History and Introduction - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

History and Introduction

:

The Book of

Revelation

January 6, 2016Slide2

Vision of Jesus and Seven letters to seven churches

1-3

4-7

Throne of God & Scroll with seven seals

8-11

Seven trumpets

12-16

Christ, the Dragon & the Seven Bowls

17-19

The Harlot on Seven Hills & the Bride

20

The King reigns

21-22

New Heaven & New Earth

Each ends with a promise of 2

nd

Coming

Christ wipes away every tear (7:17)

Christ will reign forever & ever (11:15)

Fall of the nations

“It is done” (16:17)

Rider on the White Horse (19:16)

Judge &Lake of Fire

I am coming quickly (22:20)Slide3

First

– Revelation is full of symbolism. 2 explanations: John handling truths that cannot be expressed in just literal words; and, in speaking of the destruction of the Roman Empire this would have been seen as treason.

Second – Revelation addresses the past, the present and the future. It is not necessary to commit to one of the views of interpretation. Let Scripture speak.Third – Revelation celebrates the victory of God. Through all the conflict depicted, remember that Christ has conquered already and His people are meant to share in His victory.

Fourth – Revelation focuses on Jesus Christ. The first three words in Greek are “apokalupsis Iesou Christou

” in English – the apocalypse (or revelation) of Jesus Christ. This book is an unveiling of the greatness of our Lord Jesus Christ.Four Principles of InterpretationSlide4

John

wrote

Revelation

on the island of Patmos (verse 9), which is in the Aegean Sea 40 miles off the coast of Asia Minor (modern- day Turkey). Patmos is a small island of

24 square miles, with a coastline in the shape of a horseshoe.It is rocky, volcanic and sparsely populated

and a severe place to send captives. John is believed born in 6 AD and was approximately 88 when banished. Banishment was a terrible punishment with whippings, being

bound in chains and years of hard labor in rock quarries. At John's advanced age it would have been a harrowing ordeal. But he sees it as an honor to participate “

in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus” (verse 9).Slide5

During the time of John's exile, traditionally 94-96, history

shows

violent persecution against Christians under the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian (81-96).

Domitian declared himself a god and demanded worship by all — except the Jews.

Once a year each head of household had to appear before authorities, burn incense to the emperor and declare, “Caesar is lord.” Those who refused were branded as traitors and either sentenced to death or exiled.

Christians confessed they had only one Lord, Jesus Christ, so they were terribly persecuted. John, the last living apostle of the original 12, apparently was banished for this reason

. It is believed that John was freed from the island and died around 100 AD, though some believe he died on the island.Slide6
Slide7

On Patmos John

received a long and

complex revelation

from Jesus Christ (verses 1-2, 10-20) “… What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea” (verse 11).

Ephesus: A port city a short voyage from Patmos. It is believed that John was a leader of this church prior to his exile.Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of the Roman roads that stretched from Ephesus to Laodicea.

“It is no accident,” notes John McRay, “that the letters in Revelation 1-3 are arranged in this same sequence. Beginning with Ephesus, the roads follow a geographic semicircle, extending northward, turning to the east, and continuing southward to Laodicea—thus connecting the cities on what must have functioned as an ancient postal route” (Archaeology and the New Testament , 1997, p. 242).Slide8

Christ recognizes the effort of the

Ephesians,

in spite of many obstacles, to keep the faith and carry out the

His commission. The Ephesian church had much evil to deal with — in and outside of the congregation.

Paul had warned the “elders of the church” (Acts 20:17): “For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves” (verses 29-30).

Centuries earlier Heracleitus, an Ephesian philosopher, described the people of Ephesus as “fit only to be drowned[,] and the reason why [they] could never laugh or smile was because [they] lived amidst such terrible uncleanness.”

Ephesus was such an immoral city it would have been difficult to live there as a Christian. The church there claimed to be the last location of the Virgin Mary. The church in Ephesus died out in the 2nd centurySlide9

Smyrna

: About 40 miles north of Ephesus. It was a flourishing city and the main center of emperor worship

.

It is one of the only two churches who Jesus doesn’t have criticism or condemnation for.Christians in Smyrna

were special targets of the persecution under Domitian, because of the city's complete loyalty to Rome. It had been declared a “free city,” which meant its residents had the right to govern their own affairs.

The only way Church members could move around peacefully was to carry a certificate showing they had offered incense to the emperor and proclaimed him lord. Many of the Christians in Smyrna would die because of fierce persecutions.

