Introducing Revelation
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INTRODUCTION
Few books in Scripture provoke as much controversy, confusion, and outright fear as the book of Revelation. For centuries, scholars, pastors, and laypeople alike have wrestled with its strange symbols, apocalyptic imagery, and ominous prophecies. But the greatest misunderstanding about Revelation is not its difficulty—it is the assumption that this book was meant to be mysterious at all. Revelation was not written to confound, but to unveil. It was given to the Church to reveal Christ’s victory, not to obscure it.
But, make no mistake—these waters are rougher than the North Sea. So rough, in fact, that few are willing to brave them. Consider this: John Calvin, the imminent theologian and Reformer, who wrote commentaries on virtually every book of the Bible, refused to write one on the book of Revelation. And he wasn’t alone.
A. T. Robertson put it plainly:
'Perhaps no single book in the New Testament presents so many and so formidable problems as the Apocalypse of John.'
George R. Beasley-Murray agreed, saying,
'Revelation is probably the most disputed and difficult book in the New Testament.'
With Isbon T. Beckwith noting,
'Doubtless, no other book has so perplexed biblical students throughout the Christian centuries down to our own times.'
And that’s just the scholars. John F. Walvoord admitted, '
‘Attempts at its exposition are almost without number, yet there continues the widest divergence of interpretation.'
Leon Morris, who was a commentator and pastor, summed it up well, saying:
'Revelation … is by common consent one of the most difficult of all the books of the Bible. It is full of strange symbolism. The result is that for many modern men, Revelation remains a closed book.'
But it’s not just Christians who struggle with this book. Many outside the Christian faith find this book reprehensible, and that ought to be an important note for us. D. H. Lawrence called this book 'perhaps the most detestable of all these books of the Bible,' and even claimed that John’s symbolism 'cannot be imagined.' George Bernard Shaw, never one to hold back from bloviating his grandiose opinions, dismissed it as 'a curious record of the visions of a drug addict.'
Yet, despite all this—despite the controversy, the confusion, and the critics—Revelation is and always will be the very Word of God. It’s mysterious, yes. Complex? Absolutely. But we have to remember dear ones that this is a part of God’s inspired Word. His Word is a gift to us, to strengthen us, build us up, mature us, inspire us, correct us, and strengthen us. And because we know that all of God’s Word is a gift, and that none of it will ever return void, then we can know that the book of Revelation, even though it seems paralyzingly difficult, can be used by God to bless us, strengthen us, and give us clarity on who God is. And that is my aim in this series. To help people no longer be afraid of this book. To see that it does not at all mean what you think it means. And to show how the Church, has a much more important role in the world than you ever dared dream!
So, get ready, because over the next few months, we’re going to journey through this book together. We’re not going to skim the surface of it or get lost in weeds of endless speculation—we’re going to dig deep enough to uncover its meaning, and make sense of its powerful symbolism. But we’re also going to do it in a way that’s actually helpful and that anyone can understand.
I have no interest in turning this into a series for egg headed theologians who love to argue in their ivory towers. My goal isn’t to impress scholars—it’s to make sure you understand this book, love this book, and see what this book has to say to God’s people! Whether you’ve been studying theology for decades or you’re a curious ten-year-old flipping through the Bible for the first time, this series is for you.
PART 1: WHY REVELATION FEELS IMPOSSIBLE (AND WHY IT ISN’T)
The reason Revelation often seems overwhelming is because we come to it with the wrong question. We open the book and immediately ask, 'What does this mean for me?' And with symbols filling the pages—many of them so far outside our immediate experience—we assume the only way to understand them is to try and force them into our world, like a toddler trying to beat a square peg into a round role with a rubber mallet. That is the problem. We take the symbols in the book and make them represent things in our time instead of John’s. Whether we mean to or not, we treat Revelation like it was written directly to us, postmarked and delivered to our modern world, rather than assuming, as we do with every other New Testament letter, that it had an original author and audience in view.
Let me give you an example that illustrates my point. Imagine I discovered a 2,000-year-old letter inside of a lay pot while vacationing in the Middle East. Imagine I was tinkering around some abandoned cave in the desert mountains, when I happen upon some beautiful and brittle ancient pottery. And after opening it, I find this incredibly preserved letter that is written in an entirely different and very ancient language. Now, the wise thing to do would be to take that letter to a museum and eagerly wait as scholars translated it from its original tongue, determined the precise date for when it was written, and identified who it was addressed to so that we could understand the context. What I would not do, after all that work was done, is assume that everything written in that letter was meant for me—like some man in ancient Palestine had me in mind while writing a letter to his friend, hiding it in an abandoned cave, hoping I would be the one to find it, and realize that he was talking to me the whole them. That would be the surest way I could ever imagine to completely and totally misunderstand what he was saying. And yet, that is exactly what many do with the book of Revelation. They assume that John, exiled on the isle of Patmos, who wrote to 7 ancient churches that he knew and loved, only pretended to write a letter to them about things that would happen in their lifetime. But, his real purpose was to write a letter to us, hiding its meaning in code, so that nearly ever Christian that would ever live would misunderstand this book, until the final generation, who could figure out its secret codes and mysteries. I am sorry, but that seems the most outlandish and foolish assumption about this book I could ever dream up.
