Study 2024-2025: Revelation

The Book of Revelation 

Overview
- Author:    Apostle John, son of Zebedee
- What: The final Revelation Jesus gives to the world regarding the end times (which we are in… according to the book of Daniel)
-When: 95-96 AD
-Where: Outside Patmos
-Why: Jesus gives this revelation to John to put on paper to warn the church, and the whole world of what is to come. The book is split into sections: Letters to the 7 Churches, God Dealing with Man + Sin, God Dealing with Lucifer + Sin, Judgement of Satan, Judgment of the Dead, All Things Made New, Garden of Eden Restored


Jesus Deity Claims/ Jesus OT ← → NT:
1:17-18 = Isaiah 48:12, 44:6
2:2 = I know your deeds (after the resurrection)
2:9 = I know your afflictions (after the resurrection)
2:18-19 = talking of Himself as Son of God, and I know your deeds, see 1:12-18
2:23 = Jeremiah 17:10, 20:12, Psalm 7:9
2:26 Jesus gives authority
3:1 = I know your deeds
3:5  = Jesus will blot out the name of that one from the Book of Life (who but God?)
3:7-8 = I know your deeds
3:14-16 = I know your deeds, Jesus showing He’s the judge
3:21 = who sits on the throne? God… who can grant others to sit with Him? God because it is His throne
16:15 = the Messiah’s second coming, Messiah is God
21:6-8 = see John 4:10, Isaiah 48:12, 44:6
22:12-13 = Isaiah 48:12, 44:6
22:16 = see 1 Chronicles 17:12-13 and Luke 1:32-33

The Trinity Shown:
1:1-2 = God gave Jesus the revelation to give to John
1:4-6 = Jesus is Messiah, the firstborn from the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth and His God and Father
1:10-11 = Jesus giving John revelation
2:7 = Jesus and Holy Spirit
2:11 = Jesus and Holy Spirit
2:17 = Jesus and Holy Spirit
2:18 = Jesus talking about Himself and regarding Himself still, even after the death burial and resurrection, as the Son of God
2:26-29 = Jesus, Father, Spirit
3:5-6 = Jesus, Father, Spirit
3:12-13 = see Psalm 45:6-7, also Jesus, God, Spirit
3:21-22 = Jesus, Father, Spirit
4:1-2 = Jesus and Holy Spirit
5:13 = to Him who sits on the throne AND the Lamb, both outside of creation
6:16-17 = they hide from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the LAMB
7:10 = He who sits on the thrown AND the Lamb
13:8 = Lamb’s Book of Life
14:1 = Son and Father
14:13 = the Spirit distinctly speaking
19:5-8 = verse 5 a voice from the throne (God) says what He says in verse 5, but then the voice of God speaking in verses 6-8 is a different voice
19:10 = the Spirit bears testimony of Jesus (separate but equal in nature, I could not go to court and bear witness of myself as Michelle’s husband and then bear witness as Rob and Maria’s son, and then bear witness as Laura’s brother… I would be the same person bearing witness to myself. But here, the Spirit bears witness to the Son, and in  John 8:18 Jesus says His Father is His witness… so the Father and Spirit are witness and testify of the Son)
19:11-16 = Jesus is God
21:10 = Spirit
21:22-23,27 = the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb
22:3 = God and the Lamb
22:6 = the Lord, the God who inspires the prophets… Jesus refers to Himself as, “The Lord” in Luke 19:31



Key Events:
See Study Notes.

Major (not all) Prophecies Fulfilled of the Messiah(Jesus):
1:5 = Psalm 89:36-37, Isaiah 52:15
1:7 = Daniel 7:13, Zechariah 12:10
1:8 = Isaiah 48:12
1:13 = Daniel 7:13
1:13-16 = Daniel 10:5-6
1:17 = Isaiah 48:12
2:16 = Isaiah 11:4
2:27 = Psalm 2:8-9
3:7 = Psalm 2:6, Isaiah 22:22
5:8-12 = Psalm 72:17
7:16-17 = Isaiah 40:10, Isaiah 25:8
12:5 = Psalm 2:8-9
13:8 = Proverbs 8:23
15:3-4 = Psalm 86:9, Psalm 98:2, Psalm 111:2-3, Deuteronomy 32:4, Jeremiah 10:7
19:5 = Psalm 2:8-9
19:11 = Isaiah 11:5
21:6-8 = John 4:10, Isaiah 48:12, 44:6
22:12 = Isaiah 40:10
22:16 = 2 Samuel 7:16

