John and the Book of Revelation

1 – Some Christians leave Jerusalem

Later in the first century, the Jews and the Romans disagreed with each other more and more. This was from the year AD 60 and after. The disagreement caused war between them. We call this period the ‘wars of the Jews’.

Christ himself had warned the Christians about this period. Some Christians went to live east of the river Jordan. They did not return to Judea until after the Romans had destroyed Jerusalem. That happened in the year AD 70. (Later the Romans made all Jews leave Israel.) This group of Christians probably still lived in the Jewish way. They still had Jewish customs and obeyed Jewish laws.

Other Christians went to Asia. They went to the area where Paul had worked. Paul had good results there. Philip the evangelist and his daughters, and the apostle John, went there.

John had a very long life. He was the only disciple to die a natural death. We believe that John lived in Ephesus. The early Christian writers tell us about him. When John was very old, his disciples carried him about. Again and again, he told Christians to love one another.

The book of Revelation dates from the first century AD. It tells us about this command. The churches near Ephesus needed to learn to love one another (Revelation 2:4).

John’s letters are part of the New Testament. They also date from this period. They mention many times the command for Christians to love each other, (1 John 3:11, 16-18, 23; 4:7-12, 16-21; 5:2-3).

2 – The world at the end of the first century AD

It was very difficult to be a Christian at the end of the first century AD. The Romans wanted everyone to worship the emperor. They said that those who did not do this were rebels. Jews had forced Christians to leave. Now they continued to make it difficult for them (Revelation 2:9; 3:9). In addition to this, there were many bad teachers. They tried to teach Christians wrong beliefs (1 John 2:26; 3:7; 4:1).

Gnosticism is one wrong belief that was growing at this time. Gnosticism said that spirit was good. Spirit is the part of man that you cannot see. They said that matter was evil. Matter is the part of man that you can see. This means that the body also was evil. One result of this is that God could not have become man. That would be impossible. Therefore, Christ only seemed to have a body. It must have been an illusion. Some people said that the Christ-Spirit came on Jesus at His baptism. It left him before he died. Perhaps it left him before he suffered the pain of crucifixion. Gnostics (people who believed gnosticism) had a problem. They could not understand how Jesus ever had a human body. It would be difficult for them to believe this.

There was another result of this philosophy. Gnostics thought that the body was evil. They lived a hard life. Salvation was by special knowledge. It was only for a limited group - that is, for those who had become part of the group. Gnostics believed that salvation did not depend on good behaviour. Their own behaviour therefore was not Christian. They thought that the cause of evil was matter itself. They did not think that they should obey God’s law. Therefore, what you did with your body did not matter.

Gnostic teachers believed that they were ‘beyond good and evil’. They thought that they did not have to say what was good or bad. They upset the Christians very much. Those who believed these ideas left the Christians. They met together to form their own group (1 John 2:19).

The Christians needed to be sure who Christ really was. They needed to be sure about the truth of the gospel. They had to know that Christians must live a holy life. This is why John wrote his first epistle, probably about AD 80 or 90. This is what he said: Those people who had left their group of believers had never really belonged to it (1 John 2:18-19). Here are the subjects of his letter:

  • Christ the man. He was a real person. This is essential for the true faith. John writes about this often in his first letter.
  • What it really means to ‘know God’ and to live with him. How we can be sure about this.
  • The way we live every day tests our faith. We must obey Christ. It is very important to show Christian love.

3 – Who Christ was

Christians believe that Jesus was the Christ. He was the ‘son of the God who is alive’ (Matthew 16:16). If we deny this, there would be a result. We would deny that, in the crucifixion, Jesus paid for our sins. Only someone without sin could do that. Jesus is the Son of God. He did not do anything that was wrong. The Bible calls him the spotless Lamb of God. When the Jews were sorry for what they had done, they gave God a lamb. A lamb is a young sheep. They took a perfect lamb, and killed it for God. They asked God to forgive them. Jesus was a perfect man. He died on the cross. He asked God to blame him for our sins. God forgives us because of Jesus. John therefore says that we must believe this (1 John 1:7). Jesus takes our place. He did nothing wrong, but God punished him for our sins. Christians believe this. God does not punish them, because he punished Jesus instead.

John explains this in other words in chapter 4:

13 God has given us his Holy Spirit to live in us. Because of this, we know that we live together with God. And we know that he lives with us. 14 God the Father sent his Son to come into the world. God sent him to save the people of the world from their sins. We apostles have seen that this is true. So now we are telling people about it.