But, this assumption is real, it has been taught by seminaries to many pastors, and those many pastors have taught that assumption to many churches, and now we have an entire generation who believes John’s purpose was to talk about twenty first century things going on in America, instead of the things going on in his day concerning people he knew and loved. And it is this assumption, I would argue, that is the main reason Revelation feels so intimidating and difficult for people to understand. Because when you take these ancient symbols and images that made sense to people living 2000 years ago, and you try and force them into a very different world, place, culture, and time, you end up puzzled and befuddled making neither heads nor tails of this book. Instead of trying to figure out what it meant to John and his first-century audience, so many have assumed that this book is about helicopters, neuralink brain chips, crypto currencies, the Trilateral counsel, and a litany of other modern realities, that by the time they are finished they have spun themselves into a hermeneutical hypnosis that leaves them spiraling, confused, and 2000 years away from what this text actually means. If you try to impose your world onto the symbols of Revelation, you will walk away disoriented and probably frustrated enough to avoid the book altogether, which is exactly what has happened.
But there is a better way. Instead of avoiding this book, I am arguing that it can be understood. It can be enjoyed. It can be something that strengthens your faith, encourages you, and propels you to godly Christian service. And how is that? Well, if instead of assuming this book concerns things going on in our world and our time, you would adopt a simple paradigm shift things will become much clearer. if you would begin asking, 'What did this book mean to John and the people he was writing to? What events were they facing, and would be facing in their immediate future? Then you would see that Revelation is not as difficult as it seems. In fact, it can be understood by anyone willing to approach it rightly. It really is that simple.
But, just because something is simple, does not mean it is easy. It will be hard. It will take a lot of work. It will take you being willing to leave behind the assumptions you have about it and distractions of the modern world in order to step back into the first-century world of temples and priests, the Mosaic Covenant, and the Hebrew prophets, so that you can see this book through a new set of eyes. When you do that, Revelation begins to make sense. And when it makes sense, you will see its true message: that Christ is subduing His enemies, advancing His kingdom, and filling the entire earth with His victory. That is what Revelation is all about. And in the weeks and months ahead, we are going to see just that.
For now, I need you to know that this book is not impossible to understand. The key to interpreting it correctly is simple, but not easy. And if all that sounds good to you, then lets move onto:
PART 2: REVELATION IS THE MOST “BIBLICAL” BOOK IN THE BIBLE
For many, the book of Revelation is a dense murky forest of fantastical symbols, strange imagery, and bewildering visions that for a knot cannot be untangled. It is a book that has been misused, misinterpreted, and twisted into sensationalist end-times speculations, doom and gloom fantasies, and has robbed far too many people of the hope they should be having in Jesus’ Kingdom. But what if the key to understanding this book has been right in front of us all along? What if, on top of entering into their world and trying to see this book the way they would see it, we have already been given the exact key to understand its message. What if I told you God has already given you the rosetta stone to untangle the apocalyptic hieroglyphics present in this most visionary book, and it is not your current events, not the writings of Nostradomus, but the Old Testament Scriptures.
You see, Revelation is not a book that was written in isolation from the rest of the Bible. In fact, it is the most Biblical of all the books in the Bible. It is the capstone of the entire biblical drama. It is the grand finale, the climax toward which every other biblical book has been pointing all along. It is the hope of Eden restored, the dream of God dwelling with His people once more, the full and final redemption of everything sin has broken. It is the decisive defeat of God's enemies, the full and total crushing of the serpent, and the record of how God will spread His dominion over all the earth.
