The Bible Recap - Day 362 (Revelation 1-5) - Year 5
Episode Date: December 28, 2023SHOW NOTES: - Head to our Start Page for all you need to begin! - Join the RECAPtains - Check out the TBR Store - Show credits - Guess along in the Best of 2023 Song Battle FROM TODAY’S RECAP: ...- Video: Revelation (Part 1) - Graphic: The End of the World As We Know It - Quick Guide: Revelation - A Quick Guide to End Time Views - Database: End Times - Exodus 25:31-40 - Isaiah 11:2 - Isaiah 6:2-3 - Ezekiel 1:10 - Ezekiel 1:18 - Prep for 2024 episode! - PREcap Email (sign up at the bottom of the homepage!) - TBR Start Page - Invite your friends to join you next year! SOCIALS: The Bible Recap: Instagram | Facebook D-Group: Instagram | Facebook TLC: Instagram | Facebook D-GROUP: D-Group is brought to you by the same team that brings you The Bible Recap. TBR is where we read the Bible, and D-Group is where we study the Bible. D-Group is an international network of Bible study groups that meet weekly in homes, churches, and online. Find or start one near you today! DISCLAIMER: The Bible Recap, Tara-Leigh Cobble, and affiliates are not a church, pastor, spiritual authority, or counseling service. Listeners and viewers consume this content on a voluntary basis and assume all responsibility for the resulting consequences and impact.
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Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble and I'm your host for the Bible Recap.
John, maybe the apostle, wrote the book of Revelation on the island of Patmos.
It was a tiny prison island, kind of like Alcatraz.
The church was still undergoing lots of persecution at the time, and in fact, church history tells
us Rome first tried to burn John alive in oil, but he survived.
And since they couldn't figure out how to kill him, they exiled him to Patmos.
This letter he wrote is a singular revelation, not plural, not revelations.
John tells us in verse 1 that this is the revelation of Jesus.
Some believe that means the book is revealing Jesus to us, and others believe that means Jesus is the one doing the revealing.
While some others think it could actually be both,
because if Jesus is revealing something to his people, his body,
then that also tells us more about Jesus himself.
So as we read this book, just like with all our books from day one and Genesis 1,
we're going to look for Jesus and what we learn about him.
And by the way, verse 3 says we'll be blessed if we
read this book aloud and pay attention to it. That is the first of seven blessed-are statements
in this book. Be on the lookout for them. They're called the seven Beatitudes of Revelation. John
wrote this letter to seven churches, some of whom we've met already, and his message is first and
foremost to them in their immediate context. Jewish teaching and culture love numbers and symbols.
So while this book still has a lot to offer modern readers, most scholars warn against
trying to treat it like a combination lock where you can connect the numbers in just
the right way to unlock some kind of secret, hidden information about the future.
The stated purpose of this book is to reveal something.
When you're trying to reveal something to your reader, you don't hide it and bury
it in code. That means you can take a deep breath because the pressure is off for you to figure out how and when the world ends over the course of the next four days reading.
Whew. I also want to encourage you to watch the video overviews we link to in the show notes.
In case you missed the one from yesterday, we'll link to it again in today's show notes.
These will be really helpful in filling in any gaps from the recaps because we're moving through this at a fast clip.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the word eschatology, it refers to the end times.
So now I'm going to throw another big word at you.
Eschatological.
That's the adjective form.
There are a handful of eschatological views in Orthodox Christianity, and if you want
to learn more about these viewpoints, check out the links in the show notes.
There's a PDF, a quick guide, and a database with loads of info. Eschatology matters, but just know that God-fearing,
Christ-exalting, spirit-filled people consistently disagree on this. Since it's an open-handed
issue, by which I mean, our eschatological views aren't foundational to our understanding
of who God is or what it means to know Him, try to hold any of your ideas about the end
times with an open hand, especially if you're new
to studying Revelation and you've gotten most
of your information secondhand.
I'll try my best to keep my lens
from impacting the way I walk through this.
My views have shifted over the years
and there's always a chance they'll change again.
There are a few things worth standing firmly on in Scripture
and I only wanna put my foot down firmly
in those places where Scripture screams.
In chapter 1, John has a vision of Jesus in all His power and glory, and he tells John
to write to seven churches in Asia.
Some of these churches have fallen into sin, some are undergoing persecution, and some
are thriving.
He speaks to them in regard to their individual circumstances and offers warning, encouragement,
and hope.
