CHAPTER ONE—JOHN’S PROLOGUE AND VISION
Introduction
The book of Revelation can be divided into four parts. The first part, chapter one, is an introduction. It tells us the who, what, why, when and where of this book. The who: The Apostle John was given a vision from God. The what: He was told to write what he saw and what he heard. The why: So that God’s servants can know how the end times are going to unfold. The when and where: John’s vision came to him on the Island of Patmos while he was exiled for his faith in Jesus Christ and His word. This took place around A.D. 95 during the reign of Emperor Domitian who wanted to be worshipped as god.
The second division of Revelation encompasses chapters two and three. In these two chapters we have the seven letters to seven churches located in the Roman province of Asia, what is modern day Turkey. These were letters written to seven specific churches. However, each of these letters were and remain applicable to all churches from the First Century, into the Twenty-first Century, and until the return of the LORD. At or near the end of each of these seven letters there is the command, “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” The phrase, “let them hear,” is an active verb. It means more than just listening to sounds. It means to hear, to understand, and to embrace the words of this book. We must hear these words, understand these words, and act on these words.
The third division of Revelation includes chapters four through eighteen and deals primarily with the tribulation period.
And the fourth division includes chapters nineteen through twenty-two and deals with the defeat of Satan and the establishment of the new Heaven and the new Earth.
I'll be doing a verse by verse exposition of this book over the coming months so please subscribe or check back.
