Reading Revelation - Chapters 15-19

May 26 – June 1
Revelation 15:5-19:10
(Week 9 of 12)

God’s Demolition Project

Dr. Robert Wall

Suggestions for Daily Readings

• 15:5-16:21
• 17:1-8
• 17:9-18
• 18:1-8
• 18:9-20
• 18:21-24
• 19:1-10

Follow the three movements of this week’s reading…

God’s Wrath (15-16)

In this section of Revelation, God brings down the hammer: “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God” (16:1).  Picture emptying a full bucket of water on a small sandcastle – utter destruction!  How do we make sense of our loving God acting so violently?  Dr. Wall puts this destruction in perspective, reminding us that destruction of the old precedes reconstruction of the new, as in a full kitchen remodel.  I remember putting a new roof on my house (with major help from my friends Eric & Grant).  Because the problem (leaks & mold) went down to the core of the plywood, just installing a surface cover of new shingles wouldn’t fix anything.  A full tear-off of the old roof was required – and that demolition project required violent force.

 

Evil Babylon’s Fall (17-18)

At the center of all evil that rejects God we find a city, Babylon, repeatedly referred to as a whore.  Most scholars agree that John’s vision is referring to the city of Rome, a city built on seven hills (17:9).  Dr. Wall points out that Rome isn’t the only city to be built on seven hills – so is Seattle!  He underscores a major aspect of Babylon’s evil that is described in the account of the fall of Babylon in chapter 18: economic exploitation and godless materialism.  Read the passages that describe the merchants, their trade, and the judgment that is poured out upon them.  What relevance does this have for life in our society today, dominated as it is by trade & materialism?  Dr. Wall doesn’t hide his answer to this question…read it and consider how it makes you feel.

 

Hallelujah Chorus (19:1-10)

No surprise here.  A victory for God brings another loud worship song, a four-verse “Hallelujah!” chorus.  Read and reflect on these words of praise to nurture your worship of the Lord…and listen to the Hallelujah chorus of Handel’s Messiah!

 

Questions for Application

• What place do trade, profits, advertising, & materialism have in the fully-realized Kingdom of God?

• Will there be a “Fortune 500” list in heaven?  If not, why do we citizens of God’s reign spend so much of our lives serving this power? 

 

• As Dr. Wall asks at the end of his commentary, “How can one be Christian within Babylon’s self-destructive system?”

• Also from Dr. Wall: Think of three concrete ways that we can unstick ourselves from the gluey materialism that adheres to all areas of our lives.

 

As always, here are some general questions to reflect upon or discuss:

The Scene

What does the scene look like?  What stands out to you visually?
Revelation contains a strange mix of vision elements – some readily understood and others quite mysterious.  What do you understand?  What remains mysterious?

The Characters

Who are the living characters who appear in this scene?  What does the text tell you about them?  How do they interact with one another…what is the dramatic action?  What remains mysterious about them?

The Message

What do the characters do or say or sing?  If you were to summarize this in a word or phrase, how would you put it?  What remains unclear or mysterious with regard to a message in the text?

 

Memorize or Meditate on the song in Revelation 19:6-8.

⁶ Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:

“Hallelujah!

    For our Lord God Almighty reigns.

⁷ Let us rejoice and be glad

    and give him glory!

For the wedding of the Lamb has come,

    and his bride has made herself ready.

⁸ Fine linen, bright and clean,

    was given her to wear.”

(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)

Reading Revelation ... Chapters 13 & 14

May 19-25
Revelation 12:18-15:4

But God’s Victory Not Yet Realized on Earth

Dr. Robert Wall

Suggestions for Daily Readings

• 12:18-13:10
• 13:11-18
• 14:1-5
• 14:6-13
• 14:14-20
• 15:1-4
• 15:3-4   (Memorize and meditate on this song of worship)

 

The plot thickens.  Sometimes the opening sentence says it all: “Then the dragon took his stand on the sand of the seashore” (12:18).  What follows is an introduction of two additional characters that form an “unholy” trinity waging war on the saints. 

