Revelation

The Apocalypse of John.

Introduction:

This book is notoriously difficult to interpret because it is in the ancient genre of Apocalyptic writing, which we are unfamiliar with in our culture.

Some people just stay away.

Others dive in and get a little too enthusiastic.

For 2000 years, Christians have claimed this book means the world will end very soon. Yet here we still are.

Other Christians claim everything prophesied in this book was fulfilled in the first century of the church.

These things are written as as code, full of strange symbols, so it is easy to come away with many different interpretations -- more so than any other biblical book.

Before descending into the endless debates about what all the mysterious images mean, we will focus on the clearest teachings.