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If I Were Told the Future - Lesson 7

The Book of Revelation

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Let's pray together:

Our Lord and God,

After the book of Daniel and the Chapter 24 of the Gospel according to Matthew, we now move on to the third main part of Your prophetic word: the book of Revelation.

We ask once again for Your presence, so that we may better understand the organization of this book, knowing that this will help us to fully grasp its message.

In Jesus Christ.

Amen.

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Revelation 1:1

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants - things which must shortly take place.

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Thus begins the book of Revelation, possibly the most famous prophetic work.

Strangely, although it has the reputation of having mystified men for centuries, the book begins with the words «The Revelation»...

It is interesting to note that «Revelation» comes from the Greek «apokalupsis» which means «an unveiling» (from «apo», meaning «away from», and «kalupsis», meaning «veil»).

Therefore it is possible to understand its content.

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Just like the other Bible books, Revelation is a source of truth:

«Then he said to me, "Write: Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!" And he said to me, "These are the true sayings of God."» (REVELATION 19:9)

«Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful."» (REVELATION 21:5)

«Then he said to me, "These words are faithful and true." And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place.» (REVELATION 22:6)

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Revelation 1:3

Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.

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A special blessing is granted to us as students of the book of Revelation.

In addition to finding help in better preparing ourselves, «for the time is near», we will discover the extraordinary richness of this book whose structure and content, highly organized, will surely fill us with wonder.

Let's begin with a short outline.

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A short outline of the book of Revelation, in seven points:

   |          Content of the section           |         Passage
===+===========================================+=========================
 1 | Prologue: Invitation to study the book    | Revelation 1:1 to 1:3
 2 | Letters to the seven churches             | Revelation 1:4 to 3:22
 3 | Throne of God and book with seven seals   | Revelation 4:1 to 8:1
 4 | The seven trumpets                        | Revelation 8:2 to 11:19
 5 | The final conflict between good and evil  | Revelation 12:1 to 20:15
 6 | The new earth and its inhabitants         | Revelation 21:1 to 22:5
 7 | Epilogue: Warning and invitation          | Revelation 22:6 to 22:21

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Revelation 13:18

Here is wisdom.

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A careful study of the book of Revelation's structure discloses a big surprise...

The first and last halves perfectly reflect each other as if a mirror had been placed in the middle of the book, except for a clever twist (or cross-over) at the very center!

Now let's take a look at this amazing architecture. (The following tables are based on the work of C. Mervyn Maxwell, as presented in his excellent book «God Cares».)

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Mirrorlike organization of Revelation with a cross-over at the center:

Historical part:Conflict in progress| Eschatological part: Conflict ended
==+=======+=======+=======+=======+=+=+=======+=======+=======+=======+==
P |  1-3  |  4-7  | 8-11  | 12-14 |   | 15-16 | 17-18 | 19-20 | 21-22 | E
R |Counsel| Jesus |Severe |Trials | M | Severe| Down- | Jesus |Reward | P
O |to the |  com- | judg- |of the | I | judg- |fall of|  en-  |to the | I
L |church,| forts | ments | pure  | R | ments |impure |thrones|church,| L
O | scat- |His af-| warn  | woman | R | punish| woman |  His  |gather-| O
G | tered |flicted|  the  |and her| O |  the  |and her|resur- |ed and | G
U |  and  |people | world | chil- | R | world |daugh- |rected |  at   | U
E |at war |       |       | dren  |   |       | ters  |people | peace | E
==+=======+=======+=======+=======+===+=======+=======+=======+=======+==
A     B       C       D       E           D'      E'      C'      B'   A'

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Revelation 22:10

And [the angel] said to me,

«Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.»

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Let's take a few moments to scrutinize each one of the sections of the book of Revelation, so as to parallel the historical part with the eschatological part («eschatological» means «about the end times events»).

We will then see more clearly the richness and complexity of this mirrorlike organization.

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Mirrorlike organization of Revelation : Parallels between parts A and A'

Historical part:Conflict in progress| Eschatological part: Conflict ended
====+=============================+=+=+=============================+====
R C |          Prologue           |   |          Epilogue           | R C
E h |-----------------------------|   |-----------------------------| E h
V a |  God sent His angel (1:1)   | M | God sent His angel (22:16)  | V a
E p | Revelation of things which  | I |  Showing things which must  | E p
L t |must shortly take place (1:1)| R |  shortly take place (22:6)  | L t
A e |   The time is near (1:3)    | R | The time is at hand (22:10) | A e
T r |«Behold, He is coming.» (1:7)| O |«Behold, I am coming.»(22:12)| T r
I   |     Jesus is the First      | R |     Jesus is the First      | I
O 1 |     and the Last (1:17)     |   |    and the Last (22:13)     | O 2
N   |The Alpha and the Omega (1:8)|   |The Alpha & the Omega (22:13)| N 2

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Mirrorlike organization of Revelation : Parallels between parts B and B'