In chapter 13, The Dragon, Satan, has two powerful servants in this epic battle:

• The Beast that rises from the sea, represented by a personal number 666, known as “the beast” (some refer to this beast as “the antichrist,” and while the beast is most definitely opposed to Christ, the word antichrist does not appear in the text of Revelation…only in 1 & 2 John).
• The Beast that rises out of the earth, exercises the authority of the first beast, elsewhere in Revelation known as “the false prophet.”

In chapter 14, The Lamb, Christ, stands on Mount Zion representing victory:

• With the Lamb are the 144,000, representing the full number of God’s people who remain faithful (the number is more figurative than literal).
• Three angels announce judgment on the unfaithful and the defeat of Babylon.
• Assisted by a number of temple angels, the Son of Man gathers the faithful as a harvest of wheat and brings judgment on the wicked as a harvest – and crushing – of grapes.

 

Worship Wars

You’ve heard of worship wars, battles in congregations between proponents of different styles of worship.  Well, the battles in this central section of Revelation have to do with worship…but with much more at stake than musical preference.  In addition to reading carefully and repeatedly to understand the scene, characters, and messages of these chapters, pay special attention to the overarching theme of WORSHIP. 

In chapter 13, it seems the whole world worships the dragon and the beast (13:4).  The beast does not worship Almighty God, but rather utters blasphemies against God (blasphemy is a worship word that represents the opposite of true worship - attack & ridicule is offered rather than devotion & respect).  The second beast, “the false prophet,” forces the inhabitants of the earth to worship the beast, enabling the killing of those who do not obey.

In chapter 14, the Lamb is on Mt. Zion and the 144,000 are singing praise songs to him (14:3).  It turns out their worship involves not only their singing but also their living, as they demonstrate their worship of God by their blameless lifestyle.  The angels’ announcement of judgment is a call to worship God: “fear God,” “give him glory,” “worship him.”  Judgment is reserved for those who worship the beast (the tattooing with the mark/number of the beast on foreheads/hands is an act that demonstrates ultimate worship and allegiance).

Questions for Application

• How is your worship life?

• How dedicated are you to God over the things that oppose God?

• Do a time audit: How much time & energy do you offer to God in comparison with other pursuits?

• Are you serving the beast – or blaspheming God – in a particular area of life (think through the topics of money, sex, power). 

• What measures are available to you to bring this area under the worshipful authority of God?

 

As always, here are some general questions to reflect upon or discuss:

The Scene

What does the scene look like?  What stands out to you visually?
Revelation contains a strange mix of vision elements – some readily understood and others quite mysterious.  What do you understand?  What remains mysterious?

The Characters

Who are the living characters who appear in this scene?  What does the text tell you about them?  How do they interact with one another…what is the dramatic action?  What remains mysterious about them?

The Message

What do the characters do or say or sing?  If you were to summarize this in a word or phrase, how would you put it?  What remains unclear or mysterious with regard to a message in the text?

Memorize or Meditate on Revelation 15:3-4, an angelic song of worship.

…The song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb:

“Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty.

Just and true are your ways,

    King of the nations.

Who will not fear you, Lord,

    and bring glory to your name?

For you alone are holy.

All nations will come

    and worship before you,

for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

 

Reading Revelation -- Chapter 12

Revelation 12:1-17
May 12-18 (Week 7 of 12)

God’s Victory Already Realized in Heaven (Revelation 12:1–17)

Dr. Robert Wall

Suggestions for Daily Readings

• 12:1-17  First time through – Focus on the characters (Who appears in this scene?)
• 12:1-17  Second time through – Focus on the vision (What does this scene look like?)
• 12:1-17  Third time through – Focus on the message (What are the characters saying?)
• 12:10-12Memorize &/or meditate on this hymn describing God’s heavenly defeat of Satan

This week’s reading is a mere 17 verses long, but these verses are rich and deep.  As Dr. Rob Wall mentions in his commentary, this is an excellent opportunity to take a few deep breaths.  Like we mentioned last week, reading Revelation is like riding a roller coaster, and we’re on a wild ride!