From the very beginning, all the way back to the garden of Eden, God had a plan—to create a people for Himself, to redeem them, to reign over them, and to fill the earth with them, and they fill the earth with His glory. Revelation brings that plan to its climactic fulfillment, where the true and better Adam finishes what the first Adam faltered in. In this way, Revelation, though completely psychedelic and gnarly at times, is not a new message with new themes… It is the consummation of everything God has been saying from the beginning. It is the fitting crescendo on a story of God’s triumph over sin and death. It is the Hallelujah Chorus in the midst of Handels Messiah. Every note, every theme, every crescendo throughout the Bible finds its resolution here in this book. And, for that reason, Revelation is the most biblically saturated book in all the Bible. Not just in themes, and not only because it is the climax of Biblical redemption, but because at every turn, it is borrowing its language, drawing its symbols, and weaving together its imagery in a stunning, apocalyptic tapestry, from nearly every page of the Old Testament Scriptures.
In fact, it is nearly impossible to find a single verse in Revelation that does not allude to the Old Testament in some way. With over four hundred allusions to books like Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Zechariah, Genesis, and Leviticus, John is clearly signaling that Revelation cannot be understood apart from the rest of the Bible. It is not meant to be decoded with a news chairon in one hand and a prophecy chart in the other. It is meant to be understood with an open Bible, steeped in the Scriptures that came before it. If there were a decoder ring for the book of Revelation, it would not be current events—it would be the Old Covenant Scriptures. And just in case this is not clear just yet, let me say it plainly. There is no book of the Bible that quotes other books of the Bible, and alludes to other parts of the Bible, more than the book of Revelation. It is so saturated with quotes, allusions, and references, that the only possible way to understand it, is to understand the whole Bible.
Ans frankly, this is why so many struggle with it. Biblical literacy in the modern church is at an all-time low. So many people today simply do not know their Bibles. And if they do, they likely are not familiar with the prophets like Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Zechariah that John is pulling from. Stated pointedly, If you do not know your English Bible, and I mean every part of it, you will not understand this book.
And that is precisely why I am teaching it. If Revelation requires a deep knowledge of the entire Bible to understand it, then we are going to need to study the whole Bible as we walk through this book. Because Revelation is not a stand-alone prophecy—it is the culmination of every prophecy, every promise, and every covenant that God has made. And because it is the grand conclusion of the story God has been telling from the beginning, if you follow along with this series you are not only going to learn the book of Revelation, but you are also going to learn the central themes, hopes, and expectations of the entire Bible. So, it may be needless to say at this point, but what we are endeavoring to do is wildly important! You will be a deeper, richer, more vigorous Christian and disciple by going through this series. And that is my goal! That we would grow together in Christ, as we read the most Biblical book in all the Bible.
PART 3: REVELATION’S USE OF SYMBOLS
Revelation begins with a statement that sets the tone for the entire book: Jesus Christ "signified" (Rev. 1:1) the message to John. But, in our English Bibles this is not all that clear. In English the passage reads this way:
“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John” - Revelation 1:1
And while this translation is true enough, it absolutely misses what John is saying! Because in Greek, John is being so much more deliberate about his purpose for the book. A better way to translate this phrase would be:
“The Unveiling of Jesus Christ, that God gave to Him in order to show His slaves, what must take place in a short time; and He signified this message by sending it through His messenger to His slave John ” - Revelation 1:1
In my translation, I am highlighting the exact meaning of the Greek words that John used, instead of the more generic terms our English translations have given us that has muddled the meaning. And what you can see is two things very clearly. First, the book was not meant to be shrouded in confusion, but it was meant to be an unveiling. The word “Revelation” in the Greek language means to pull the veil off of something, to reveal it, to open it up, not to conceal and confuse things, which makes the naming of the book incredibly ironic. That is the first thing.
Secondly, instead of the very generic word “Communicated,” that is used by the NASB 1995, the actual Greek word there is “Signified,” which is the same word whereby we get other words like signs and symbols. For instance, when Jesus turned the water into wine, John called that a sign. When Jesus walked on water, John called it a sign. When Jesus looked at the Jews of that generation, He scolded them saying an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign. In all three of those instances, Jesus is not using the word for “communication.” He is not scolding them as a wicked generation for needing more communication. The word in all of these situations, and the word in Revelation 1:1, is the word for a sign. In Revelation 1:1 in particular, the word for sign is made into a verb, which means that Jesus is claiming to have communicated through symbols, to have signified a message, so that He could give it to John.
This means that the entire point of the book of Revelation is that it is a book filled with symbols and signs. It is a book of visions that belong in a particular time and place, which is not our time and our place. And, by Christ sign-ifying the book in this way filling it with signs and symbols, He was ensuring that its meaning could be discovered by the first century people. How do I know that? Because the ways signs work in the Bible are that the people who see them understand what they mean. They don’t apply to a distant and future people, they apply to the people and the context for which they are given. So, by Jesus giving these signs to John, so that JOhn could share them with the first century church, we automatically know that the meaning of these visions and symbols must come out of their world, their worldview, and their experience, and not ours. Which, as we have already discussed, is from the Old Testament.
