on the earth being sealed by an angel to protect them from God’s coming Judgement. The number 144,000 cannot be taken as a literal number but instead must be considered symbolic. The number, plus the sealing, placing the mark or seal of God upon their foreheads, marks them as belonging to God.
In the second view we see a great numberless multitude now in fellowship with God and their Lord, Jesus Christ. This multitude appears to have come through the sufferings that were about to be faced by the 144,000.
We can easiest explain these two visions by seeing them as two views of the same people, much like before and after photographs. In the 144,000 they are still on the earth being sealed for their protection. In the second view they have made it through God’s Judgement and are now with Him in heaven. The idea, hope for the saints.
This chapter is like a doorway leading into a deeper level of the book of Revelation with the opening of the seventh seal. There was a moment of silence while incense and prayers were offered up to God. Then seven angels prepared to blow seven trumpets.
With the blowing of each trumpet a vision was presented to us in much the same way as the seven seals. The rest of Chapter Eight was taken up with the first four of these trumpets. These were:-
The First Trumpet – Land Disaster. Rev 8:7.
The Second Trumpet – Maritime Disaster. Rev 8:8-9.
The Third Trumpet – Freshwater Disaster. Rev 8:10-11.
The Fourth Trumpet – Disaster in the Sky. Rev 8:12
The theme of the blowing of the seven trumpets continues into Chapter Nine, where we see the fifth and sixth trumpets.
The fifth trumpet was the Plague of Locusts, which can be quickly identified as being no ordinary locusts, but rather demons lead by Satan. The sixth trumpet is the Army of Horsemen having the appearance of the hated and much feared Parthians from the eastern boarders of the Roman Empire .
The meaning behind these visions are:-
The Fifth Trumpet – Internal Decay. Rev 9:1-11
The Sixth Trumpet – External Enemies. Rev 9:13-21
The overall meaning of the seven trumpets is an announcement that God’s Judgement on wicked mankind has arrived. This is an answer to the call of the souls found under the altar in the fifth seal in Rev 6:9-11.
Before the blowing of the last trumpet we stop for another interlude. This interlude covers all of Chapter Ten and half of Chapter Eleven.
The Interlude – Four things discussed.
1) The Unutterable Thunders Rev 10:1-7.
A mighty angel takes an oath that there is to be no more delay; God’s judgement is at hand.
2) The Little Book Rev 10:8-11.
This is a rather interesting little vision. The idea is that God’s message of Judgement is to be proclaimed in all its sweetness and all its bitterness.
3) The Measuring of the Temple
This passage seems to refer to a vision Ezekiel had. Ezek 40:2 – 42:20. John measures the Temple
4) The Two Witnesses. Rev 11:3-13
a. There will be a strong witness of the Gospel.
b. Followed by a period of distress and persecution.
c. But the Gospel will prevail in the end.
The seventh trumpet. Just as the seventh seal had been a doorway to a deeper level, the seventh trumpet is a door leading to an even deeper level of Revelation.
Now the theme of the book changes as we leave the Throne Scene and move into the second major section, The Struggle between God and Satan.
This chapter can be divided into three parts:-
Delivering the Child. Rev 12:1-6.
The War in Heaven. Rev 12:7-12.
The War on Earth. Rev 12:13-17.
The major theme behind these three pictures is God overcoming Satan through His son Jesus Christ. We saw Satan’s last great desperate attempt to prevent Jesus from carrying out His part in God’s great plan for the redemption of mankind. The dragon failing to capture the woman’s child was Satan failing to stop Christ from making His one time sacrifice for the sins of all men.
The next image showed us a war in heaven between the forces of God lead by Michael and the forces of evil lead by Satan himself. We cannot be sure when this battle took place although there is a strong argument for the period just after Jesus returned to His father in Heaven. We can not be sure what this battle was like but we do know that it changed the relationship Satan had with God in that Satan was cast out of Heaven and no longer able to have direct access with God.
In our third picture we see the dragon Satan has been cast out of heaven and his powers have been limited. In his rage at not being able to touch God or Christ, the dragon turns his attention upon the church. Again he is unsuccessful as God foils his plans so finally Satan turns his attention upon individual members of the church.
Finding himself thrown down to the earth, Satan turns upon the church and its members. To help him in this campaign against the saints he calls upon two evil beasts that he rises up out of the world, out of the restless sea of humanity.
These are the two beasts of Chapter Thirteen, the Sea Beast and the Earth Beast. We saw the first of these, the Sea Beast, as the mighty and powerful Empire of Rome, the greatest power the world had known. The second of these beasts, the Earth Beast is the ‘commune’ or ‘concilia’, a Roman authority that had the purpose of forcing all mankind to bow down and worship the Sea Beast.
Satan, the Dragon’s motive behind all this was to turn men away from worshiping God to worshiping a man or a man made organization. This was particularly directed against the saints of the church because they were unable to worship anyone other than God.
In the last chapter we saw the forces of Satan, now we see the forces of righteousness lead by Christ. They are shown to be on Mount Zion
At this point, just before God’s final judgement takes place we have a small interlude:- The Three Announcements. The three things discussed here are the triumph of the righteousness, judgement on the wicked, and judgement on Babylon
The chapter finishes with two visions called the Sickles of Judgement in which the final state of both the righteous and the wicked are predicted.
