A lot of people thought that Jesus was going to come back very soon after he went to heaven. They didn’t have any idea that he would wait 100 (or 2000!) years. Remember, Jesus told them to be ready at any time. But with the apostles dying, the writing of the New Testament was coming to a close. Thus the Lord gave John a vision which would help to strengthen the church in the days of persecution ahead. The main point is that in the end, Jesus wins! But this book shows us just how God is in control of all of the details. He knows exactly how he is going to judge the earth. Most of the events in the book (chs. 6-19) take place during a seven-year period known as the tribulation. At the end of this, Jesus comes back down to earth (ch. 19) and establishes his kingdom for a thousand years (ch. 20). When this is over, a new heaven and a new earth is made, where the Father and Jesus live forever with their people (chs. 21-22). Though this book has some “blood and guts,” it is a very encouraging story that should give us hope. No matter how bad things get, God has it all under control. We can pray just like John does at the end, “Come, Lord Jesus”!
Note: The entire Bible Reading Guide is available for download as a pdf file or as a Word document. To refresh your memory on its purpose, see the first post. I recommend some other resources for reading the Bible here.
Thanks again for sharing these summaries with all of us!