Overview

There is a three-fold outline to the Book of the Revelation that offers us a big-picture view of the end times.

Introduction • Revelation 1:19

Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter” (Revelation 1:19). That verse contains the golden key to the Book of the Revelation. This book, the last book of Scripture, is the counterpart to Genesis, the first book. In Genesis you see the creation of heaven and earth; in Revelation you see new heavens and a new earth. In Genesis you see paradise lost; in Revelation you see paradise regained. In Genesis you see man driven from the tree of life; in Revelation you see man invited back to that tree. In Genesis Satan appears for the first time; in Revelation he appears for the last time. In Genesis you see the beginning of sorrow, toil, pain, and death; in Revelation there is no more sorrow, nor crying, nor tears, for the old things are passed away. In Genesis you see the first Adam and his bride, Eve; in Revelation you see the last Adam and His bride, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a thrilling book, and God wants to bless you through it.

Discussion

John was commissioned by God to write the book and was told to write three things. As we examine those three things, we will get an overview of the end times.

The Things You Have Seen

John was first told to write the things he had seen. What had he seen? “I turned to see the voice that spake with me,” John says in verse 12.

And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as aflame of fire; and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth and was dead; and, behold I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and death. Write the things which thou hast seen. (Revelation 1:12-19)

The first division in God’s outline of the book is a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ. John saw Jesus. He didn’t see Him primarily as Savior, but as Sovereign. He didn’t see Jesus as Justifier, but as Judge. He didn’t see Christ in His humiliation, but in His glorification. John had a vision of the crucified, risen, ascended, glorified, and coming Christ. And that is what the Book of Revelation is written to present: an unveiling of Jesus Christ in all His glory, all His majesty, as He comes to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords.

Some people ask, “Why didn’t Jesus appear this way the first time He came? Why did He come meekly, wandering the shores of Galilee?” The answer is because He wants you to choose to follow Him. Had He come in power and might the first time, you would have been afraid not to follow Him. When Jesus was on earth people were always asking Him to do miracles as a sign of His deity. But Christ couldn’t be taunted into miracles. He often warned people not to tell of His miracles because He wasn’t doing them as publicity stunts. He wants men to love Him for who He is, not what He can do. He wants men and women to turn to Him because of His beauty and nature, not just His power and might. So He laid aside all the splendor and glory that was inherently His, left His throne, and was born of a virgin in a barn, raised in obscurity. He came as a nondescript person; Isaiah even says there is no form, nor comeliness, nor beauty that we should desire Him. Yet all the nature of God was in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that causes a right heart to respond to Him by faith. Just as healthy eyes respond naturally to light, your heart responds naturally to Christ.

If He had come in a dazzling display of glory the first time, some would have followed Him because of what He could do. Even if He came today in all His glory, people everywhere would fall on their faces before Him overwhelmed—but not necessarily saved. So He came in His humanity the first time to redeem us. And his friend, John, exiled to the island of Patmos for preaching the Gospel, was told to write about seeing Jesus.

The Things Which Are

The second part of John’s message was to write about the things which are, which is to say, the present age. Chapters 2 and 3 are messages to seven churches that describe this church age. They give insight into the present age. As we have already seen, these seven churches were actual churches in Asia minor, but they symbolically represent all churches. As a matter of fact, a quick reading of those chapters reveals the word church popping up over and over again. These chapters describe the church in the church age, which began with the apostles and goes right through to the rapture. We are living in the period of time known as the things which are, the church age. And there is not a church problem left untouched by those seven messages to the seven churches.

It starts with the church at Ephesus, with the Lord saying they have left their first love. He doesn’t say that they don’t love the Lord, only that they don’t love Him like they used to. He has a message for each of the churches, though that is another study all on its own. Christ tells the church at Smyrna to stand firm in the face of tribulation, and He warns the church at Pergamos not to allow false teachers. He criticizes the church at Thyatira for not dealing with sin in its body, urges the dead church at Sardis to turn back to Him, and encourages the weak church at Philadelphia to become strong in the faith. Finally, the Lord tells the lukewarm church at Laodicea, “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17). These people had become indifferent to God, saying, “I love you, but I’m not excited about you.” That is blasphemy! We ought to stay in love with the Lord Jesus Christ.

