Revelation Verse by Verse

R. Osborne Grant

Description

Revelation is like no other book in the New Testament. Its bizarre images need explaining even for seasoned Bible readers, but when we turn to biblical scholars we find that they don''t all agree.

In Revelation Verse by Verse, