A. The writer(s), the place, and the time: The apostle John wrote this book to the seven churches in Asia around A.D. 90, while he was in exile on the island Patmos (1:1, 4, 9).
B. The subject: Christ as the centrality of God’s governmental administration by God’s eternal economy.
C. The background: [The book of Revelation is the conclusion of John’s writings. As we pointed out in the life-study of John, the writings of the apostle John are of three categories: his Gospel, his Epistles, and his Revelation. John’s Gospel is for the imparting of life. In John 10:10 Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and may have it abundantly,” and in John 12:24 He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” In these verses we see the imparting of life, which is the central thought of the Gospel of John. In John’s Epistles is the fellowship for the growth of life. Although life has been imparted into us, it needs to grow. Life grows by fellowship. Therefore, in John’s Epistles we see the fellowship for the growth of life. In the last category of John’s writings, his Revelation, we have the reaping of life. Firstly, life is imparted, then it grows, and eventually it is reaped. Without Revelation, we would have the imparting of life and the growth of life, but not the reaping of life.
Revelation is also the conclusion of the New Testament, which is composed of the Gospels, the Acts, the Epistles, and Revelation. In the Gospels we see the sowing of the seed of life, for in the Gospels Jesus came to sow Himself into humanity as the seed of life, sowing Himself into a small number of people, such as Peter and John. In the Acts is the propagation of life. In the Epistles we see the growth of life. The central concept of all the Epistles written by Paul, Peter, John, and the others is the growth of life. We all need to grow in life. In Revelation we see, once again, the harvest of life. In chapter fourteen of Revelation we have a ripened field and a harvest. Revelation 14:15 says, “Another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, Send forth Your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.” In Revelation 14, the whole field is harvested. By this we see that Revelation is the conclusion of the New Testament.
As the last book of the Bible, Revelation is the conclusion, completion, and consummation of the entire divine revelation, the whole Bible. The Bible needs such a conclusion. The seeds of most of the truths of the divine revelation were sown in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. The growth of all these seeds is progressively developed in the following books, especially in the books of the New Testament, and the harvest is reaped in the book of Revelation. For example, in Genesis is the seed of the serpent, and in the book of Revelation there is the harvest of the serpent. Hence, most of the things covered in this book are not absolutely new, but refer back to the foregoing books of the Bible. In Genesis is the seed of the divine revelation, in the following books is the progressive development of the divine revelation, and in Revelation is the harvest of the divine revelation. Therefore, we all must get into this book and know it. If we do not know this book, we cannot be clear about God’s revelation. In our travels, we often are not clear about the way, the road, until we have reached our destination. After we have reached our destination and look back upon the way we have taken, we become very clear. In Revelation we arrive at the destination of the whole Bible. Having arrived at this destination, we can understand this divine Book.]
D. The central thought: [Revelation is a book of conclusion. If the book of Revelation were deleted from the Bible, there would be a great shortage, for there would be a beginning but no ending. Although there is the beginning in the book of Genesis, without the book of Revelation there is no conclusion or consummation. After having a good start and after passing through so many works, there is the need for God to have a consummation. Without Revelation, there is no conclusion of God’s economy. God is great; He is a God of purpose. For the fulfillment of His purpose, His economy must be accomplished. Many Bible students have neglected the matter of God’s economy. If we did not have Revelation, we could not see the consummation of God’s economy. In fact, we would even find it difficult to realize what God’s economy is, because we would not see the result, the issue of His economy. But in this book the revelation of God’s economy is so clear because it contains the conclusion of God’s economy.]
E. The general sketch: [Revelation is firstly a book of Christ, secondly a book of the church, and thirdly a book of God’s economy.] [The whole Bible reveals Christ. As the conclusion, completion, and consummation of the Bible, the book of Revelation especially is “the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1:1). Although this book also reveals many other things, the focus of its revelation is Christ. Several aspects of Christ, such as the vision of Him as the High Priest in the midst of the churches, caring for them in love yet with a judging attitude (1:13-16), the vision of Him as the Lion-Lamb in the midst of God’s throne and of the four living creatures and in the midst of the twenty-four elders of the universe, opening the seven seals of God’s universal administration (5:1-6:1), and the vision of Him as Another Mighty Angel coming down from heaven to take possession of the earth (10:1-8; 18:1) have never been unveiled as they are in the book of Revelation. In this book, the revelation of Christ is unique and ultimate. In the Gospels, Acts, and Epistles we do not see that Christ has seven eyes, but this is revealed in the book of Revelation (5:6). Christ, our Savior, has seven eyes. How terrifying! This revelation of Christ is unique. In Luke 4:22 we are told that “words of grace” proceeded out of Christ’s mouth, but in Revelation 1:16 a sharp two-edged sword proceeds out of His mouth. Moreover, in his Gospel, John says, “Behold, the Lamb of God” (1:29), but in Revelation one of the elders says, “Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah” (5:5). Hence, the revelation of Christ in this book is unique. In no other book is Christ unveiled as He is in Revelation. The first item of the contents of Revelation is this unique Christ.]