15 If anyone says clearly that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in that person. And that person lives together with God.

1 John 4:13-15 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)

John says more than this. He warns us that there are many spirits in the world. There is the spirit of antichrist. God showed himself to us only in Jesus. Antichrist denies this.

The Holy Spirit and false spirits

1 My friends, do not believe everyone who says that they speak God's message. There are many false prophets who are travelling around everywhere. They say that they have a message from God's Spirit, but the message comes from a false spirit. So check each message carefully to see if it is really from God.

2 How do you know whether a person has God's Spirit in him? He must agree that Jesus is God's Messiah who was born as a human baby. If someone says that, then he has God's Spirit. 3 But if someone does not agree to say that about Jesus, he does not have God's Spirit. That person has a spirit that comes from the enemy of Christ. You have heard that this enemy of Christ would come among us. Now this spirit is already here in the world.

1 John 4:1-3 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)

It is very easy to give people wrong ideas. Some people believe that any very unusual event is from God. They think that a very unusual event must be a miracle. John warns us to test everything by the standard of God’s Word. God’s Word is the Bible. The most important belief for Christians is that Jesus Christ is God’s only Son. The first letter of John has three tests of truth:

  1. Doctrinal, which means what Christianity teaches about sin, forgiveness, and the man Jesus Christ. He has done something that no other person can do. We have salvation because Jesus died and lived again.
  2. Moral, which means that a person’s life should be a good life. Christians must try to live as Jesus lived.
  3. Social, which means that Christians should love one another.

These tests are still as vital today as they were in the first century. We should test what we teach. We should use the tests to discover if any event is a miracle.

When Jesus died on the cross, he made forgiveness possible. God forgives our sins and we can belong to him. The result of this for a Christian is a good life. We can trust God. He gives us Christ to guide us. Christ leads us. He gives us strength to obey him. He gives us strength to follow him.

4 – What it really means to know God

People who say that they know God must live by God’s standards (1 John 2:3-6; 2:29; 3:5-6, 24). John does not say that believers can live a perfect life. He writes this: If we say that we are perfect, this is not true. We are not telling the truth (1 John 1:6). The Christian life is a life with God (1 John 1:7). We will become aware of our sin. Then we will be sorry for our sin. We will ask Christ to forgive us. We will ask him to help us to live in a new way. We can be sure that he will forgive us. We can be sure that he will give us eternal life. John writes about this again and again in his letter (1 John 1:7-9; 2:1-2; 5:12-13).

A good example here is Abraham. He lived his life with God. When God told him to leave his home country, Abraham did that. He followed God completely as long as he lived. The Bible says that Abraham did wrong things several times. But his faith in God was strong and lasted all his life. Also, the Bible tells us about Enoch. He lived his life as a ‘walk with God’ (Genesis 5:24). The life of the apostle John was an excellent example for us. He shows us what it really means to know God. And he shows us what it means to live a life that pleases God.

5 – The book of Revelation

When the Christian church began, the Romans ruled the world. The Romans believed that their emperors were gods. For some time, at the very beginning of the church, the church was not in danger. The Romans thought that Christianity was a Jewish sect. They did not have to worship the emperor, (Acts 18:12-16).

In AD 70, enemies destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem. After this, Christians were not safe. The Emperor Nero searched for and attacked Christians. The emperor Domitian said that everyone must worship the emperor. Romans gave the Christians much trouble. The Jews gave them much trouble also. They troubled them whenever they could. The Christian church was small and Rome was very powerful. Christians had to encourage each other because it was a hard time for them. They had many difficulties.

The Book of Revelation was God’s answer to this situation. It emphasises that God alone is king of kings. God will certainly win in his own good time. To protect the Christians, John had to write the book in a special way. Christians would understand it. People who were not Christians would not understand the book. The book was a message for the people of that time, but Christians have always had trouble. All through the years, until now, this has happened. This is why Revelation is a strength and comfort to all who are in trouble.

Men forced John from his home. They made him live far away from family and friends on the island of Patmos. He stayed there until the emperor Domitian died. While he was there, John had a series of visions. God gave him the visions. John wrote about them in the book of Revelation.

There are many details in the visions that might confuse us. Commentators do not agree about some parts of Revelation. Also, some important parts of Revelation are about the Lord’s return. The Lord Jesus will return with great honour and power. Our world will end. However, some very important subjects in the book are for any age. We must not miss these subjects. We must notice them when we read about the visions. We might miss these subjects if we give too much attention to the details of the visions.