It’s also a good opportunity to read the text closely – multiple times – to know it well.  The basic message is that there will be a heavenly battle between God and Satan, and God wins!  But the defeated Satan is thrown down to earth and goes after God’s faithful servants on earth in a futile but violent last stand.  But the images written into the page at this point of the revelation are not so simply rendered.  Here in chapter 17 we read about a “woman clothed with the sun,” the male child she gives birth to, and a “great red dragon.”  Be sure to read Dr. Wall’s commentary for scholarly insight on the symbolism of this chapter.  But also be sure to simply read it!  Get to know the flow of the plot and the actions and interactions of its characters.

Don’t miss getting a sense of how God’s victories really “tick off” Satan, making Satan all the more motivated to attack God’s people on earth, perhaps because we’re both vulnerable and close to God’s heart.  Here’s how Dr. Wall describes this dynamic:

• One last image in this passage that is easily missed carries forward a message for today’s Church. The dragon’s initial failure to defeat the woman only increases its resolve to take the battle to “the rest of her children” (12:17). A tension is provoked by this refrain. On the one hand, we hear the chorus celebrate the devil’s defeat in heaven and the securing of God’s eternal reign; we also hear its lamentation of coming horrors for God’s people on earth. But on the other hand, we are witnesses of the ineffectiveness of God’s enemies to win the ground war. But a ground war is often prolonged, and the woman’s children (That’s us, people!) are now engaged in the same spiritual and intellectual struggle that shaped our ancestors. The lyric of heaven’s chorus, sung loudly, is now the church’s battle song: “Now the salvation and power and kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ have come” (12:10).

 

Questions for Understanding

The Scene

• What does the scene look like?  What stands out to you visually?

• Revelation contains a strange mix of vision elements – some readily understood and others quite mysterious.  What do you understand?  What remains mysterious?

The Characters

• Who are the living characters who appear in this scene?  What does the text tell you about them? 

• How do they interact with one another…what is the dramatic action? 

• What remains mysterious about them?

The Message

• What do the characters do or say or sing? 

• If you were to summarize this in a word or phrase, how would you put it? 

• What remains unclear or mysterious with regard to a message in the text?

 

Questions for Application

• How do you experience the “already” and the “not quite yet” of God’s victory over Satan? 

 

• How does this impact the contemporary church and its worship, mission, and life together?

 

Memorize or Meditate on Revelation 12:10-12

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

“Now have come the salvation and the power

    and the kingdom of our God,

    and the authority of his Messiah.

For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,

    who accuses them before our God day and night,

    has been hurled down.

They triumphed over him

    by the blood of the Lamb

    and by the word of their testimony;

they did not love their lives so much

    as to shrink from death.

Therefore rejoice, you heavens

    and you who dwell in them!

But woe to the earth and the sea,

    because the devil has gone down to you!

He is filled with fury,

    because he knows that his time is short.”

Reading Revelation - Chapters 8-11

May 5-11
Revelation 8:2-11:19
Week 6 of 12

The Seventh Seal: A Trumpet Fanfare to the Victory of God (Revelation 8:2–11:19)
Dr. Robert Wall

Suggestions for Daily Readings

Revelation 8:2-13
Revelation 9:1-12
Revelation 9:13-21
Revelation 10:1-11
Revelation 11:1-14
Revelation 11:15-18 (memorize & mediate…and listen to the Hallelujah Chorus of Handel’s Messiah!)

With the Lamb opening the seventh seal on the scroll in 8:1, the remainder of the book of Revelation is the account of the enacting of the contents of this scroll.  Following the divinely-written secret script now revealed by Jesus, the Lamb, the final scenes of God’s plan of salvation take place. 

This is where the reading of Revelation often bogs down.  The opening of the scroll has somewhat of a “Pandora’s box” impact – all kinds of fantastical things happen, and just keep on happening…relentlessly. 

 

In a sense, reading Revelation is like a being on a roller coaster.  It starts with anxious anticipation – we’ve heard what a thrill ride it is.  After the first few chapters, we’ve gained a sense of confidence in the gentle ups and downs – maybe this will be a manageable or even enjoyable experience after all!  But the lead-up to the opening of the seventh seal reveals itself to be much like the long uphill ascent before the plunge into two minutes of terror.  So what can we do, other than throw our hands up and scream for the remainder of the ride?

