Revelation 17-18

Summary of our Study:

Revelation 1-3 Revelation 10-11

- Johnʼs vision of Jesus, the letters to - The angel with the little scroll, the
the churches two witnesses
- “Revelation” - “Witness”
- What is revealed about Jesus and - What is your witness?
His relationship to us? Revelation 12-13
Revelation 4-5 - The woman, the two beasts
- The vision of the throne room, the - “Faith”
Lamb and the scroll - Do you trust the One who made the
- “Redemption” promise?
- What has God redeemed in my life? Revelation 14-16
Revelation 6-7 - The 144,000, the seven bowls
- The six seals, the two multitudes - “Judgement”
- “Perseverance” - Can you trust Godʼs judgements?
- What do you hope for? Revelation 17-18
Revelation 8-9 - The harlot and the beast
- The six trumpets - “Purity”
- “Idolatry” - How does our culture call us to
- What do you worship? compromise?

Write, or think, about your fears.

Write, or think, about your hopes.

The end of Revelation is about the abolition of our fears, and the fulfillment of more than
we can hope for.

Intro Remarks
- Inspired very much by Ezekiel 37-48, and Daniel 7
- John is a commentator on the O.T. in light of Jesusʼ work
- There is a contrast here between two women and two cities
- John is coming full circle from the beginning of the book
- With the description of Jesus
- With the promises to the churches
- eat of the tree of life, not hurt by second death, given authority to rule,
clothed in white, so on

The marriage of the lamb (Revelation 19:7-10)

- The actual marriage occurs later in chapter 21
- Godʼs people as Christʼs bride occurs often in the N.T. and O.T. (see Isaiah
54:5-6, 62:5, Jer. 31:32, Ezek. 16:8, 2 Cor. 11:2, Eph. 5:27)
- The point is “get ready”
 Revelation 17-18

The coming of Christ and the defeat of the Beast (Revelation 19:11-21)
- Uses the description of Jesus from the first chapter
- Is the battle literal? (See Rev. 14:20, 16:16, notes on amount of blood, Har-Megedon)
- Their defeat is effectively instant in the narration, through the word of Jesus
- Whatever you think of the grisly description of birds eating flesh the point is:
- THE FORCES OF EVIL IN THIS WORLD ARE DEFEATED!

The Millenium (Revelation 20:1-10)

- The only other places in the N.T. that refer to this are 1 Cor. 15:20-29 and John 5:29
- The O.T. covers this in Ezekiel 37-48, with a similar progression of Godʼs people
vindicated, Christ reigning on earth, His enemies coming against one more time, and
the final unveiling of a redeemed Jerusalem
- The number is figurative: 10x10x10 = A LONG TIME
- There are two resurrections, one to life, one to death (John 5:29). The life one occurs
here.
- Resurrection is our ultimate goal, not heaven. Heaven is intermediary state (see
Phil. 3:8-14, Rev. 6:9-11)
- Who are Gog and Magog? Nobody really knows. Best guess is an association with
barbarians from the north
- Their destruction is instant
- The Points of the Millennium
- God is merciful: he gives the rebellious chances upon chances
- Our rule is meant as a contrast to the rule of Satan
- Think about America ruled by Christ
- There will be no repeat of Satanʼs rule

The White Throne Judgement (Revelation 20:11-15)

- There are two sets of books opened up: deeds and life
- Our deeds reveal who we are
- But it is more important to know who we are, than what we do
- Matt. 7:16-20- You will know them by their fruits
- Concerned with identity first

Show list from Eternal Life Now

- The Lake of fire is clearly spiritual

- Death, Satan, all spiritual things
- It is clearly bad, and eternal

- The progressive defeat of Godʼs (and our) enemies

- Harlot, The beast & false prophet, Satan, Death & Hades

The Consummation (Revelation 21:1-9)

- The regeneration of all things (see Rom. 8:21)
- Why no sea? Represented chaos, evil (see Isaiah 57:20)
 Revelation 17-18

Read Revelation 21:3-4

- This is IT. This is the story of the Bible, from Genesis on.
- First the expelling from the garden (Genesis 3:22-24)
- Godʼs promise to Abraham to bless many nations and multiply (Genesis 12:1-3)
- Godʼs promise to the nation Israel to be their God and dwell among them (Lev.
26:11)
- Godʼs dwelling amongst us in the person of Jesus (John 1:14)
- Godʼs dwelling in us through the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16)
- Finally, the consummation (Rev. 21:3)
- Everything is leading up to this point in history
- Being in Godʼs presence answers every question, heals every pain, solves every
problem, now and forever
- God gives a free invitation to experience his presence (vs. 5-7)
- Those who go to the lake of fire are the ones who reject this free invitation &
choose their own deeds (v. 8)

The Bride of Christ (Revelation 21:10-27, 22:1-5)

Read Eph. 2:19-22
- We are the bride of Christ, the New Jerusalem
- Twelve apostles on the foundation stones
- Twelve tribes on the gates
- The people of God!
- Measuring of the city
- 12,000 stadia wide and high
- 144 cubits thick wall
- A cube, shaped like the holy of holies (see 1 King 6:20)
- The stones (especially Jasper) describe clear, colorful stones
- The Lamb and the Lord God Almighty are the temple (v. 22)
- Are also the source of light
- No night? No more darkness in the spiritual sense (Matt. 6:23, 8:12, 22:13)
- The kings of the earth and the nations will bring their glory into it (v. 24)
- Our culture, arts, humanities, are celebrated
- River of life flowing from the throne (v. 1, see Ezek. 47:1-12)
- The tree of life, just like the one in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:9, Ezek. 47:12)
- The healing of the nations is to contrast with our current times, were there is
division
- We shall see His face (v.4)
- To come face to face with the living God meant death (Exod. 33:20)
- His name shall be on our foreheads (v.4)
- Contrast to the whore (see Rev. 17:5)

- This is all a spiritual picture of who, what the church is, in shadow now, and will be fully
revealed in the future
- We may not feel like any of this, but God is the one who clothes us in white
robes, not us (see Rev. 19:8)
 Revelation 17-18

The Epilogue (Revelation 22:6-21)

- “Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book” (v. 7) “Do not seal
up the words of the prophecy of this book,” (v.10)
- Revelation was not just a curiosity, it was an imperative to live a certain way

Read Revelation 22:20

Let us live our lives as people in anticipation of something greater. And let us say, with
the apostle John, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus”.

How can hope change the way we live?