Let me give you a few examples of how this works in the book.
THE MEANING OF REVELATION’S SYMBOLS
At the center of the book stands a Lamb (Rev. 5:6, 7:10, 17:14). This is not an actual lamb, but it is a symbol for Jesus Christ. He is the true Passover Lamb, whose blood covers His people's sin, so that the angel of death will Passover them. So, by John including a Lamb right at the center of His book, we should imagine that the angel of death is coming once again for the enemies of God and that only the blood of the Lamb will save you from his wrath. And this is exactly what happens in the book. Except, it is not the Egyptians this time that are going through plagues and devastation, it is the apostate Jews.
In the book, Christ is also the ultimate King, the Lamb that sat on the throne to rule, after almost 700 years of the throne of David sitting empty. He is the one who comes and restores the Kingdom. Also, His greatest enemy in the book, is a beast who has a whore riding on its back (Revelation 13-17). And while the symbolism is strange, it is not undiscernable. The beast comes out of Daniel chapter 7, where Daniel saw a vision of a strange beast that represents the Roman Empire, who will eventually come and make war with God’s people. The whore who rides on the beasts back, is dressed like a Jewish high priest, and she has become drunk on the blood of the saints (Rev. 17:16). The meaning could not be more obvious to a first century Christian. The apostate Jews were in bed with Rome, they were murdering Christians (Which they were), and they were using this beast to try and preserve their life, but in the end, God crushed both the Roman empire and the apostate Jews for their crimes against God, while the Church still stands.
Knowing what the high priest wore from Exodus 28 and the that this beast is straight out of Daniel 9, gives you the tools to be able to understand John’s meaning. He takes common images in the Old Testament (Like beasts, brides, and clothing) and then uses them as props and characters in His heavenly drama. And, instead of looking at 21st century Israel and Russia, we are supposed to be looking into the Old Testament to discover what John is doing.
Now, along the way, we will unpack all of the symbols, signs, and visions of this book, but my point in illustrating it this way is simply to show you where to turn to look for answers. And, as I hope is now obvious, you must turn to the Old Testament, to understand Revelation’s symbols.
PART 4: REVELATION FORETELLS IMMINENT EVENTS
Revelation is not a book about distant, futuristic calamities, thousands of years removed from John’s world; it is a book of near term events that happen soon, quickly, and with great urgency. From the opening verse to the final chapter, John saturates his prophecy with time frame references, obvious indicators, that make its timing unmistakable. And not only that, at its core, Revelation is framed by a literary device known as an inclusio, which simply means the book ends that define the middle. An inclusio is the bun that holds the hamburger together. And the buns that hold Revelation together, is an expectation that everything in the book will happen soon. And by soon, we do not mean once it finally begins it will happen quickly. No. We mean that the events were near to John and his audience, who were reading these words in the late 60’s AD. They could know that everything in the book of Revelation was about to happen in their lifetime, not ours.
Let me show you how this inclusio works. Revelation opens with imminence — declaring that it was about
'the things which must shortly take place' (Rev. 1:1)
And
'the time is near' (Rev. 1:3)
And the book also closes with the same urgency saying:
'the things which must shortly take place' (Rev. 22:6)
And
'Yes, I am coming quickly' (Rev. 22:20)
Because the book begins and ends with the exact same language, we can understand from John that the entire book is being defined by that time frame. It would be like saying something like: “I worked from sun up to sun down.” You are letting me know that when the sun popped up you were working. And you worked all the way through until the sun crept quietly back across the horizon again. By saying it this way, by giving me the beginning and the end, you are also giving me the middle. By giving me those bookends, you are giving me the whole bookshelf. And this is exactly what John is doing in Revelation. By telling us that these things will happen soon, that the time is near, and that it will all happen quickly in both Revelation 1 and in Revelation 22, John is telling us that the entire book will unfold in a time that is near, soon, and quick from John’s perspective, which overwhelmingly limits this book's fulfillment to the first century.
But, it is not just the beginning and end that marks the urgent time frame of this book. Every major section of Revelation is infused with time markers and statements reinforcing the nearness of its fulfillment. In its opening salutation, John makes no attempt to veil his meaning: 'The things which must shortly take place' (Rev. 1:1). The Greek word tachos (τάχος) means 'quickly' 'soon' or “about to happen.” Not some vague, nebulous idea of 'someday in the distant future' or “once upon a time in a land far away.” If that were not enough, verse 3 declares, 'The time is near' (engus, ἐγγύς)—a word that means 'at hand,' not thousands of years away.