These subjects are:

  • The Lord rules (chapters 1, 4, 5). He has power over evil. Later chapters show his total victory. The Lord will have success. Nothing can stop his plan.
  • Christ and the cross are the most important (chapter 1 (twice), chapter 5, 7:14, and in other places).
  • God’s great plans for the world. The real enemy. We must be ready to fight (chapters 12-13).
  • God’s holiness means judgement. There must be judgement before God can set up his kingdom completely.
  • God makes his servants strong, and he protects them. He leads them when they suffer. Many of God’s servants die because they believe in Christ.
  • The great joy at the end of the book (chapters 21-22).

Let us think for a brief time about some of these subjects.

6 – The Sovereignty of God

In John’s time, many people thought that Rome and the emperor had the greatest power. This was a wrong idea, which John had to correct. He does this from the very beginning of the book of Revelation. He writes very clearly about the sovereignty of the one eternal God all through the book.

In the first chapter, John describes God on his throne. He writes that God is ‘the one who is. He was, and he is to come. He is the most powerful one’. Soon after, there is a powerful word picture. It is about the glory and great power of Christ, who lives again after death (1:12-16). [Part 7 is about Christ.] John’s vision is so great and powerful that he falls down. He is very afraid, because he has seen Jesus. Jesus himself comforts him. After this, Christ speaks about the church. He says what is good and what is bad in the church. This is in chaptersand 3.

Then in chapters 4 andthere is a wonderful vision of the throne room of heaven. There we can see the glory, power and holiness of God, who always lives. It is not any emperor, but it is God who rules the world. John describes how God holds a scroll in his right hand. This is a sign of power. The scroll has words on the front and on the back. Usually there would be words on one side only. On God’s scroll there was no room for anyone else to add their plans for the world.

God is the great God. He wants to find someone whom he can trust. This person will open God’s scroll, with its 7 seals. We want to know who can stand in front of the throne. It is not a person with great military power. It is not even an animal with great strength and power. It is “The Lamb”. Jesus, the Lamb of God, is standing there. He is standing, and so he is alive. He still has the marks of his death on the cross for us. He is the one who has perfect power and authority and knowledge.

In heaven, everyone worships the Lamb. Everyone knows that the Lamb and God on his throne have all power, authority and glory. The Lamb takes up a scroll with its 7 seals. He begins to open it. He controls human history and the events at the end of the age. The last chapters of the Book of Revelation describe this wonderful time. During this time, God controls evil powers. He keeps safe all those who trust him. Even those who trust him have many difficulties. At the end, God throws Satan and those who follow Satan into a ‘lake of fire’.

These visions describe an impressive power. It is much greater than the power of Rome. Nothing whatever can stop the purposes of God. All through the book, we see God as he puts a limit on evil. He protects his people and makes them strong. At the end, what God wants will certainly happen. During John’s life, people were attacking Christians because of the Christians’ beliefs. This powerful message would comfort those Christians very much. It has also comforted many more Christians, for many years.

7 – Christ has the central place

Christ is the most important person in the Book of Revelation. We meet him in the first chapter:

5 Jesus Christ will also help you. He always speaks a true message. He is the first person who became alive again after death. He rules the kings of the earth.

1:5Other people had become alive again after they had died. But Jesus never died again. This shows us that, after death, believers will also become alive again for ever. In this way, believers follow him.

Jesus loves us and he died for us. That is how he made us free. Because of Jesus, God will not punish us for the bad things that we have done. 6 Jesus has brought us into his family, so that we belong to God's kingdom. He has made us priests, so that we serve his God and Father.

So we praise Jesus Christ! He will always be very great! He has power for all time. Amen. This is true!

7 Look! He will come on the clouds!

At that time, everyone will see him!

Even the people who pushed a spear into his body will see him.

1:7The soldiers who killed Jesus put nails through his body to fix him to the cross. Also, a soldier put a spear into Jesus when he was dying on the cross. See John 19:34-37. But we think that this does not include only the soldiers. The leaders of Israel's people and of the Roman government in Israel decided to kill Jesus. Perhaps this verse also includes everyone else who does not want Jesus as their Lord. If they had been alive then, they would have wanted to kill him. All these people will see Jesus when he comes to the earth again. Then they will know that he is the Lord. They will know that they should have obeyed him. So they will be sad. See Zechariah 12:10.