The Christian Church still exists in Smyrna today in spite of Islamic persecution.Slide10

Pergamum

:

Roman capital of Asia Minor. It was not the same commercial powers of Ephesus or Smyrna, but was the center of religious, medical and artistic culture of the region.

It’s famous library, with 200,000 parchment rolls, was rivaled only by the library in Alexandria, Egypt.“

Satan's throne” in Pergamos likely refers to the worship of its most popular deity, the serpent god Asklepios Soter, Latin equivalent “the man-instructing serpent and savior.” It may also refer to the “altar of Zeus” on which Bishop Antipas was martyred.

Pergamos was so renowned for the worship of this god, who supposedly healed the sick, that this deity was called “the Pergamene god.”

It was one of the eeriest cities because of this worship and temple and the site of much persecution and heresy through out the first millenniumSlide11

Thyatira

: 40 miles east of

Pergamos

, important for its commerce in wool and textiles.It had typical Roman style of colonnades and public buildings and a temple to the goddess Artemis. The city was especially famous for its fine woolen cloth, usually dyed in a shade that came to be called Thyatiran purple.

A religious center and home of powerful guilds demanding religious participation of their workers in their banquets, it was difficult for Christians to resist falling into idolatry.The teaching of Jezebel apparently reasoned that an idol is of no consequence, and advised Christians to eat pagan meals. That these meals often degenerated into sexual looseness made matters worse. Some Christians would welcome a heresy of this type. This let them maintain a Christian profession while living with immoral heathen partiesChrist reminds the Thyatiran

church they must leave the worldly society, no matter how tempting it was, and not compromise the truth.Slide12

Sardis

:

Built

above the Hermus Valley, it was 30 miles south of Thyatira. The city was a citadel and considered impregnable. Five roads converged below it and it was a great commercial center. The wealth of the city was legendary.

The Sardians would understand the warning to be watchful. Only two times Sardis had been conquered these were

when its citizens had become overconfident and failed to watch.There was no persecution or false apostles, prophets

or teachers trying to destroy this church. Even the Nicolations (they ate food that had been sacrificed to idols and practiced sex outside of marriage while claiming to be Christians) and pious Jews were ignoring this church. No one was being put in prison or

killed for serving Jesus. It is seems that the church is so ineffective, that the devil wasn’t wasting any time with it. Slide13

Philadelphia

: About 25 miles southeast of Sardis, it is newest of the seven cities. An imperial road passed through it from Rome to the east, so it became known as “the gateway to the East

.”

This was a church that needed no warning, and no chastening,

or threatening because it is a true church. It is one of two of the seven churches that have no condemnation in the letter because they are the regenerate church.

The churches at Smyrna and Philadelphia were faithful, godly, loyal, effective. These two churches were models throughout all of church history of good, solid, regenerate, faithful churches.

Philadelphia means “brotherly love,” named after the love the king who founded the city held for his brother. As Philadelphus was renowned for his loyalty to his brother, so the church, the true Philadelphia, inherits and fulfills his character by its steadfast loyalty to ChristSlide14

Laodicea

: The

last city on the

route, 45 miles southeast of Philadelphia. Three main roads crossed it making the city was one of the richest commercial centers in the world. It was famous for producing shiny, black wool clothing and

for an outstanding medical center specializing in eye ointments. It was wealthy and a banking center of the region.

Though very wealthy, the city had very poor water, which either came from the nearby hot springs and was cooled to lukewarm or came from a cooler source and warmed up in the aqueduct on the wayThis

church was spiritually arrogant and self-satisfied. It was the only church Christ did not commend for anythingChrist uses

their lukewarm and distasteful water to point out that their poor spiritual state is equally offensive to Him. He warns them if they do not rapidly improve their spiritual condition, He will reject them. Christ says that though their clothing is world renowned,

their “spiritual garments” were in pitiful condition. Slide15

The churches are certainly literal churches in the period and Christ is speaking to them.

There are theories that the churches also represent church eras or ages – periods through which the church has existed and reflected the behavior of the named church.

Another theory is that the churches further represent church attitudes and attitudes of various denominations today.

It is likely that all can be true simultaneously, the complexity of Jesus’ revelation and of Holy Scripture shows that there are multitudes of layers to all lessons and reinforcing the truth that Scripture contains all things necessary for salvation.Slide16

Questions?