As the book progresses, this theme only intensifies. To the first century church at Ephesus, Jesus warns, 'Repent... or else I am coming to you quickly' (Rev. 2:5). To the actual church that met and gathered in Pergamum, He repeats, 'I am coming quickly' (Rev. 2:16). To Thyatira, He exhorts, 'Hold fast until I come' (Rev. 2:25), imagine telling that church to hold on for 2000 years. That would be ridiculous since there would not be a single member who would make it past the second century. And, the church does not even exist today. That church had a lifespan. And at some point it closed its doors. And, another church opened. That is the death burial and resurrection cycle the church always undergoes. Because of that, Jesus was not telling this local church in Asia Minor to specifically hold on until He returns in the 21st century as some say. Jesus was telling that church to hold on just a little longer because He was about to come and defeat His enemies, the Jews, who were murdering and persecuting them.
In Philadelphia, the urgency persists. Jesus tells them: 'I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have' (Rev. 3:11). The message is unmistakable—Christ’s coming in judgment was not a distant hope for modern people but an imminent reality for the ones living them. Even the structure of Revelation’s judgments reflects this, as seen in how John tells us that the 'The third woe is coming quickly' (Rev. 11:14). If “quickly” still has not happened in 2000 years, John did not understand, nor the Holy Spirit who inspired him, what the word quickly actually means.
And lest anyone claim that this urgency putters out by the book’s conclusion, Revelation’s final chapter has the most time frame references in it by far! It closes the inclusio with a thunderous reiteration, saying: 'These things must shortly take place' (Rev. 22:6). 'Behold, I am coming quickly' (Rev. 22:7). 'Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near' (Rev. 22:10).
That final point is really important. John is told that the timing of Jesus’ coming was so near, that he should not even seal up the scroll. In case that doesn’t make anby sense to you, sealing up a scroll is the work you would do to preserve a scroll for future generations. It would be the modern equivalent of a time capsule, putting it in an airtight capsule so that a future people would dig it up and find it. Jesus is telling John, do not waste your time doing that, because this message does not concern a future people. It concerns people in those 7 churches that you have been pastoring. Tell them quickly! The time is near!
By contrast, when Daniel was given a vision of events centuries away, he was instructed that he needed to 'seal up the book' because its fulfillment was too distant to be relevant to his contemporaries (Dan. 12:4). But John, on the other hand, is given the opposite command. He is told 'Do not seal up the words of this prophecy, for the time is near.' The implication is undeniable: Daniel’s vision was distant, but John’s prophecy was on the cusp of being fulfilled in the first century.
Jesus then closes out the book with a final end all be all statement, saying: 'Behold, I am coming quickly' (Rev. 22:12). And with the book’s final words, He declares, 'Yes, I am coming quickly' (Rev. 22:20). To ignore this time frame, and to assume Revelation is about events happening in our day, is to ignore the very words of Christ, that He repeated for dramatic emphasis.
And, while you may not fully understand how every line of this book applies to the first century, there is much that you can grab hold of rather quickly when you adopt this perspective. For instance, knowing that God will be pouring out plagues, curses, and devastation on a people who should have been God’s bride but turned out to be a whore, you can see that the overwhelming majority of the book applies to the downfall and destruction of apostate Judah. And, when you see a New Jerusalem rising out of the ashes of the old one, and this New Jerusalem city is called “the bride,” and God lives and dwells with her in covenant union, you should not be shocked to know that the New Jerusalem is not an actual cube shaped city, but it is the church, the bride of Christ, who lives and dwells in union with her God by being in marital union with Jesus. All of the symbols are pointing to something urgent that is about to happen in the first century. And when we look at what did happen in the first century, everything falls perfectly into place.
Just as Jesus had warned in Matthew 24 that Jerusalem’s destruction would come upon that generation (Matt. 24:34), so Revelation stands as the definitive confirmation of that prophecy’s impending fulfillment. The fall of Jerusalem was the climactic covenantal judgment that severed apostate Israel from God, abolished the temple system, and fully inaugurated the reign of Christ’s New Covenant kingdom on earth.
To read Revelation rightly is to see its fulfillment—not in some distant, speculative end-times scenario but in the very events that shaped the first-century Church. The harlot city fell. The old temple was reduced to rubble. The New Jerusalem emerged. And the kingdom of Christ advanced, just as He promised. The Lamb has conquered. The King has come. His reign has begun. And His kingdom will never end.
