In this message we begin our study of the book of Revelation giving an overview of its contents, style and why it was written.

1. REVELATION OVERVIEW
MESSAGE 8

3. • The Actual title is the Apocalypse of John or
the Revelation of Jesus Christ
• Apocalypse means “uncovering, disclosing or
revealing”
• EVERYONE THINKS ITS ABOUT THE END OF
THE WORLD.

4. We must stand back first and take
it all in before we start looking too
closely or it won’t make any sense

5. What if…….
Revelation was written as
encouragement to the Christians
who had just gone through
massive persecution at the hand of
Nero and Jesus wanted to let them
know that justice was coming soon
for them.

6. What if…….
Revelation was written to declare God’s divorce
from unfaithful Israel and subsequent marriage
to his new spotless bride, the church?
Could we use the term “death” instead of
divorce? True Judaism died in AD 70 because
there were no more animal sacrifices.
See Romans 7:1-6
Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Zealots

7. What if….
Revelation was NOT a story of a
world waiting for destruction but
rather a world experiencing
redemption?

8. What if…
Revelation is not about the
end of the world but rather
a new world order called the
CHURCH?

9. WHEN WAS REVELATION
WRITTEN?
AD 64-68
or
AD 96

10. Arguments For AD 96
• Tradition says so.
• Irenaeus wrote John was exiled to Patmos
during the reign of Domitian
• Condition of the churches was bad therefore it
had to be 25 years for this to happen
• They say the fact that the temple is still
standing has nothing to do with it
• 7 Kings are not Roman It is kingdoms

11. WHY AD 64-68?
The oldest original manuscript of the NT is called
the Syriac. At the beginning of Revelation there is
this note:
“Again, the revelation which was upon the
evangelist John at Patmos, where he was thrown by
Nero”
Tertullian states that John was at Patmos at the
time of the death of Peter and Paul. Which would
make sense why he took over pastoring those
churches.

12. • Jerome, church historian, says that in AD 96
John was so feeble they had to carry him to
church and he could only speak a few words
• Revelation 10:11

13. 7 Roman Emperors
• Revelation 17:10
Julius Caesar 49-44 BC
Augustus 27 BC-AD 14 (Luke 2:1)
Tiberius AD 14- AD 37 (Luke 3:1)
Caligula AD 37-AD 41 (statue in temple)
Claudius AD 41- AD 54
One is now…
Nero AD 54-AD 68
One is to Come
Galba June AD 68- Jan AD 69
(Assassinated)

14. Revelation 1:7
• 7 BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS,
and every eye will see Him, even those who
pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth
will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.

15. Revelation 6:9-11
• When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I
saw underneath the altar the souls of those who
had been slain because of the word of God, and
because of the testimony which they had
maintained; 10 and they cried out with a loud
voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and
true, will You refrain from judging and avenging
our blood on those who dwell on the
earth?” 11 And there was given to each of them a
white robe; and they were told that they
should rest for a little while longer, until the
number of their fellow servants and their
brethren who were to be killed even as they had
been, would be completed also.

16. Matthew 23:34-36
Therefore I am sending you [Jerusalem] prophets
and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will
kill and crucify; others you will flog in your
synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so
upon you will come all the righteous blood that has
been shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous
Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah,
whom you murdered between the temple and the
altar. I tell you all this will come upon this
generation

17. Luke 18:7-8
“And will not God bring about justice for his
chosen ones, who cry out to him day and
night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you,
he will see that they get justice, and quickly.”
If he is talking about persecution, it had to be
before AD 96 because AD 70 ended it.

18. The Temple is Standing
Revelation 11:1
11 Then there was given me a measuring rod like a
staff; and someone said, “Get up and measure
the temple of God and the altar, and those who
worship in it. 2 Leave out the court which is outside
thetemple and do not measure it, for it has been
given to the nations; and they will tread under
foot the holy city for forty-two months.

19. Let‘s revisit history
• AD 66- Romans started and then Zealots
chased them out and killed many
• AD 67- April began the conquest
• AD 68- Romans killing through Judea
• AD 69- Romans advance on Jerusalem
• AD 70 – Passover- April; July- tower came
down, August- Temple burnt –
• Sept 8 total destruction of Jerusalem

20. • AD 67 = April to December 9 MONTHS
• AD 68 = January to December 12 MONTHS
• AD 69 = January to December 12 MONTHS
• AD 70 = January to September 9 MONTHS
• DO THE MATH
42 MONTHS

21. What does soon and quickly mean?
• Rev 1:1 - The Revelation of Jesus Christ,
which God gave Him to show to His bond-
servants, the things which must soontake
place; and He sent and communicated it by His
angel to His bond-servant John,
• Rev 1:3 Blessed is he who reads and those
who hear the words of the prophecy,
and heed the things which are written in it; for
the time is near.

22. • Rev 2:16 -Therefore repent; or else I am coming
to you quickly, and I will make war against them
with the sword of My mouth.
• Rev 3:11 - I am coming quickly; hold fast what
you have, so that no one will take your crown.
• Rev 22:6- And he said to me, “These words are
faithful and true”; and the Lord, the God of the
spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to
His bond-servants the things which must soon
take place.

23. • Rev 22:10 - And he *said to me, “Do not seal
up the words of the prophecy of this book, for
the time is near.
• Daniel 12:4- But you, Daniel, keep this
prophecy a secret; seal up the book until the
time of the end, when many will rush here
and there, and knowledge will increase.”