People from all the nations on earth will be sad when they see him.

Yes, it is true! Amen!

Revelation 1:5-7 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)

Notice:

  • Jesus is always loyal and true;
  • Jesus defeated death;
  • Jesus is king over all kings;
  • Jesus loves us;
  • Jesus gave himself for us;
  • Jesus will return in glory.

John sees Jesus in all his majesty. He is present with his people who are suffering. John sees Jesus next to lampstands. John uses the lampstands as a picture of the churches. Jesus stands next to the lampstands, as he stands by the churches.

12 I turned round to see who was speaking to me. When I turned, I saw seven gold lampstands with their lights. 13 In the middle of the lights, I saw someone like a son of man. He was wearing long clothes that reached down to his feet. He wore a gold belt around the top part of his body. 14 His head and his hair were white like sheep's hair. They were very white, like snow. His eyes were like fires that were burning brightly. 15 His feet shone like a metal that shines brightly in a very hot fire. When he spoke, his voice was very loud. It was like the sound of water that pours along a river very quickly. 16 He held seven stars in his right hand. A sword with two sharp edges came out of his mouth. His face was like the sun when it shines very brightly.

1:13‘a son of man’ or ‘a human’. See Daniel 7:13.

Revelation 1:12-16 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)

To see Jesus like this affected John very much. But the Lord’s words comforted him. Remember when he wrote this book. The Roman Emperor was claiming absolute power and authority. But here is Jesus, who has defeated death. He has authority over life and death for everyone. Jesus is God of eternity. He is not a temporary ruler like Caesar.

17 When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead person. Then he put his right hand on me, and he said to me, ‘Do not be afraid! I am the one who is the first and also the last. 18 I am the one who always lives. I died once. But look! Now I am alive and I will be alive for ever. I have authority over death and over Hades, the place for dead people.

Revelation 1:17-18 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)

We must understand the importance of this first chapter of Revelation. Then we will understand the times when John wrote the book. We will understand what the book teaches about God. We will also understand what God wants.

Christ has the central place again in chapters 2 and 3. He gives his judgement on the state of the church. He speaks with love, emotion and absolute truth, but also he gives hope and advice.

We have already read in chapters 4 and 5 about the throne room of heaven. There we see God the Father in all his glory and the Lamb, the Lord Jesus. What Revelation says about the Lamb is important. It reminds us that Jesus gave himself for us. He defeated death. No one else has authority as he has. His authority lasts for ever (not like Caesar’s weak authority). God the Father hands to Jesus the scroll that contains the world’s future.

The scroll has seven seals. When Jesus opens the seals, we read about the future. They tell how God will complete the story of his world. There will be a judgement at the end of time. New heavens and a new earth will come. Only Christ deserves to open this scroll, because of his death for us on the cross. It is not because of his strong power, but because of who Christ is. The problem is this. The God of all the earth will do what is right. Now the scroll will contain the principles of judgement, and God will be the judge. But no one has tempted God to do wrong. We do not understand how he can know the temptations that human people have. That does not seem fair. Also, God shows himself to be holy and a perfect judge. This is part of his glory. But we do not understand how he can be holy and a perfect judge and forgive sin.

There is only one answer. Someone who is from heaven must open the scroll. This person must have power and strength from heaven. Only then can he do what God wants. This person also must know what tempts men to do wrong things. Also, God must punish someone because men have done wrong things. Jesus took the punishment, but he did not deserve punishment for himself. He was completely good, but he took the punishment for other people. So, Jesus had knowledge and power from heaven, and he also had the experience of being human. He offered himself to God, and took our punishment.

He is the only one who could do this. He is the perfect Lamb. He is the one with no sin, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so all whom God has created praise Jesus. They praise him more than they praise anyone else. He deserves all glory. And there is no problem for God, for he knew that this would happen. He knew this before he created the world. He had this plan to rescue men from sin. At the end of chapter 5, we have a brief sight of the whole world. The world is praising God for his wonderful plan.

Through the rest of the book of Revelation, the writer mentions Christ and the Lamb many times. The saints are successful, only because ‘they have washed their clothes in the blood of the Lamb’. There are many songs to praise God in this book. This song is especially important.

12 They all sang with loud voices:

‘The Lamb that people killed is completely good!

He has all authority, and all things belong to him.

He is wise and powerful.

Everyone must agree that he is great!

Everyone must praise him and worship him!’