PART 5: REVELATION IS A BOOK OF HOPE AND DOMINION
Far from being a book about despair and future doom, the book of Revelation is actually a book about God’s victory and dominion. It does not tell the story of the Church’s retreat, but of its triumph through Christ. It is not about the Antichrist’s rise, but of the true Christ’s reign. Throughout its pages, Revelation proclaims the absolute sovereignty of Jesus Christ over every nation, over every ruler, and over every force that would oppose His Kingdom. It is the blueprint for the advancing dominion of Christ’s Kingdom on earth, the fulfillment of the Great Commission, and the Church’s inevitable victory through the power of its risen Lion-like and Lamb-like King.
At the very center of the book of Revelation is the triumphant declaration: 'The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.' (Rev. 11:15). John is telling us that in the first century the world was transferred out of the ownership of Satan, and into the hands of Jesus Christ. And for 2000 years and counting, we have been living in a world that is owned by and ruled by King Jesus. it is a present reality. Christ is not waiting to rule. He rules now. And the book of Revelation is the story of how Christ, having ascended to the throne, is subduing His enemies, judging the old world order, and establishing His eternal dominion on earth as it is in heaven.
And this tremendous theme begins at the beginning of the book. For instance, in the fifth verse of the book, John says: 'Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.' (Rev. 1:5). John is not describing a future or potential ruler. But the one who reigns over all. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords now. And because of that fact, His dominion is not something He will receive later—it is something He already possesses and is currently spreading.
This is further emphasized in Revelation 1:7: 'Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him.' This is not speaking of far-off event at the end of human history. This is telling us that the King would come in judgment against the people who pierced Him, which was the Jews, and that He will set up and establish His Kingdom when He crushes their resistance.
In a similar way, Revelation 1:8 repeats and even settles the matter, saying: 'I am the Alpha and the Omega,' says the Lord God, 'who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.' For Jesus to call Himself the Almighty, He is declaring that there is no might, authority, or power that does not belong to Him. Almighty does not mean really powerful. It means that all authority, rule, dominion, and power belongs to Him. Everyone on earth, and all authority that is delegated here, is nothing more than borrowed authority from its rightful owner, Jesus. He is the Almighty (Pantokratōr) in Greek, which means He is the One before whom all kings, magistrates, and governors must bow, before whom all nations must tremble, and to whom all of human history will bend.
CHRIST SHARES HIS DOMINION WITH HIS BRIDE
But, the book of Revelation does not only speak about Christ this way. As a surprising feature, it also talks of His bride the Church this way. Instead of viewing her as a weak and retreating girl, Revelation presents her as a bride who conquers, a bride who spreads her husband's life, and is fruitful and multiplying until the entire earth is under her bridegroom's dominion. She is the one in Revelation 2-3, who is told to nikaō—which means to overcome, to conquer, to be victorious. She is the one who is promised the tree of life, that was lost by Eve, but would be given back to the second Adam’s wife for good (Rev. 2:7). To Smyrna, the church is promised the crown of life (Rev. 2:10). To Pergamum, she will be given the hidden manna (Rev. 2:17). To Thyatira, she will have authority over all the nations (Rev. 2:26). To Sardis, she will be dressed like a royal bride in white garments, which symbolizes her purity (Rev. 3:5). To Philadelphia, she is called a pillar in the temple of God (Rev. 3:12). And to Laodicea, the most stunning promise of all is given to her, saying: 'He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit with Me on My throne.' (Rev. 3:21). You can imagine that the only person on earth who could sit with a king on His own throne would be His beloved bride. And here, Jesus is promising to share His universal dominion and authority with her, as His true helpmeet, who will partner with Him in spreading His life, love, and dominion to the ends of the earth. The Church is not an insignificant institution. The Church is not a building or a service you attend. A church is your participation in Christ! If a woman finds her participation with a husband through her marriage, a Christian can only find his or her participation with Christ through being His bride. And since His bride is His Church, you cannot expect to have a private, personal, relationship with Jesus apart from His bride. That is a very important point. And it supports the point that the Church in Revelation is His Queen, the mother who will feed the nations with the tree of life, that Jesus earned for her on a tree of death. She is a beautiful, royal, radiant, creature, and worthy of our affection and honor.
CHRIST BREAKS HIS ENEMIES AND TAKES THEIR DOMINION
As we have said, Revelation is not a book about a world spiraling into hopeless chaos. It is a book about Christ breaking His enemies and taking their dominion away from them. Revelation 5:5 declares: 'Behold, the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered.' And guess what, the war that He conquered in is not uncertain. The battle is not undecided. Christ has conquered on the cross. He has triumphed in His resurrection. And He is spreading His dominion with His bride the church. And all who oppose Him will be crushed beneath His feet.