These churches are represented by a seven-candle lampstand, just like the menorah from the temple
in Exodus 25.
And Jesus himself is in the midst of the lampstand, in the midst of the church.
In Scripture, we see a lot of symbolism around the numbers 3, 7, 10, and 12.
In their own way, each of these numbers symbolizes perfection and completion, and you'll see
that all over this book as well.
Four times today we encountered the sevenfold Spirit of God.
Some say this is a way of symbolizing the wholeness and perfection of God's Spirit,
and others say it points to different attributes of God's Spirit.
Perhaps like we see in Isaiah 11, too. It says,
The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
Like we said, all of these churches are in different situations.
You probably recognized yourself in one of them.
And he gives different rebukes and encouragements.
But to all of them, regardless of circumstance, he mentions listening, obeying, and conquering.
He says things like, to the one who conquers, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
And, The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name
out of the book of life. Given the context, what do you think he means by conquering? Defeating
Rome and their persecutors? Hopefully by now you know that that's not why he's calling them or us to do. His call is to persevere in the faith, to overcome the temptations
of the world, whether they're temptations to pursue earthly pleasures or to escape hardship
and persecution. To be a conqueror is to love better. To be a conqueror is to keep loving
God regardless of what life throws at you, blessings or challenges.
In chapter four, John gets a glimpse into God's throne room
with his throne surrounded by the 24 elders.
Some scholars believe this is literal
and that these are the 12 apostles
plus the 12 tribes of Israel.
Other scholars believe this is symbolic
and it indicates that God is surrounded
by all of his people,
with the 12 tribes representing the old covenant family
and the 12 apostles representing the new covenant family.
Also in the room are four seraphim.
If you are with us in the Old Testament, you may remember these creatures
from the visions of Isaiah and Ezekiel.
And you may have remembered our trick for distinguishing between seraphim and cherubim.
Cherubim have four wings, and seraphim, which starts with an S, have six,
which also starts with an S.
Cherubim typically serve as guards of holy places, and seraphim typically praise God non-stop.
So that's what they're doing in the throne room. That's what everyone is doing, actually. There is
a lot of face-falling and crown tossing, because it's the Lord. In chapter 5, John sees that God
is holding a scroll sealed with seven seals. These kinds of scrolls issued by kings are usually a decree of their will, their plans.
This scroll contains God's purposes for mankind.
But no one can open the scroll and John is despairing until Jesus, the Lamb of God, shows up on the scene.
He takes the scroll, then everyone in the throne room falls down to worship him.
Tomorrow we'll see what happens when he begins to open the scroll.
I'll be honest, I was kind of dreading trying to recap Revelation.
It's a daunting task, especially when you're trying to teach with an open perspective and not through one particular lens.
But then I hit the verses where I saw my Godshot and all of a sudden I was so excited about it, I couldn't stop smiling.
It's in verses 1, 17 through 18, where Jesus is talking, and he says,
Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one.
I died, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and Hades.
This book can feel scary, but some of his first words are, fear not.
Then he tells us who he is.
If we first recognize who he is.
If we first recognize who Christ is, then we can rightly understand and view what's
going on in this book.
Who he is precedes everything, and who he is undergirds everything.
We walk through this book with the King of glory at our side, and He's where the joy
is. You guys, it's almost our last day of this trip through the New Testament or the whole
Bible, depending on which plan you're doing.
I'm so excited for you and for me and for us.
And if you haven't already, be sure to do three things between now and the end of the
year.
First, invite a friend to join you when we start the Old Testament on January 1st.
This is so much more fun in community.
Second, listen to our Prep for Next Year episode from December 18th so you can find out about
a few of the ways you can switch things up for next year or dig deeper.
We've dropped a link to that episode in today's show notes for easy access.
And third, sign up for our email lists.
We've got two of them.
There's our monthly newsletter called The News Cap, and we also have a daily email called The Precap.
You can sign up for both of them on the homepage at TheBibleRecap.com
or click the link in the show notes.
So let's go!
Let's finish this year strong by laying the best possible foundation for next year.
From the songs your church has been singing on Sunday mornings
to the songs you've heard on your favorite Christian radio stations, find out what songs from the year made it into Hope Nation's Best of 2023 Song
Battle. Click the link in the show notes to watch worship leader Cody Karnes and Logan from the band
Kane compete to see who knows the songs best.