I found myself reading Revelation again. I am reading the whole book but wanted to share some thoughts on the first three chapters. One thing that is fantastic is that there are images and thematic elements that reoccur several times throughout Revelation that can be seen in the first three chapters. I'm not sure how much depth I will spend on these over the next couple of days, but I will try to note them.
The Book of Revelation is fantastic. It's subject matter is so complex and yet so simple at the same time. The imagery is what frightens people off from reading the book. I think the key to understanding Revelation is to realize that the imagery is just that, it's imagery. It's how John's brain interpretted what he saw. Sometimes the author didn't even seem to understand what he was seeing - what he knew is that he was instructed to write it down. (This can be seen when the angels around John ask him "what is this that you see?" and John replies ... "Sir, thou knowest," which means to me, "I don't know. Can you tell me?" See chapter 7.) There is also a ton of spiritual imagery, and how one sees something in a spiritual realm is not necessarily how one would see something in a physical realm. It all makes for some very fascinating imagery.
Revelation is the culmination of all prior Scriptures. To truly see the depth of what is being said in the book, one must be familiar with all other previous Scripture in the Bible, both New Testament and Old Testament. But the message is simple - it's a message I've noted in many of my previous posts - repent. When you read Revelation, note how many times the word repent is used, and how disappointed God is when people will not repent. That's what He wants. That's why we are here. That's His will. So the message is "repent", and start living the way we were meant to live: love God with everything you have, and love each other as yourselves. Sometimes easier said than done... which is why we have repentance when we don't get it right.
So, if something seems too difficult to understand in Revelation, don't become intimidated by it; instead, lock the image in your mind, pray about it, and when you are reading the other material in the Scriptures, the image will come back and you will gain understanding for it. I've probably read Revelation a half a dozen times, and I still see new things every time I go back to it.
The first three chapters are great because they let you know that you are transported to the end of this earth age, just before Jesus returns, and lets you know the doctrines of the various world churches, and what is good and what is bad about those doctrines. If we can follow the proper doctrine that is given in these chapters, then we should be in good standing with our Father when the end actually comes... that's why the message is given to us. It Reveals what will happen at the "end of the world". It's given for our understanding.
So let's take a look at the beginning of Revelation. God bless.
