The Book of The Revelation
A Simple Outline
INTRODUCTION:
This past Wednesday night, I taught another lesson on the Kingdom of God. In this lesson I taught that the Bible makes it clear that the Kingdom of God is now and not yet. I’ll use a couple of scriptural examples to illustrate this truth. First we read what Jesus said in Matthew 12:28, “But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.” Demons are driven out by the authority of God; therefore men are set free from Satan’s bondage by the rule and authority of God. This is the Kingdom of God now. But then we read in Revelation 11:15 that “the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud noises in heaven, which said: ‘the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our God and of his Christ, and He will reign forever and forever.’” This is the second coming of Jesus and so the kingdom of God is not yet or still yet to come in its’ fullness.
In the first coming of Jesus the Kingdom of God was seen in its’ power and authority over Satan, over nature, and over death! As a matter of fact, in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead with a new and glorified body, we have a tangible demonstration of His coming kingdom. In the resurrection of Jesus we see what is yet to come. It’s a taste and guarantee of what is to come for us.
And that brings me to my subject today. My goal in this message is to share with you a simple outline of the Book of The Revelation (I took this outline from the teaching of Mike Bickle at IHOP with a few minor changes. I believe its layout is the simplest and clearest way to understand the book; also see the commentaries on Revelation by Robert Thomas). I will expand on this outline in the future looking at each section more in depth and what I believe it means. But as I share the basics of this outline with you this morning, I believe that it is really important to understand that what is behind the events in the Revelation is Jesus removing anyone and anything that is standing in opposition to the establishment of God’s Kingdom on the earth. When Jesus came to earth the first time His message was the Kingdom of God. And the Kingdom of God was seen and manifested in Him. But as we all know, we have been living in the age or time when the Kingdom can either be received or rejected. That time will come to an end when Jesus comes the second time! At His Second Coming, He will release the 7 Seals, 7 Trumpets, and 7 Bowls of wrath. These judgments will decimate the Antichrist kingdom that Satan has set up in an attempt to keep God’s Kingdom from being established on the earth. However, Satan will be defeated, and God’s Kingdom will come with irresistible force!
I want to go to the Book of Daniel to get a prophetic picture of what this will look like.
Daniel 2:36-45 (King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream)
36 "This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. 37 You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; 38 in your hands he has placed mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.
39 "After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron — for iron breaks and smashes everything — and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. 41 Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. 42 As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.
44 "In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.
This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands — a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.
"The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy."
This is actually a fourth key in understanding the Book of the Revelation. Jesus is essentially establishing the Kingdom of God through the 21 judgments that are released. These are the chronological sections.
In the outline there are 5 chronological sections. And along with the five chronological sections, there are five angelic explanations. Because what happens in the chronological sections is so very intense, God explains to John and to the Church why these judgments are so intense. Also in these explanations, the Church is reassured that God is going to keep them. These judgments are being poured out on the Antichrist and his kingdom and not on the Church. These intense judgments are what is required to establish the eternal Kingdom of God on the earth. It will be a hard time but it will usher in the glory of God and the reward of the Saints.
To understand this will be very significant for those who are going through the Tribulation. They will need to know why the judgments are being poured out and why they are so severe, and that the judgments are not for them. Further, they will need to know that God will take care of the Church and also the remnant of Israel that will be saved.
If you can begin to understand this outline then you can begin to understand the Book of the Revelation.
CONCLUSION
Hopefully you are beginning to understand the reality of God’s redemptive plan. Life does have meaning and eternal purpose. What we have taught you from the Gospel in the stars as well as in the 7 Feasts of God, and now in the Book of The Revelation, is the eternal story of God.
This story is about God’s kingdom that was manifested in the first coming of Jesus. As we said, the mission of Jesus was clear, “repent, for the kingdom of God is near.” And that mission of establishing God’s Kingdom will be completed when Jesus comes the second time. It’s His heart.
As we go deeper into The Book of The Revelation, the relevant question for each of us today is this: where are we in this eternal story. Of all that we learn from the Book of the Revelation, the one central truth is this: Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and on one comes to the Father except by Him. Our study in this amazing book is to draw our hearts closer to Him—the only One who is worthy and the only One who has the power to save us forever!
With that said, let’s take a look at the outline and structure of the Book of The Revelation.
