Have you ever tried reading the book of Revelation in the Bible and gave up because it was just too weird?  It’s a book full of symbolism and wild imagery that confuses a lot of people.  Some people probably find it more difficult to get through Revelation than the genealogies of the Old Testament.

Part of the reason for this cryptic language is that the book was written to be purposefully confusing to those in power in the Roman government.  Revelation was written in the midst of persecution against the church by Rome, and it talked bad about Rome and about the Caesars—especially Nero.  And since Nero already hated the Christians, John wrote this book of prophesy he encoded it so that the early church would understand it without incriminating anyone who might be carrying a copy.

That means the book was written for Christians to understand.  And if you can shift your perspective just a bit to the view of the Christians in Rome it might help make a little more sense of the book for you.  Like so much of the prophesy in the Bible, the prophesy in Revelation is meant to relate directly to the original ancient readers AND people in the future (like us).  So a lot of the prophesy in Revelation already came true in ancient Rome, but there is still a lot left to happen that we are waiting for.

Of course, with all the confusing pictures and prophesy aside, there is still a basic message that anybody can understand.  God very clearly tells the church where they need to improve if they want to be ready for judgment.  And that’s something that every Christian today should pay close attention too.  If any of the warnings God gave to the ancient churches of Asia Minor can be applied to your life, you might want to think about taking them personally.  God expects anybody who wants to survive his judgment to adhere to the same standards.  So Revelation is a very worthwhile book to read if you care about your own future.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 38:23 — 17.6MB)