Have you ever wondered how the Bible fits together chronologically?

Revelation opens saying it is an apocalypsis of Jesus Christ. An apocalypse was a particular genre of writing in the time of Jesus. It’s like announcing something is a romance or a sci-fi or a documentary. It alerts the audience that it’s a particular type of story.

And that’s important to keep in mind as the curtain rises on a sweeping story full of angels and demons, saints and monsters.

The book first introduces Jesus Christ as we’ve known him thus far in Scripture, but then reveals him as we’ve never seen him before.

The preface to the apocalypse is a set of letters, one for each of seven churches in Asia Minor where John ministered. The letters aren’t addressed to the churches, but to each of their angels. We’ll spend a little time pondering the significance of that.

Each letter praises the churches, chastises them a bit, and then gives each one a promise. There’s a lot of war language used--victory and overcoming and laurels of reward. We’ll think about that a bit as well.

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We cover Revelation 2:1-11.

We cover the letters to Pergamum and Thyatira in this class. And while we’re at it we begin to get a feel for why John wrote Revelation as a “dream” in an apocalypse prefaced by a few seemingly innocuous letters. 

John uses these letters to define several of the important metaphors he’ll use throughout the book. This is a Master Class in resistance under oppression.

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We cover Revelation 2:12-29.

We finish the last three letters to the churches: Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. The imagery is tied very closely to the shortcomings and challenges facing these believers. John knows these churches intimately.

But as difficult as the messages might be to hear, Jesus always offers hope. He reminds them of their call to be light in the word--lampstands for the Holy Spirit. We gather some more building blocks we’ll need for the study ahead, including insight into the significance of the Book of Life.

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We cover Revelation 3.