A Simple Outline
INTRODUCTION:
This past Wednesday night, I taught another lesson on the Kingdom of God. In this lesson I taught that the Bible makes it clear that the Kingdom of God is now and not yet. I’ll use a couple of scriptural examples to illustrate this truth. First we read what Jesus said in Matthew 12:28, “But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.” Demons are driven out by the authority of God; therefore men are set free from Satan’s bondage by the rule and authority of God. This is the Kingdom of God now. But then we read in Revelation 11:15 that “the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud noises in heaven, which said: ‘the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our God and of his Christ, and He will reign forever and forever.’” This is the second coming of Jesus and so the kingdom of God is not yet or still yet to come in its’ fullness.
In the first coming of Jesus the Kingdom of God was seen in its’ power and authority over Satan, over nature, and over death! As a matter of fact, in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead with a new and glorified body, we have a tangible demonstration of His coming kingdom. In the resurrection of Jesus we see what is yet to come. It’s a taste and guarantee of what is to come for us.
And that brings me to my subject today. My goal in this message is to share with you a simple outline of the Book of The Revelation (I took this outline from the teaching of Mike Bickle at IHOP with a few minor changes. I believe its layout is the simplest and clearest way to understand the book; also see the commentaries on Revelation by Robert Thomas). I will expand on this outline in the future looking at each section more in depth and what I believe it means. But as I share the basics of this outline with you this morning, I believe that it is really important to understand that what is behind the events in the Revelation is Jesus removing anyone and anything that is standing in opposition to the establishment of God’s Kingdom on the earth. When Jesus came to earth the first time His message was the Kingdom of God. And the Kingdom of God was seen and manifested in Him. But as we all know, we have been living in the age or time when the Kingdom can either be received or rejected. That time will come to an end when Jesus comes the second time! At His Second Coming, He will release the 7 Seals, 7 Trumpets, and 7 Bowls of wrath. These judgments will decimate the Antichrist kingdom that Satan has set up in an attempt to keep God’s Kingdom from being established on the earth. However, Satan will be defeated, and God’s Kingdom will come with irresistible force!
I want to go to the Book of Daniel to get a prophetic picture of what this will look like.
Daniel 2:36-45 (King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream)
36 "This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. 37 You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; 38 in your hands he has placed mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.
39 "After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron — for iron breaks and smashes everything — and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. 41 Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. 42 As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.
44 "In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.
This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands — a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.
"The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy."
This is actually a fourth key in understanding the Book of the Revelation. Jesus is essentially establishing the Kingdom of God through the 21 judgments that are released. These are the chronological sections.
In the outline there are 5 chronological sections. And along with the five chronological sections, there are five angelic explanations. Because what happens in the chronological sections is so very intense, God explains to John and to the Church why these judgments are so intense. Also in these explanations, the Church is reassured that God is going to keep them. These judgments are being poured out on the Antichrist and his kingdom and not on the Church. These intense judgments are what is required to establish the eternal Kingdom of God on the earth. It will be a hard time but it will usher in the glory of God and the reward of the Saints.
To understand this will be very significant for those who are going through the Tribulation. They will need to know why the judgments are being poured out and why they are so severe, and that the judgments are not for them. Further, they will need to know that God will take care of the Church and also the remnant of Israel that will be saved.
If you can begin to understand this outline then you can begin to understand the Book of the Revelation.
CONCLUSION
Hopefully you are beginning to understand the reality of God’s redemptive plan. Life does have meaning and eternal purpose. What we have taught you from the Gospel in the stars as well as in the 7 Feasts of God, and now in the Book of The Revelation, is the eternal story of God.
This story is about God’s kingdom that was manifested in the first coming of Jesus. As we said, the mission of Jesus was clear, “repent, for the kingdom of God is near.” And that mission of establishing God’s Kingdom will be completed when Jesus comes the second time. It’s His heart.
As we go deeper into The Book of The Revelation, the relevant question for each of us today is this: where are we in this eternal story. Of all that we learn from the Book of the Revelation, the one central truth is this: Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and on one comes to the Father except by Him. Our study in this amazing book is to draw our hearts closer to Him—the only One who is worthy and the only One who has the power to save us forever!
With that said, let’s take a look at the outline and structure of the Book of The Revelation.
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