The message to those churches is that we must be careful each day to keep a passionate, burning love for God alive in our hearts. If you don’t love Him like that, you’ll experience all kinds of problems. If you want your church to remain strong and healthy, if you want to remain godly and pure, stay in love with Jesus Christ. That’s the principle behind the church messages in chapters 2 and 3.

The Things Which Shall Be

The third division in the Book of the Revelation is by far the largest. Chapters 4 through 22 comprise this third section, which focuses on prophecy. John was told to write the things he had seen, then the things which are, and now he writes about the things which shall be in the future. The Lord Jesus Christ is coming back to rule and reign here on earth. John offers us an outline of the broad panorama of church history. Too many times people will read about single events of the end times—Armageddon, or the Millennium, or the Antichrist—and the story becomes confused because they don’t see the big picture. Starting in chapter 4, John offers the reader the big picture of the last days.

“After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter” (Revelation 4:1). Those words after this literally mean “after these things,” so I believe that means “after the church age.” When John was caught up to the throne of God, that is a picture of all believers being caught up to the throne at the Rapture. First Corinthians 15:52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16 both tell us there is going to be a trumpet blown when the Lord comes, and John describes a voice that sounds like a trumpet. God is going to call His children to Himself, and we will all be drawn immediately up to heaven to meet the Lord in the air. That’s the Rapture, when Christians will be caught up to be with God, the very first event in God’s prophetic calendar.

The next event, which takes place immediately after the Rapture, is the Great Tribulation. This will be a period of seven years when Satan really runs things on earth. Revelation 9:6 epitomizes this time period: “And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.” The world will be infested with demonic spirits who will inflict torture upon men, and mankind, whose first instinct is self-preservation, will prefer death to life. That exemplifies how terrible the Great Tribulation will be.

That seven-year period will end with the Battle of Armageddon. The Antichrist will have become a virtual world dictator, holding sway over the earth. He will make a treaty with Israel for seven years, and Israel will think she is safe. But after three and one-half years, he will break that treaty, set himself up in the rebuilt temple, and demand Israel’s worship. The Jewish people, who mistook the Antichrist for the Messiah, will realize they have been betrayed and refuse to worship him. So he will turn on them with satanic fury and seek to destroy Israel. He will call all the armies to the plain of Armageddon to make war with Israel. That battle will be interrupted by the return of Jesus Christ, riding a white horse, with the saints dressed in white linen behind Him.

And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshiped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone (Revelation 19:19-20).

At that time the Jews will look to the Lord Jesus Christ. They will see Him for who He is, and they will weep that they rejected their long-awaited Messiah when He walked the earth. They will believe in Him, and He will reign on earth for a thousand years. This is the Millennium, when Christ sets up His kingdom on earth. Some people believe that when Christ comes back, God is done with His plan for the earth. But God has made a promise that Jesus will rule from the throne of His father David. Jesus will literally, bodily, rule from Jerusalem.

The next event is the final judgment of the unsaved dead. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15).

The final judgment doesn’t occur until the end of time, so a man’s actions and the repercussions of his actions can fully be judged.

Finally, the last two chapters of Revelation describe the new heaven and the new earth that God creates. They are beautiful chapters that tell of what God has in store for His people: “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away...and there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 21:4; 22:5)

Application

1. In Revelation 1:19, John was told to first write “the things he had seen.” What had he seen? How does he describe Jesus Christ?

2. Why didn’t Christ come in power and glory the first time He visited earth?

3. John next was told to write of “the things that are.” In your own words, sum up Christ’s message to the seven churches of Asia. How does this message apply to the church today?

4. The third thing John was told to write was “things which shall be.” Why do you suppose God wants us to know what will happen in the end times?

5. What do the following passages reveal about the end times?

Matthew 24:30-31

Matthew 25:31-33, 46

Luke 21:7-33

1 Corinthians 15:51-57

It's about time

On a separate sheet of paper create a timeline by writing the events of the end times, along with the time each will take place.

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