Now, we come to God’s Judgement, the Seven Bowls of Wrath. Notice that these are very similar to the plagues found under the seven seals and the seven trumpets. The only difference here is that here these plagues are total whereas the other plagues had been partial.
In Chapter Fifteen we saw a short interlude where glory was given to God. This was followed by an introduction to the seven bowls. As we moved into Chapter Sixteen we finally see the seven bowls of wrath. Seven angels carry seven bowls of the wrath of God. As each angel is commanded to pour their bowls upon the earth we see a plague similar to the plagues of Egypt
1st Bowl of Wrath - Loathsome and malignant sores. Rev 16:2.
2nd Bowl of Wrath - Sea turned to blood of a dead man. Rev 16:3.
3rd Bowl of Wrath - Rivers and springs of waters turned to blood. Rev 16:4-7.
4th Bowl of Wrath - God gave the sun power to scorch men with fire. Rev 16:8-9.
5th Bowl of Wrath - Darkness. Rev 16:10-11.
6th Bowl of Wrath - The Euphrates dried up. Rev 16:12-16.
7th Bowl of Wrath - A Great Earthquake – God’s Final Judgment. Rev 16:17-21.
In Chapter Seventeen we meet the third member of the wicked characters Satan raises out of the world, The Great Harlot.
In this chapter we find the most evidence that Revelation is mainly concerned with God’s judgement on Rome Rome
This chapter has many references to the book of Daniel, particularly to the 2 visions concerning future great empires. A study of this chapter would also be a study of parts of Daniel too. First the Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar saw a great statue in a dream and then Daniel himself saw a dream concerning four terrible beasts. Both of these dreams are very closely connected to the Book of Revelation because they both predicted what John is also telling us:- The church will overcome the Roman Empire .
Chapter Eighteen.
Chapter Eighteen.
This chapter is concerned with the fall of The Great Harlot whom we met in Chapter Seventeen. The chapter can be sub-divided into three smaller sections.
In the first section, there is a plain and simple foretelling of her ruin. The second section is a figurative prediction using the circumstances following her destruction. The third section is a confirmation of her destruction by signs and wonders.
So finally we see that the great city has fallen. Why has it taken Revelation so long to build up to this point?
1) To add greater effect to the fall.
2) To present a chance for sinners to repent.
3) To make very clear to the readers the lesson that:-
“God is in control and He will do everything in His own way and in His own time.”
Chapter Nineteen begins with rejoicing over the fall of The Great Harlot. This is followed with an angel asking John to write, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb.”
Then we move into another series of visions that can be called the victory of Christ. Of course the first vision we see is the Victorious Christ riding to victory on a white horse.
In Chapter Eighteen we saw the end of The Great Harlot. Now in this chapter, Satan brings his remaining forces against Christ. These allies of Satan are quickly overcome and the beast (The Sea-Beast) and the false prophet (The Earth-Beast) are thrown into the lake of fire.
There is now one remaining on our list that Christ has to deal with. This is one who is behind all this evil, Satan. Chapter Twenty is where he also meets his end.
The chapter opens with an angel coming down out of heaven with a great chain. The Dragon (Satan) is seized and bound with the chain, and then he is thrown into the abyss. Satan’s powers are limited, no longer is he able to wage all out war against the saints.
With the powers of Satan limited the saints can live in relative peace while those who have already given their lives for Christ reign with Him in heaven for one thousand years. This is the period of Revelation that we are in today. From this point in the story we must consider the book to be prophecy concerning future events.
Later in Chapter Twenty the Dragon (Satan) is released to gather a great army that he brings against the saints, the church. At the moment when all seems hopeless God intervenes and Satan’s army is destroyed by fire from heaven.
Satan is cast into the lake of fire to join the Sea-beast and the Earth-beast. Now he is gone forever.
With the end of Satan we have come to the last section of the story of Revelation that we will call Christ and Eternal Destiny. This section opens with the glorious or terrifying view of Christ on His throne coming down out of heaven. The books are opened and all are judged by the words of Christ. Those whose names are not found in the book of life are then cast into the lake of fire.
The Revelation story has now come to its glorious climax as John sees the New Jerusalem, The Holy City, coming down out of Heaven.
This city is viewed as a city of happy, smiling people. They have perfect security, with no fear of invasion or death.
The city is measured and the measurements and description of this city tells us that it is God’s covenant related people. Notice the names of the gates and the foundation stones that tie in with the Old and New Testaments.
Those who live in this city are in direct fellowship with God. He supplies the light by which they can walk, with all their needs provided. They wear the seal and the name of God on their foreheads showing that they belong to God.
The first five verses of Chapter Twenty-two complete this view of the holy city where we see the tree of life beside a river of living water.
The rest of the chapter is a conclusion where both John and Christ summaries the Revelation message and encourages us to heed it.
The Final Message.
1) Comes from Jesus Christ.
2) Sent to:- All who read this book.
3) An Invitation.
4) A Promise.
5) A Warning.
6) A Blessing.
In the book of Ecclesiastes the Preacher, the son of David, king of Jerusalem
“The conclusion, when all has been heard, is fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. Because God will bring every act to judgement, every thing which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”
Ecc 12:13-14
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