 

One suggestion is to read Dr. Robert Wall’s commentary.  He’s ridden this coaster many times, and he has the ability to help us slow down and appreciate the intricacies of what’s happening.  Another suggestion is to read the text in a Study Bible.  Around this point in Revelation I find my eyes ping-ponging back and forth between the biblical text and the verse notes at the bottom of the page.  One thing you learn from both these sources is that in this week’s reading, the trumpets announce divine judgment loosely based on the Egyptian plagues (those of us who know Exodus might have some fun with this!). 

One aspect of Revelation I’m noticing in this reading is the way Hebrew religious imagery is presented to Greek-speaking, Roman empire-governed readership.  One small example of this is in the description of the angel king of the bottomless pit in 9:11.  It is revealed that in Hebrew his name is Abaddon (meaning “destruction”) and in Greek he is called Apollyon (meaning “destroyer”).  Pay special attention to this interplay between Old Testament imagery and Greco-Roman society.

Bottom line.  Just keep reading.  If this is your first time on this ride, just let the ride take its course.  You don’t have to understand everything at first.  Notice the sights, sounds, characters, and the words that these characters say.  And there’s no shame in raising those hands in the air and letting out a scream now and then!

Here are some questions to reflect upon or discuss:

The Scene

What does the scene look like?  What stands out to you visually?

Revelation contains a strange mix of vision elements – some readily understood and others quite mysterious.  What do you understand?  What remains mysterious?

The Characters

Who are the living characters who appear in this scene?  What does the text tell you about them?  How do they interact with one another…what is the dramatic action?  What remains mysterious about them?

The Message

What do the characters do or say or sing?  If you were to summarize this in a word or phrase, how would you put it?  What remains unclear or mysterious with regard to a message in the text?

 

Questions for Application

• The trumpet announcements are associated with purifying fire.  What real-life examples of fire or heat as a purifying agent are you aware of? 

 

•  What in this world today…and in your own heart…needs purification in order to be restored to God’s created goodness?

 

Memorize or Meditate on Revelation 11:15-18

¹⁵ The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said:
“The kingdom of the world has become

    the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah,

    and he will reign for ever and ever.”

¹⁶ And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, ¹⁷ saying:
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,

    the One who is and who was,

because you have taken your great power

    and have begun to reign.

¹⁸ The nations were angry,

    and your wrath has come.

The time has come for judging the dead,

    and for rewarding your servants the prophets

and your people who revere your name,

    both great and small—

and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”

Reading Revelation 6 & 7

April 28-May 4
Revelation 6:1-8:1
Week 5 of 12

The Great Tribulation of the Last Days (Revelation 6:1–8:1)

Dr. Robert Wall

Suggestions for Daily Readings

Day One               6:1-8      the Lamb opens the first four seals

Day Two               6:9-16    the Lamb opens seals five and six
Day Three             7:1-8     the seal of the living God
Day Four              7:9-17    the great crowd of worshippers
Day Five               7:10-12  (memorize & meditate on these words of praise)

Jesus, the Lamb, continues his powerful, redemptive, liberating work of opening the seals on the scroll of God’s final plan of salvation.  The drama moves into a description of those who are sealed (preserved, kept safe) during the coming epic battle, both the 144,000 (symbolizing God’s people) and the multitude wearing white and offering the biggest praise concert of all time.  Here are some questions to reflect upon or discuss:

The Scene

What does the scene look like?  What stands out to you visually?

Revelation contains a strange mix of vision elements – some readily understood and others quite mysterious.  What do you understand?  What remains mysterious?

The Characters

Who are the living characters who appear in this scene?  What does the text tell you about them? 

 

How do they interact with one another…what is the dramatic action?  What remains mysterious about them?

The Message

What do the characters do or say or sing? 

If you were to summarize this in a word or phrase, how would you put it? 

What remains unclear or mysterious with regard to a message in the text?

 

Questions for Application

• How have you joined the multitude in praising God? 

 

 

• How might your praise on this earth be preparing you for the life to come? 

 

 

• Do you recognize any of the words of praise from songs and hymns that you have sung in church?  If so, which words of praise do you find particularly meaningful?

 

Memorize Revelation 7:10-12

(10) And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”

(11) All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, (12) saying:

“Amen!

Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”