Culture/Time:

Relevant History + Science:
6:12, 8:7, 8:8-9, 8:10 , 16:3 = think of what this would do to the food-supply, the atmosphere, all the bloodshed and blood everywhere


Study Notes

• 1:3 blessing to the one who reads Revelation
• 1:20 = 7 stars are 7 angels to the churches, and 7 lampstands are the 7 churches
• Church of Ephesus = forsook the love they had at first
• Church of Smyrna = church heavily persecuted, indicates a second death
• Church of Pergamum = Pergamum holds satan’s thrown,some hold to the teaching of Balaam, hold to teaching of Nicolaitans
• Church of Thyatira = church tolerates Jezebel, who leads others into sexual immorality and makes others eat food sacrificed to idols
• Church of Sardis = church that has become stagnant
• Church of Philadelphia = has kept Jesus’ word and not denied His name
• Church of Laodicea = lukewarm church
• 3:21 those will sit on God’s throne with Him
• 4:3 Jesus is clothed in rainbow… the devil has hijacked the meaning of the rainbow. It is not about gay pride or any of that, it is the promise of God that He said He would never flood the earth again and Jesus has been clothed in rainbow from the beginning. Before homosexuality and before sin even existed
• 4:5 discuss the seven-fold Spirit of God… this is not a contradiction, God is not more than 3 beings: Father Son and Holy Spirit who are equally God in nature, but three distinct persons. 
• 5:5 Jesus alone is worthy!
• 5:9-10
• 6:1-2 FIRST SEAL: White Horse whose rider bent on conquest…. Holds a bow
• 6:3-4 SECOND SEAL: Red Horse whose rider made people kill eachother…. Holds a sword
• 6:5-6 THIRD SEAL: Black Horse whose rider made food expensive… Holds scales (dishonest profit?)
• 6:7-8 FOURTH SEAL: Pale Horse whose rider was Death, Hades following close behind, kills ¼ of the earth by sword, famine, plague and by the wild beast of the earth
• 6:9-11 FIFTH SEAL: Martyrs (Christians) given a white robe who are waiting for the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.
• 6:12-7:17 SIXTH SEAL: 1.) Great earth quake with the sun turning black like sackcloth (goat hair) 2.) Moon turns blood red 3.) the heavens are expanding as we speak, but in 6:14 the heavens recede like a scroll being rolled up and mountains and islands were removed from their place, indicating some sort of “natural disasters” occuring. 4.) the day of wrath of Him who sits on the throne and the wrath of the Lamb 5.) Harm to the land, sea, trees (vegetation) not to occur until 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel to make the number 144,000 in total6.) a great multitude in white robes from every tribe and nation who's robes have been washed and made white by the blood of the Lamb.
• 8:1-5 SEVENTH SEAL: silence in heaven for ½ hour, 7 trumpets given to the 7 angels, angel with the golden censer given incense and prayers of God’s people went up to God in smoke, then the censer was filled with fire from the altar of God and hurled onto the earth, producing thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

