Grab your Bible and flip to the book of Revelation. You know . . . that book at the back of our Bibles. The one that may or may not be about the future? The one that contains the four horsemen of the apocalypse, the Beast, and the Antichrist? Yep. That one. Up until recently, the book of Revelation caused two very specific reactions in my heart. The first was terror. There’s some scary sounding stuff in there! I guess a part of me worried that if I really read it, it might actually happen. (As if all the Lord was waiting for to usher in the end of time was for me to read about it. Heh.) The second reaction felt more like an airplane whizzing right over my head. I just assumed that I wasn’t smart enough or spiritual enough to understand whatever it was God was trying to say in this cryptic book. Then I decided to get serious about studying the books of the Bible I’d never read before. Books like . . . Obadiah, Nahum, and yes, Revelation. I want to know and understand all of God’s Word. That means there can’t be giant chunks of Scripture that I gloss over or totally ignore. So I broke the binding on a part of my Bible that had previously been untouched. I spent several weeks combing through every chapter and verse of Revelation. You know what I discovered? Revelation isn’t scary! It’s fantastic. If you’re like me and have avoided this section of your Bible out of fear your brain doesn’t have the processing power to compute it, let me give you three good reasons to make plans to read this book soon.
1. Revelation is about what’s happening right now.
Some people think Revelation describes events that have already happened. Some people think it predicts what is coming. There are smart, Bible believing folks on both sides of the debate. But open your Bible to the book of Revelation and scan the first few chapters. You will see that John (the author of Revelation) addresses seven churches. These churches:
- Have forgotten their first love for Jesus.
- Need to repent.
- Are enduring trials.
- Are dealing with sexual immorality.
- Have false teachers in their midst.
- Are a pillar of truth in a lost generation.
- Gravitate toward lukewarm faith that requires nothing of them.
- Don’t always recognize their own sin.
Recognize yourself or your church in that list? Me too! John wrote this letter to churches that existed 2,000 years ago, but his words still apply to us, the Church, as we strive to know and serve Jesus right this moment. There are other things in the book of Revelation that, I must admit, read like some mashup of a sci-fi novel and zombie apocalypse movie, but so much of what is written in this book applies to all of history. As I studied Revelation, I realized that so much of it is not about what has happened, or will happen, but in many ways applies to what is happening right now. Check out verse 1:19, “Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.” It was right there in front of us the whole time! Is this a book about the past? Yes! Is it a book about the present? Yes! Is it a book about the future? Yes! God’s Word is timeless. It applies to every generation that has ever been and every generation that ever will be. It speaks to your past, your present, and your future. Revelation will always be relevant. Good will always be at war with evil. Light can never coexist with darkness. And truth and justice will always ultimately prevail. Which brings me to the second reason to read this book . . .
2. Jesus wins!
If you look at today’s headlines, you might think that evil has the world in a chokehold. Before I studied Revelation, I had the idea that throughout history good and evil were in some sort of cosmic chess match. Satan and his demons would make a move; Jesus would counter. It would be neck and neck this way until the end of time, when Jesus would make one right move and then . . . checkmate, God would win by the tiniest of margins. That kind of ending makes for exciting football games, but it makes it hard to be hopeful in real life. When I read Revelation, I realized that darkness won’t come close to winning. Satan won’t cross the finish line a nanosecond after Jesus. It’s true that evil is alive and well in our world, but ultimately God wins—big time. Listen!
And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever (Rev. 20:7–10).
Satan comes at God’s people with an army so large that the Bible compares it to the grains of sand on the sea, yet God’s people don’t win because we slightly outman the enemies of darkness. The battle isn’t close. When Satan and his armies are still on the approach, God consumes them. It’s a TKO. (That’s boxing talk for total knockout). When you’re up against the ropes, when life has you pinned to the mat, when reading the world news makes you feel beat up and defeated, you need the reminder that the end of the story is no contest. Our God will be victorious and we will be a part of the victory parade. In this context, I understand why the Bible calls us “more than conquerors” (Rom. 8:37)!
3. This is a Rescue Mission
Revelation ends with a prayer. In Revelation 22:20 John writes these words: “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” Jesus is the one who testifies and He promises He will come soon. I echo John’s prayer . . . “C’mon then, Lord! We are ready for you!” Knowing that Jesus is coming back helps me not get too caught up in temporary things. It helps me keep my eyes focused on what will last forever, and it gives me hope beyond my current circumstances. Like a princess locked in a tower, we have hope that our Rescuer is coming! He will keep His promise. He will come for us. We can watch and live with great expectation. Revelation has become one of my favorite books in Scripture. It’s jam-packed with hope for a bright future, promises from a loving God, and perspective beyond the right now. Have you read it? What did you think? Are there other parts of the Bible that you avoid?