24. • Rev 22:12 - “Behold, I am coming quickly, and
My reward is with Me, to render to every
man according to what he has done.
• Rev 22:20 - He who testifies to these things
says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.”Amen. Come,
Lord Jesus.

25. More reasons for AD 64-68
• There were only 7 churches listed….that’s it in
AD 96?
• Why wouldn’t have John mentioned AD 70?
If you were talking about NYC
wouldn’t you mention 9/11?
If AD 70 had already happened wouldn’t
there be SOMETHING in there about that?

26. • There is only one small window of time in which there
were only seven churches in Asia. The early AD 60's.
The apostle Paul established nine churches in that area,
but only seven were addressed in Revelation.
• The reason for this is that the cities of Colosse,
Hierapolis, and Laodicea, were all destroyed by an
earthquake around AD 61. Laodicea was rebuilt soon
afterwards, but the other two cities were not. This left
only seven churches in Asia during the five years just
prior to the beginning of the Roman/Jewish war.

27. • Of particular importance is the message to the church
of Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7-13). In verse's 10 and
11, Christ told John to inform them that an "hour of
temptation" was "about to come upon all the
world," i.e., the Roman Empire. Christ then told them
that He was coming quickly and that they should hold
fast.
• The reason this is important (besides the fact that this
was directed to an actual church in the first century) is
that the first persecution of Christians took place under
Nero Caesar in AD 64. Therefore, Revelation must have
been written before that time.

28. Just a thought…..
• Furthermore, those who hold that the book of Revelation was written long
after the destruction of the temple in AD 70 face an even more formidable
obstacle!
• Consider one of the most amazing prophecies in all of Scripture. Jesus is
leaving the temple when his disciples call his attention to its buildings. As
they gaze upon its massive stones and magnificent buildings, Jesus utters
the unthinkable: “I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on
another; every one will be thrown down” (Matthew 24:2; Mark 13:2; Luke
21:6).
• One generation later this prophecy, no doubt still emblazoned on the
tablet of their consciousness, became a vivid and horrifying reality. As
noted by Josephus, the temple was doomed August 30, AD 70, “the very
day on which the former temple had been destroyed by the king of
Babylon.”
• As incredible as Christ’s prophecy and its fulfillment one generation later
are, it is equally incredible to suppose that the apostle John would make
no mention of it.

29. • As the student of Scripture well knows, New
Testament writers were quick to highlight fulfilled
prophecy. The phrase “This was to fulfill what
was spoken of by the prophet” permeates the
pages of Scripture. Thus, it is inconceivable that
Jesus would make an apocalyptic prophecy
concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and the
Jewish temple and that John would fail to
mention that the prophecy was fulfilled one
generation later just as Jesus had predicted it

30. Why so confusing?
• Four score and 7 years ago…
• We the people in order to form…
• I pledge allegiance to the flag..
• I have a dream…..
John used the EXACT language and illustration
Ezekiel did to predict the fall of Jerusalem
All Jews would have recognized this…….

31. Apocalyptic Language
Revelation
• The Throne Vision – Rev 4
• The Book – Rev 5
• 4 Plagues – Rev 6:1-8
• Saints slain under altar
Rev 6:9-11
• Wrath of God- Rev 6:12-17
• Seals on Forehead Rev 7:3
• Coals from Altar- Rev 8
• No More Delay- Rev 10:1-7
Ezekiel
• Ezekiel 1
• Ezekiel 2-3
• Ezekiel 5
• Ezekiel 6
• Ezekiel 7
• Ezekiel 9:4
• Ezekiel 10
• Ezekiel 12

32. Revelation
• Eat the book – Rev 10:8-11
• Measure the Temple- Rev
11:1-2
• Jerusalem= Sodom – Rev
11:8
• Cup of Wrath –Rev 14
• Vine of the Land- Rev 14:18-
20
• Great Harlot – Rev 17-18
Ezekiel
• Ezekiel 2:8-10
• Ezekiel 40-43
• Ezekiel 16
• Ezekiel 23
• Ezekiel 15
• Ezekiel 16, 23

33. Revelation
• Lament over the City- Rev
18
• Scavengers feast – Rev 19
• First Resurrection – Rev
20:4-6
• Battle w/Gog Magog- Rev
20:7-9
• New Jerusalem- Rev 21
• River of Life – Rev 22
Ezekiel
• Ezekiel 27
• Ezekiel 39
• Ezekiel 37
• Ezekiel 38-39
• Ezekiel 40-48
• Ezekiel 47

34. Why did Jesus pick John?
• In John’s gospel, He adds several stories that
are not in the other Gospels. He often focused
on more heavenly themes.
Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 all record
Jesus warning about Jerusalem… one book is
missing……. JOHN
REVELATION IS JOHN’S MATTHEW 24!

35. THE EARTH(LAND) VS WORLD?
– Was this for Judea or for the United States,
Mexico, Canada, South America, Europe, Australia,
the Middle East, or Asia?
OR

38. John uses Ge’ 67 times in Revelation
John uses Kosmos 3 times:
Rev. 11:15:
Then the seventh angel sounded; and there
were loud voices in heaven, saying,“The
kingdom of the world has become the
kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He
will reign forever and ever.”

39. • John uses Kosmos 57 times in his Gospel
where he meant the entire civilized world
• In I John he uses it 17 times

40. Two Perspectives
FROM EARTH
Revelation 18:9-19
FROM HEAVEN
Revelation 19:1-6