For instance, in Revelation 6:1-2, the first seal is broken, and a white horse appears. And while many people claim that this is the Antichrist, this is Christ Himself, riding forth in victory. The text tells us:
'He went out conquering and to conquer.'
The imagery is unmistakable—this is the unstoppable advance of Christ’s Kingdom that began in the first century. This is why Revelation 11:15 says, “that the kingdoms of this world have become the Kingdom of Christ.” This is not a distant hope. It is the inevitable reality of history. The world belongs to Jesus. The nations belong to Jesus.
REVELATION: A BOOK OF VICTORY
Revelation is not a book of fear. It is a book of victory. It is the conquest of Christ, the expansion of His Kingdom with His bride, the church, and the destruction of His enemies who get crushed beneath His feet. Every chapter declares His dominion—He reigns, He conquers, and His people overcome with Him. That is what the book of Revelation is all about.
And, since we took 19 weeks to prove that the way Jesus will crush His enemies, is exactly parallel to the prophecy of Jesus in Matthew 24, I want us to end today look at how Revelation and the Olivet Discourse are saying the exact same things. That take us to:
PART 6: REVELATION IS JOHN’S OLIVET DISCOURSE
Revelation is not introducing a new prophecy. It is reiterating the very same prophecy that Jesus already gave in the Olivet Discourse. This is why we spent so much time studying Matthew 24—because every single element of Jesus’ prophecy finds its counterpart in the book of Revelation. They are saying the exact same thing. Jesus, in His final public teaching before the crucifixion, declared that judgment was coming upon that generation of Jews, for their covenant-breaking crimes against God and His people, and John, decades later, is telling that very same story in the apocalyptic genre.
In this way, Matthew 24 is like listening to a famed professor speaking about a decisive battle, and Revelation is like reading a poem about the same event. They are covering the same material, but in a different way, so that everyone will understand the message with all their faculties and senses. Because, if you really want to understand something, and know it really well, you should consider it in a variety of genres. Sing a song about it. Read a poem about it. Listen to a discussion or a lecture about it. Find all kinds of variety in presentation about whatever you want to learn about, and the more variety of genre you have, the more likely you will understand. This is why the Bible has songs, poems, discourse, apocalyptic, law, narrative, and all kinds of genres. Because God cares about you and wants you to understand what He is saying. The creator of your brain is giving your brain what it needs to learn well, and both Matthew 24 and Revelation are a part of that overall purpose.
To separate the Olivet Discourse from Revelation is to sever two parts of the same story, and as we have seen over the last several weeks, doing that would be foolish. The time frame is the same. The judgments are the same. The signs are the same. The warnings are the same. The message is the same. Revelation is not about a distant, futuristic tribulation—it is about the same judgment that Jesus said was coming upon Jews in forty years (Matthew 24:34). And, for a moment, I want to prove that to you.
THE TIME FRAME OF JUDGMENTS
Both the Olivet Discourse and Revelation are emphatic about one thing: the events they describe were imminent. Jesus declares in Matthew 24:34, 'Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.' and likewise, John opens and closes Revelation with: 'The things which must shortly take place' (Rev. 1:1), 'the time is near' (Rev. 1:3), and 'Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near' (Rev. 22:10). Why? Because the events Jesus and John were describing were about to unfold in the lifetime of Jesus’ apostles.
THE BIRTH PANGS OF A NEW ERA (AD 30-50)
Just as birth pangs increase in intensity before delivery, so too did the signs leading up to Jerusalem’s destruction. Jesus describes these early events in Matthew 24:4-8—false messiahs, wars, famines, earthquakes, and persecution. Every single one of these is mirrored in Revelation. For instance, John affirms that false prophets were in the early church and that deceitful leaders were plaguing God’s people (Rev. 2:2, 2:14-15). Revelation also confirms the presence of wars and rumors of wars, especially in the second seal (Rev. 6:3-4), which describes the bloodshed and strife that characterized the years leading up to the Jewish War. The book echoes Jesus' warnings about famines and earthquakes through the third seal (Rev. 6:5-6) and the great earthquake under the sixth seal (Rev. 6:12). And in those early years, between AD 30 and 50, John tells us that believers were persecuted, just as Jesus had said, portraying them as the martyrs crying out for justice (Rev. 6:9-11). Point for point, John and Jesus are unveiling the same events, affirming that these signs were unfolding in their time.
