the church to carry on (William Hendriksen, Anthony Hoekema, and Philip Hughes are Idealists).
4. Futurist: In this view, chapters 4–22 refer primarily to events in the future that will take place at the end of history and usher in the end times and the return of Christ. There are two branches to a futurist view: dispensationalism, the belief that there are seven dispensations (or periods in history), and we are currently in the sixth (the church age). Revelation, according to dispensationalism, describes the seventh age, where the church is taken out before the travail of the last days, and Israel is reinstated. The second branch is classic premillennialism, which holds that there is only one return of Christ and the church must endure and be faithful through suffering and persecution before Christ’s return.
5. Eclectic: This view combines more than one of the views above, avoiding the weaknesses of particular views. (Leon Morris, George Ladd, George Beasley-Murray, J. Ramsey Michaels, Alan Johnson, H. Giesen, Mounce, and Beale all subscribe to this view). I lean towards the eclectic view as well, with the proviso that we acknowledge Revelation was written in a definite context to seven specific churches while also looking ahead to the future final conflict between the forces of Satan and the people of Christ.
Themes
The following themes stand out in the book of Revelation:
1. God: the one who was and is and is to come (1:4, 8; 4:8; 11:17; 16:5). He holds the world in his sovereign control. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. (1:8; 1:17; 22:13; 21:6; 22:13). This title is also used of Christ (1:17; 22:13). Jesus receives worship along with God. And Jesus and God seem to sit side-by-side and to share the throne and the right of judgment. This parallels Jesus’ teaching in John 5–7. Another title used for God is the Lord Almighty (1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7, 14; 19:6, 15; 21:22), a title which contextually carries the implication of omnipotence and God’s rightful place as master and creator. The divine passive is used frequently (6:2, 4, 8, 11; 7:2; 8:2, 3; 9:1, 3, 5; 11:1, 2; 12:14; 13:7, 14, 15; 16:8). Nothing happens outside the sovereign plan of God.
2. Jesus, the Lamb (Revelation 5:6–6:17; 19; 22)
3. Jesus, the warrior (Revelation 1:9–20; 7; 12; 19). As Jesus overcame through his death and resurrection, so also the saints can overcome (Revelation 6; 12; 13; 19–20).
4. The church must be patient and endure and, in doing so, overcome trial (Revelation 2–3; 19–21).
5. Satan’s defeat (12:9; 20:2, 8, 10). The false trinity will fight the church of God but will ultimately be defeated (13:16–17; 17–18; 19–20).
6. Theodicy: a defense of God’s character and judgment27
7. God’s judgment reveals his righteous character (6:16–17; 11:18; 14:10, 19; 15:1, 7; 16:1, 19; 19:15).
8. Christ comes as judge (1:16; 2:12, 16; 19:15, 21).
9. God’s judgments come because of the depravity and rejection of those on the earth. The evil of the nations is emphasized, and it is that guilt that is the basis for their judgment. God’s judgments execute his righteous judgment as sin turns against itself, and God’s judgments are proven through his vindication of the saints (6:10; 17:14; 18:24; 15:2; 20:4).
Outline
1:1–8 Prologue
1:1–3 Who is the author?
1:4 Who is the recipient?
1:5–8 Who is the focus of the book?
1:9–20 Vision of Jesus
2:1–3:20 Jesus’ message to the churches of Asia Minor
2:1–5 To Ephesus
2:6–11 To Smyrna
2:12–17 To Pergamum
2:18–29 To Thyatira
3:1–6 To Sardis
3:7–13 To Philadelphia
3:14–20 To Laodicea
4:1–5:14 Vision of the throne-room
4:1–8 The throne of God and the song of the four living creatures
4:9–11 The song of the twenty-four elders
5:1–5 The call for someone worthy to open the seals of the scroll
5:6–10 The Lion/Lamb of God and the song of the creatures/elders
5:11–12 The song of all the angels
5:13–14 The song of every creature
6:1–17 Seals 1–6 are opened
7:1–17 First Interlude (a picture of the end)
7:1–8 The 144,000
7:9–117 The number beyond count
8:1–5 The seventh seal is opened
8:6–13 Trumpets 1–4
9:1–21 Trumpets 5–6
10:1–11 Second Interlude (the little scroll)
11:1–14 Third Interlude (the two witnesses)
11:15–19 Trumpet 7 (a picture of the end)
12:1–17 The sign of the woman and the dragon
13:1–18 The two beasts
13:1–10 The beast from the sea
13:11–18 The beast from the earth
14:1–20 The Lamb and the angels
14:1–5 The Lamb and the 144,000
14:6–7 The first angel
14:8 The second angel
14:9–16 The third angel and the “one like a son of man”
15:1–8 The vision of the seven angels/plagues
15:1–4 The justice and righteousness of God
15:5–8 The opening of the sanctuary
16:1–21 The seven bowls of wrath
17:1–18 The sign of the prostitute and the beast
18:1–24 The fall of Babylon
19:1–21 The consummation of the Lamb’s victory
19:1–8 The wedding supper of the Lamb
19:9–21 The final victory of the Lamb
20:1–15 The millennial kingdom and the final doom of Satan
20:1–3 Satan is bound
20:4–6 The millennial
