Revelation Introduction –
The Book of Revelation announces how Jesus will complete the tasks God has given Him, destroying the hostility and futility of the human race toward God. At the end of the story, Jesus gets rid of the Deceiver “so he can deceive the world no longer.” The Book of Revelation is not a running narrative of the end times, but a series of seven distinct visions, each showing the triumph of Jesus in a different area of concern. The subjects are as follows: 1) The Church, 2) Human History, 3) the Creation, 4) Israel, 5) Judgment on Sin, 6) Judgment on the World System and (7) the Final Triumph of the Kingdom of God. The number seven is a symbolic number, meaning perfection. Every time it appears, it refers to “that which is perfect.” Once we realize this, the visions fall into place, whereas reading them as a continuous story (linear thinking) forces them into a pattern that does not make sense.