• 8:7 FIRST TRUMPET: hail and fire mixed with blood hurled down onto the earth; burns ⅓ of the earth, ⅓ of the trees, and all the green grass was burned
• 8:8-9 SECOND TRUMPET: mountain on fire thrown into the sea; ⅓ of the sea turned to blood, ⅓ of the sea creatures die, ⅓ of the ships destroyed
• 8:10-11 THIRD TRUMPET: great star burning like a torch called Wormwood fell onto ⅓ of the rivers and springs of water making many die from turning the water bitter
• 8:12 = FOURTH TRUMPET = ⅓ sun struck, ⅓ moon struck, ⅓ of stars struck to turn dark, ⅓ of the day without light as is the night
• 9:1-12 FIFTH TRUMPET (ALSO 1ST WOE): star fallen from sky to the earth given shaft of the Abyss, smoke rose from the Abyss and sun and sky were darkened by the smoke. From the smoke locusts came down to the earth and were given power similar to a scorpion told only to harm those who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. The locusts not allowed to kill but only torture for 5 months. The agony suffered by them was like that of a string of a scorpion. People will seek death but will not find it (could be referencing transhumanism, or God will just not let them die and will let them suffer). Description of locusts given, and the locusts has as king over them the angel of the Abyss who in Hebrew is named Abadon and in Greek is Apollyon (both mean Destroyer)
• 9:13-11:14 SIXTH TRUMPET (ALSO 2ND WOE): four angels bound at the Euphrates released to kill ⅓ of all mankind, even after this number was killed, those remaining still refused to repent of their evil deeds. Mirroring Daniel, John then eats the little scroll and it is sweet to the taste but sour in the stomach. The two witnesses (likely Enoch and Elijah, though not confirmed) prophesy and this parallels Zechariah 4:3,11,14. The beast from the Abyss kills them in the great city, figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where the Lord was crucified. For 3.5 days people refuse the two prophets burial and gloat over the bodies, only for God to call them up to Him in a cloud. Once this happens, an earthquake occurs and destroys 1/10th of the city and 7,000 are killed, causing the survivors to repent and give glory to God
• 11:15-19 SEVENTH TRUMPET: the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of the Lord and His Messiah, the 24 elders fall down in worship before God… also the ark of the covenant revealed in God’s temple in heaven
• 12:1-17 although it is easy to assume this woman is Mary, it is actually Israel. The woman is clothed with the son and the moon; the son and the moon are used to tell the times and seasons based on Genesis 1:14-16. Israel is the capital of the world, as God protects Israel and determines the times and seasons. THat being said, the crown of twelve stars on the woman is the 12 tribes of Israel. From Bethlehem, in Israel, gives birth the Jesus the Messiah. The red dragon is satan, who with his tail swiped out ⅓ of the angels in heaven with him and they were hurled onto the earth. 12:5 the male child is Jesus who rules nations with an iron scepter, and who the dragon was standing in front of to devour (as shown in Pharaoh and Herod, centuries apart from each other both issuing decrees the 1st born male Israelites, who the devil worked through to do). But the Messiah escaped all of this. Israel was and is then protected by God. 12:7 this is a flashback before the world was created. Although Michael and his angles fought the devil and his angels and booted them out of heaven, don’t forget that according to Joshua 5:14-15, Jesus is the commander of the LORD’s armies, and thus is commander over Michael. Michael cannot kill and finally beat lucifer, only Jesus can(we’re getting there). 12:10 says lucifer is the accuser of the body of Christ, but WE triumph over him only by the blood of the Lamb.
• 12:13-17 the dragon wages war against the woman’s offspring, those who keep the commands of God and hold fast to their testimony about Jesus
• 13:1-10 the Beast from the Sea: dragon gives the Beast from the Sea his power, throne and great authority. People worshiped this Beast, and said “ who is like the beast, who can wage war against it?” 13:8- all inhabitants of the earth worship the beast unless their name is written in the book of life
• 13:11-18 Beast from the Earth = exercises all authority given to the Beast of the Sea on it’s behalf. The Beast of the Earth also gives breath to the Beast of the Sea’s image so as to make it talk and deceive people, and forces everyone to take the mark of the beast and if they do not, they cannot buy or sell (which means you cannot purchase or sell anything in mainstream society unless you have this mark on your right hand or forehead. This indicates that Christians will either starve, or more likely, create their own means of living and ‘underground’ societies.)
• 14:1 notice how satan immitates everything God does… Jesus clothed in rainbows, the devil perverts the rainbow and everyone worships the devil who practicies homosexuality and other sexual perversions… God has a throne, on which sits the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and so the Dragon (lucifer) shares his throne with the Beast… anything God has, the devil copies, the devil cannot create anything new… his kingdom mirrors God’s kingdom IN TERMS OF ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE, NOT IN NATURE.
