2. New Testament
Survey
Devotion & Prayer
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth,
for the old heaven and the old earth had
disappeared. And the sea was also gone.
And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem,
coming down from God out of heaven like a
beautiful bride prepared for her husband.
I heard a loud shout from the throne,
saying, "Look, the home of God is now
among his people! He will live with them,
and they will be his people. God himself will
be with them.
He will remove all of their sorrows, and
there will be no more death or sorrow or
crying or pain. For the old world and its
evils are gone forever.“
Revelation 21:1-4
4. DISCUSSION ZONE
Revelation: A Hopeful and
Saving Message for Today (If
We Can Get Past the
Gobbledygook)
-There is need for its message of
hope in a lost world
a) What are the barriers to
understanding Revelation?
b) What verse most clearly defines
its message of hope
c) Discuss as class
14. Revelation
Gobbledygook:
Getting Past the
Goofiness
END TIME PREDICTIONS THAT WEREN’T….
Anything Positive From These Events?
Anything Negative?
How Should This Affect Our Study of The Bible In
General and Our View of Prophecy?
19. Understanding Revelation
Type of Literature
APOCALYPSE: from apokalupsis “to uncover or reveal”
ORIGIN: From Jews When They Came Into Contact With
Persian Religion in the Exile and After
CHARACTERISTICS:
1. Two Ages
2. Dualism
3. Visions
4. Messiah Figures
5. Symbols, Numbers, Animals, Colors, Theological Geography
20. Understanding Revelation
THEOLOGICAL GEOGRAPHY
• THE SEA: symbolizes evil or hostile forces.
• THE ABYSS: home of the evil spirits, fallen angels and the point of origin for
plagues and monster-beasts (Rev. 9:1)
• THE MOUNTAIN: the site of visions and revelations (Rev. 21:10)
• THE NEW JERUSALEM: the center of hope and promises for God's people (Rev. 21:10)
• THE TEMPLE: the dwelling place of God and the center of action for many of the visions in
Revelation (Rev. 11:1)
• THE LAKE OF FIRE: sometimes called the second death and the final dwelling place of evil.
Gehenna, or, hell, is never used in Revelation (Rev. 20:15)
• 7. THE THRONE OF GOD: the site of holiness and expresses the presence of God. Appears in
17 chapters in Revelation (Rev. 4:2)
• 8. BABYLON: a code name for Rome or the enemy (Rev. 18:2)
21. Understanding Revelation
CODES IN REVELATION
A. COLOR CODES
1. Pale Green: death
2. Dark Green: life
3. White: purity or
conquering
4. Red: war
5. Black: famine
6. Gold: worth or value
7. Bronze: strength
8. Scarlet: Immorality
B. NUMBER CODES
7= divine
6=evil or imperfection
5=penalty
4=world 2=witnessing
1=unity
10=completeness
12=wholeness
144,000 (12x12)= whole
people of God
Fractions= incompleteness
C. ANIMAL CODES
1. LAMB WITH SEVEN
HORNS AND EYES= Jesus
2. FROG= most evil creature
in Revelation (6:13)
3. EAGLE= brings bad news
4. MONSTER-BEASTS= bits
and parts of wild animals to
represent extremely evil
persons as Caesar or Satan
5. LION=wild animals
6. OX= domesticated animals
22. Understanding Revelation
TIME IN REVELATION
MIXTURE OF GREEK and HEBREW
GREEK= CYCLE
HEBREW= STRAIGHT LINE
RESULT: Spiraling Effect
24. Understanding Revelation
OTHER INTERESTING TIDBITS….
30 HYMNS IN REVELATION
7 BEATITUDES…remember, “Blessed are the Meek?”
PLEDGE
“I Pledge….
To never, ever refer to the book of Revelation…
…As ‘RevelationS’
I pledge to correct anyone who says
‘Revelations’….whether in conversation, in
Sunday School or a pastor in a sermon”
27. Understanding Revelation
MORE DISTINCTIVE
FEATURES
•The number seven appears 52 times in Revelation.
•Depending on your view of the book, the final
judgment of God may be presented numerous times
throughout the book (Rev. 6:12-17; 7:9-17; 11:15-19;
14:14-20; 16:17-21; 19:11-21; 20:11-21:8).
•The primary focus in Revelation is on the future in so
much as that knowledge helps the believer live obediently
in the present.
•Notable for its simplicity (in spite of what most people
think). John promised a blessing to the one who reads
and those who hear and obey the prophecy (1:3). The
picture is obviously one of the church at worship with a
designated reader. John apparently thought that this book
could be understood simply by listening to it being read.
It takes about an hour and a half to read the book aloud.
31. Revelation Fun
Factoidizations
Same year they dug up
Ephesian theater, they dug
up a 16 foot tall statue of
Domitian with tunnels going
into it where Romans would
speak through slits in the
statue to deceive poor
people (“image is given
power to speak”)
Domitian Temple
41. Revelation Fun
Factoidizations
Laodicea: weakest city, banks,
clothing, rich, eye medicine, no
good water supply….water came out
of ground 95 degrees, by the time it
got to city it was lukewarm….had
sulfur in it too
Clay Aqueduct Believed From Laodicea
46. WHAT WE’VE DONE
New Testament Survey- BIL102
Background: Preparing
the World for Christ-
centered living
The Gospels
Jesus of Nazareth, God’s
Son, the focus of Christ-
centered living
ACTS
The spread of
Christ-centered
living through
mission of the
Church
REVELATION
Obedience
and hope of
Christ-
centered
living
ROMANS/JUD
E
Instructions
on theory and
practice of
Christ-
centered
living