Historical part:Conflict in progress| Eschatological part: Conflict ended
====+=============================+=+=+=============================+====
R   | Jesus counsels His church,  |   |  Jesus rewards His church,  | R 2
E   |    scattered and at war     |   |    gathered and at peace    | E 1
V 1 |-----------------------------| M |-----------------------------| V
E   |      Lampstands (2:1)       | I |The Lamb is the light (21:23)| E a
L t |     Tree of life (2:7)      | R |     Tree of life (22:2)     | L n
A o |       Open door (3:8)       | R |  Gates never closed (21:25) | A d
T   |Jesus on God's throne (3:21) | O |Throne of God and Lamb (22:1)| T
I 3 |   The New Jerusalem comes   | R |   The New Jerusalem comes   | I 2
O   |  down out of heaven (3:12)  |   | down out of heaven (21:10)  | O 2
N   |  «I come quickly!» (3:11)   |   |«I am coming quickly!» (22:7)| N

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Mirrorlike organization of Revelation : Parallels between parts C and C'

Historical part:Conflict in progress| Eschatological part: Conflict ended
====+=============================+=+=+=============================+====
R   | Afflicted people comforted  |   |Resurrected people enthroned | R 1
E   |-----------------------------|   |-----------------------------| E 9
V 4 | Door opened in heaven (4:1) | M |    Heaven opened (19:11)    | V
E   |    Rider on white horse     | I |    Rider on white horse     | E a
L t |    followed by riders on    | R |    followed by riders on    | L n
A o |   colored horses (6:2-8)    | R |   white horses (19:11-16)   | A d
T   |Souls of martyrs under altar | O | Souls of martyrs resurrected| T
I 7 |  ask for judgment (6:9,10)  | R | enthroned as judges (20:4-6)| I 2
O   | White robes (6:11; 7:9-14)  |   |     White robes (19:14)     | O 0
N   | Kings want to die (6:15,16) |   | Kings are killed (19:17-21) | N

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Mirrorlike organization of Revelation : Parallels between parts D and D'

Historical part:Conflict in progress| Eschatological part: Conflict ended
====+=============================+=+=+=============================+====
R   |    Severe judgments warn    |   |   Severe judgments punish   | R 1
E 8 |   the world (7 trumpets)    |   |     the world (7 bowls)     | E 5
V   |-----------------------------| M |-----------------------------| V
E t |       1. Earth (8:7)        | I |       1. Earth (16:2)       | E a
L o |       2. Sea (8:8,9)        | R |       2. Sea (16:3)         | L n
A   |3. Springs of water (8:10,11)| R |  3. Springs of water (16:4) | A d
T 1 | 4. Sun, moon, stars (8:12)  | O |       4. Sun (16:8,9)       | T
I 1 |      5. Darkness (9:2)      | R |    5. Darkness (16:10,11)   | I 1
O   |6. River Euphrates (9:13-21) |   |6. River Euphrates (16:12,16)| O 6
N   |  7. Loud voices (11:15-18)  |   |   7. Loud voice (16:17-21)  | N

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Mirrorlike organization of Revelation : Parallels between parts E and E'

Historical part:Conflict in progress| Eschatological part: Conflict ended
====+=============================+=+=+=============================+====
R   |  Trials of the pure woman   |   |    Downfall of the impure   | R 1
E 1 |      and her children       |   |   woman and her daughters   | E 7
V 2 |-----------------------------| M |-----------------------------| V
E   |Woman clothed with sun (12:1)| I |Woman arrayed in purple(17:4)| E a
L t |Offspring keep the law(12:17)| R |Her daughters, harlots (17:5)| L n
A o |Woman into wilderness (12:14)| R | Woman into wilderness (17:3)| A d
T   |     Beast with 7 heads      | O |      Beast with 7 heads     | T
I 1 |  and 10 horns (12:3; 13:1)  | R |     and 10 horns (17:3)     | I 1
O 4 | «Babylon is fallen!» (14:8) |   | «Babylon is fallen!» (18:2) | O 8
N   | Testimony of Jesus (12:17)  |   |  Testimony of Jesus (19:10) | N

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Revelation 22:12

And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.

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All this splendid literary architecture must not make us lose sight of the main purpose of the book of Revelation, which is the same as that of the other prophetic books: to help us properly prepare ourselves for the day of the glorious return of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Jesus keeps a reward which He will grant to each one of us on the day of His return, according to the work accomplished for Him here on earth.

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Revelation 1:3

Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is nea.

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Revelation 22:7

Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.

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This twofold blessing, at the beginning and the end of the book of Revelation, testifies to the importance of this prophetic text in the sight of God.

We will thoroughly study this book in the next lessons.

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«The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended.» (Revelation 8:4)

Heavenly Father,

We thank You for having revealed to us, in this lesson, the fascinating organization of the book of Revelation.

Please grant us Your Holy Spirit, as we go deeper into our study of this important prophetic book, not only to know what the future keeps in store for each of us but, above all, to better know and serve You.

Help us to prepare ourselves for the soon return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In His name we pray.

Amen.

  The test of Lesson 7 is waiting for you!