• 14:4-5 the 144,000 from the 12 tribes of Israel are eunuchs, or virgins, according to this passage
• 14:8 is Isaiah 21:9… as a sidenote, another reason the woman in chapter12 cannot be Mary is because it does not fit the rest of the book, but Israel as the woman does. Here Babylon the Great is also referred to as a woman given that the possession of the maddening wine and adulteries is “hers”
• 14:6-9 three angles with three distinct messages
• 14:14--20 there are 2 types of harvests… a harvest Jesus reaps for His kingdom, and a harvest of an angel who throws the grapes (wicked) into the winepress of God, where they are all crushed… the amount of blood totals at the height of horses’ bridles (what you hold onto while on the horse, usually at 5-6ft off the ground) and for a distance of 180 miles
• 15: seven angels with seven plagues, with these the wrath of God is complete. As smoke would fill the temple and filled Mount Sinai, so the same smoke appears from the glory of God here
• 16:the seven bowl of wrath (these bowls hold the plagues)
• 16:2 - FIRST BOWL = poured onto land, festering sores broken out on people who worship the beast and its image
• 16:3 - SECOND BOWL = poured onto the sea, sea turned to blood that of a dead person, and everything living in the sea died
• 16:4 THIRD BOWL = onto rivers and springs of water, they became blood, what the angel says portrays God’s purpose for this: vengeance, as He is giving the people what they deserve (God is right and just)
• 16:8 - FOURTH BOWL = poured onto the sun, sun then can scorch people with fire, the people refused to repent and glorify God who controls the plagues 
• 16:10 FIFTH BOWL = poured out onto the throne of the beast, its kingdom plunged into darkness, people mad at God and still refuse to repent
• 16:12 - SIXTH BOWL = poured onto the Euphrates, dried up to prepare the way for the kings of the East (this has already happened, as the Euphrates for the first time ever is dried up) this bowl prepares the earth for the Battle of Armageddon. Also, out of the mouth of the dragon, beast, and false prophet are impure spirits that would perform the demonic signs and wonders
• 16:17 SEVENTH BOWL = poured onto the air, followed by lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and an earthquake like never before on earth… great city splits into 3, and the cities of the nations collapse (notice the great city is still standing)... also, islands and mountains are gone, and hailstones weighing 100lbs fall from the sky
• 16:19 God’s cup of wrath, this is the cup Jesus was referring to in Matthew 26:39; Jesus drank the cup for believers and the Father’s wrath was poured out on the Son, so as to spare believers from the punishment due us
• 17:6 the Prostitute (Babylon, which is a spirit) is drunk off the blood of martyred Christians
• 17:8 the Beast once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss… Jesus is the one who was, who is, and who is to come. You can see the counterfeit the devil ahs set up with the beast
• 17:
• 17:18 the Prostitute is Babylon, and according to this verse existed, still exists, and will come to ruin when this happens. 
• 18:4-8 scary descriptions here, but what is interesting, is God is still calling people out at this point despite all that has happen (18:4 = Jeremiah 51:45), and in one hour plagues of death, mourning and famine overtake Babylon
• 18: Prostitute (Babylon = spirit) falls this images the world’s system because the world’s system is was killed Christians 
• 18:23 by Babylon’s spell… the false and empty promises of wealth and luxury are found in the system of the world
• 19: Christians avenged by God’s wrath poured out on the Prostitute
• 19:11-21 Jesus leads us into battle with the kings of the earth and their armies, the false prophet, and the beast. All were killed from the world, to which the birds of the sky ate, but the Beast and False Prophet were thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur alive
• 20: Lucifer bound, thrown into the Abyss for 1,000 years. Jesus and those who were beheaded, free of worshipping the beast and taking its name on them, reign with Jesus on the earth during these 1,000 years and this is called the first resurrection; second death has no power over these… after 1,000 years, Satan then released, to which he gathers the armies of the world and surround Jerusalem, but fire comes down from heaven and devours them, and satan is thrown into the lake of burning sulfur where the beast and false prophet are. Great White Throne Judgement is the judgment of Christians (so these people being Christian till their deaths already accepted into Heaven), where they are judged according to what they did for the kingdom, good and bad. 
• 20:15 anyone whose name was not written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire
• 21: New Heaven and New Earth appear with the Holy City Jerusalem coming down dressed as a bride for the bridegroom (Jesus). 
• See 21:8
• 21:22-27 no temple, moon, sun, or security is required because God dwells among the people, He is the temple, He is the light, and since it is always day, there is no need to close the city gates
• 22: both fire and living water flow from the throne,  leaves of the tree healing for the nations, no longer any curses, we will see God’s face and serve Him