Revelation 5:12 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)

Any account of the Christian faith which does not have Christ and the cross in the centre is wrong. Paul would say that it is ‘another gospel’. The crucifixion and resurrection of Christ is the centre of our belief. In the book of Revelation, it is even more important. It is the exact moment when the world’s history and future change.

8 – God must be the judge

God’s purpose is to bring in the new age. He promises many good things to those who trust in him. But he cannot do this without first dealing with all evil. This is why the book of Revelation mentions judgement again and again. Judgement starts with the church. Very soon, judgement is for the world, for people who do not believe.

There are three series of judgements. First there are the seal judgements, (chapters 6 and 7), and then the trumpet judgements (chapters 8 and 9). These judgements warn those in the world who do not believe. They urge them to repent. (They must not do wrong things again. They must obey God.) After that, we read about seven bowls of the anger of God (chapter 16). Then, in chapter 20, there is a vision of a great white throne. Both great and ordinary people, who are dead, stand before it. God judges them. There are only two possible results. One is that people fall into ‘the lake of fire’. But, if their names are in the Lamb’s book of life, they escape. They will enter the new heaven and earth that chapters 21 and 22 tell us about.

The writer mentions judgement all through the book, but God does not have spite for men. The earlier judgements especially, the seals and the trumpets, are to help people to repent. It is sad that not many people do this.

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EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)

At last, the final bowls of God’s anger fall on the world. Still men are not sorry, but instead they curse God. It is not popular to speak about judgement. But Jesus said a lot about it. Since we have a holy God, there must be judgement. In Revelation, because of judgements, God’s people praise him. They praise God because he is fair. He is good. He deals with every kind of sin once and for all time. He has power and he rules.

17 They said:

‘We thank you, Lord God, because you have all authority!

You are alive now and you have always been alive.

You have great power and now you have begun to rule the whole world!

18 The nations of the world were very angry.

But now it is time for you to be angry with them.

Now you will judge all the people who have died.

You will give good things to your servants, the prophets,

and to all your people.

You will bless everyone who respects and obeys you,

whether they are important people or not.

But you will destroy all those people who destroy the earth.

The time has now come for all this to happen.’

Revelation 11:17-18 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)

God must judge like this before he can bring in the new heaven and earth. Chapter 21 describes them. It has a wonderful picture of the glory of the new age which will come. These words are sufficient to show the glory which will follow.

3 I heard a voice that spoke loudly from the throne. It said, ‘Look! God's home is now among people! God will live together with them. They will be his people. God himself will be with them and he will be their God. 4 God will take away all the tears from their eyes. Nobody will ever die again. Nobody will be sad again. Nobody will ever cry. Nobody will have pain again. Everything that made people sad has now gone. That old world has completely gone away.’

Revelation 21:3-4 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)

The book of Revelation encourages all Christians, but it is especially for certain people. It is especially for Christians who are having a very hard time. Other people want to hurt them. They want to destroy their belief. It ends in joy, with Satan at last in the lake of fire. However, it is honest about the pain and struggle of Christians. Christians may have great difficulties all through their lives. Evil and Satan are real. Satan is powerful but he is not all-powerful. Sometimes he uses world rulers for his plans. They may seem to be all-powerful. Revelation avoids two great dangers, which are common today.

One danger is triumphalism. People who are triumphalists (who believe in triumphalism) think like this: They think that Christ’s church will always win. Nothing can stop that. The church will have power and will defeat all the powers of darkness. But there have been defeats for the church. In the last century there have been many martyrs. There have been more martyrs in that century than there have been in the previous 19 centuries all together. The Church grows, but at a price. The price that some pay is death.

The second danger is that of dualism. This is the belief that God and Satan are two equal powers. God is good and Satan is evil. They fight over the world’s future, and we cannot be certain about the result. Revelation is serious about Satan and evil, but the result is certain. The moment that settled the future is already past. Christ died on the cross at Calvary and then lived again.

9 – Our reaction

Our reaction to these truths should be to be more urgent in our Christian work. We must tell everybody about Christ while there is still the opportunity. We all wait for the wonderful time when Christ will come again. We want him to come. After he comes, there will be no opportunity left. No more people can believe in him. Many will not belong to him. Therefore, we should each consider what we can do. We must do more to tell other people about repentance. We must tell them more about love and forgiveness through Christ.

16 God loved the people in the world so much that he gave his one and only Son to save them. As a result, everyone who believes in the Son will not die. Instead, they will live for ever with God.’

John 3:16 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)