THE INCREASING TRIBULATION (AD 50-68)
As time moved closer to AD 70, the crises intensified. The Olivet Discourse and Revelation describe this growing tribulation with striking parallelism. Jesus warns of increasing deception, stating that false prophets would multiply (Matt. 24:11), and Revelation presents the False Prophet (Rev. 13:11-18), symbolizing Jewish leaders who aligned with Rome and misled the people. Jesus also speaks of escalating wickedness and apostasy (Matt. 24:12), while Revelation portrays Jerusalem as a harlot (Rev. 17:1-2), filled with idolatry and corruption. Amid this turmoil, Jesus promises salvation to those who endure (Matt. 24:13), and Revelation echoes this call, repeatedly exhorting the faithful to hold fast (Rev. 2:10, 3:10). Furthermore, Jesus declares that the Gospel must be proclaimed to the nations before the end (Matt. 24:14), a prophecy Paul confirms was fulfilled in his time (Col. 1:23), while Revelation affirms the universal call of the Gospel (Rev. 14:6). The parallel between these accounts reinforces that the events of the first century were the very fulfillment of Christ’s words.
THE GREAT TRIBULATION (AD 68-70)
Then came the final, catastrophic judgment: the destruction of Jerusalem. Jesus called it “a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall” (Matt. 24:21). Revelation unveils this same event in terrifying imagery. Jesus warns of the Abomination of Desolation and instructs His followers to flee when they see Jerusalem surrounded (Luke 21:20-21), while Revelation mirrors this with the measuring of the temple and its desecration (Rev. 11:1-2). Jesus urges immediate escape from the city (Matt. 24:16-20), and Revelation describes the faithful being protected in the wilderness (Rev. 12:6, 14-16). As the final siege and fall approach, Jesus foretells unparalleled destruction (Matt. 24:21-22), and Revelation presents the harlot city’s fiery end (Rev. 18:4-8). At the climax, Jesus declares that “the sign of the Son of Man” will appear in judgment (Matt. 24:30), and Revelation affirms this by depicting Christ riding forth in judgment against His enemies (Rev. 19:11-16). Every detail reinforces that the fall of Jerusalem was the fulfillment of these prophecies, marking the decisive end of the old covenant order.
THE NEW KINGDOM ESTABLISHED
The judgment against apostate Israel was not the end of the story—it was the beginning of Christ’s reign through His Church. Jesus predicted that, following the temple’s destruction, His angels (messengers) would gather the elect (Matt. 24:31). Revelation shows this fulfillment in the New Jerusalem, where the faithful are gathered under Christ (Rev. 7:9-10, 21:2-3). The old world was judged, but the new world—Christ’s unshakable Kingdom—was established.
Revelation is not a separate vision from Matthew 24—it is its expansion, its final word. The two stand together, testifying to the same prophecy. The destruction of Jerusalem was the great covenantal shift, the end of the Old and the beginning of the New. Christ now reigns, His Kingdom is expanding, and His Church is the new and eternal temple of God. The prophecies of Jesus in the Olivet Discourse and John in Revelation are in perfect harmony, declaring one unified message: the judgment of Israel, the victory of Christ, and the establishment of His everlasting Kingdom.
And that leads us to our conclusion!
CONCLUSION:
I am so pumped for this series, because I think it is the beginning of something incredible. We are getting to go on a journey through one of the most breathtaking, triumphant, and glorious books in all of Scripture, so that we can see and savor the glory and dominion of Jesus Christ. Revelation is not a quick little book that will be filled with ease, but neither is anything worth doing. It is a long book that will challenge our minds, our Biblical knowledge, and will present to us a picture of the exalted Christ that is altogether glorious. Like Frodo setting sail for the western shores after a long perilous journey, Revelation presents us the long path to Mordor for the Jews who will be thrown down into the fires of doom, and it also gives us the journey of the church to Valinor where we will live with our God forever.
Over the coming weeks and months, we will see Christ in His splendor, ruling from His throne. We will watch as the nations are brought under His feet, as the old world fades and the new world rises. We will stand in awe as heaven and earth are united, as the Bride is made ready, as the mission of God unfolds with perfect precision.
We are not distant observers. We are part of this story. We belong to the Kingdom that has no end, the people who will inherit the earth, the Church that is built upon the Rock and cannot be shaken. What we are about to study is not locked away in the past, nor is it waiting in some distant future—it is alive. It is advancing. It is the reality we are living in right now.
And as we walk through this book together, something is going to happen. Our confidence will grow. Our vision will sharpen. Our hearts will burn with a deeper passion for the reign of Christ and the victory of His Church. We are going to see what He has done, what He is doing, and what He will do through His people.
So lean in. Stay with it. Let the Word shape you. Let the truth embolden you. Let the vision of Christ’s triumph drive you forward. Because we are not just here to learn about His Kingdom.
We are here to live it. And by the time we are done, we will see it clearer, love it deeper, and walk in it with unstoppable faith.
Let’s go.