[On one hand, this book gives us “the revelation of Christ,” and on the other hand, it shows us “the testimony of Jesus,” which is particular and consummate (1:2, 9; 12:17; 19:10; 20:4). The testimony of Jesus is the church. Revelation presents the revealed Christ and the testifying church. In this book we have a particular and consummate record of the church. In no other book are the churches revealed as they are in the book of Revelation. The lampstands in chapter one, the great multitude of the redeemed in chapter seven, the bright woman with her man-child in chapter twelve, the harvest with its firstfruits in chapter fourteen, the overcomers on the sea of glass in chapter fifteen, the Bride ready for marriage and the fighting army of Christ in chapter nineteen, and the New Jerusalem in chapters twenty-one and twenty-two are all the testimony of Jesus. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit-the substance, the disposition, and the characteristic-of the prophecy (19:10). Christ is the Witness (1:5), the testimony, the expression of God, and the church is the testimony, the expression of Christ. As such, the church is the reproduction of the testimony, the expression of God in Christ. The particular revelation of the church in this book is very crucial, and we all must see it.]
[The contents of Revelation also include the economy of God. God’s economy is His universal and eternal administration. In the book of Revelation we see God’s universal and eternal administration which is for the carrying out of His economy. Space-wise His administration is universal and time-wise it is eternal.] [In God’s administration the first group of items is the seven seals.] [The first four seals cover the history of the world from Christ’s ascension to the end of this age (6:1-8).] [The fifth seal covers the cry of the martyred saints (6:9-11). This will occur close to the end of this age and near the beginning of the great tribulation.] [The sixth seal, taking place very near to the time of the great tribulation, covers the shaking of earth and heaven (6:12-17).] [The seventh seal, which will last for eternity, consists of the seven trumpets.] [The seven trumpets are the contents of the seventh seal. The first four trumpets are the judgments on the earth, the sea, the rivers, and the sun, moon, and stars (8:7-12). As a result of the judgments in the first four trumpets, the earth will no longer be a suitable place for people to live in. The fifth trumpet, the first woe as judgment on men, will be the beginning of the great tribulation (8:13-9:11).] [The sixth trumpet, which is the second woe as a further judgment on men, is a part of the great tribulation (9:12-21). The seventh trumpet is quite complicated. It consists of the eternal kingdom of Christ, the third woe comprising the seven bowls, the judgment of the dead, the rewarding of the saints and of the God-fearing people, and the destruction of the earth’s destroyers (11:14-18). The third woe, which is the second item of the seventh trumpet, will be the closing of the great tribulation. After this, there will be the rewarding of the prophets, the saints, and those who fear God’s name.] [The seventh trumpet also comprises the judgment of the dead and the destruction of the earth’s destroyers. The destroyers of the earth are Satan, the Antichrist, the false prophet, and all their followers. Hence, the seventh trumpet includes everything from the end of the tribulation to eternity.]
[The seven bowls, a part of the negative contents of the seventh trumpet as the last plagues of God’s wrath on men, will be the ending of the great tribulation (15:1, 6-8; 16:1-21). The seven bowls, like the seven seals and the seven trumpets, are composed of a group of the first four and then the fifth, sixth, and seventh. This grouping is meaningful. Certainly the writer of the book of Revelation must be God. Who else would have had the wisdom required to write it? If this book was written according to John’s imagination, then John must be God. The book of Revelation is surely composed in a marvelous way.]
F. The sections: 1) introduction-the revelation of Christ and the testimony of Jesus (1:1-8), 2) “the things which you have seen” (1:9-20), 3) “the things which are”-the seven local churches (2:1-3:22), 4) “the things which are about to take place” (4:1-22:5), and 5) conclusion-the Lord’s last warning and the apostle’s last prayer (22:6-21).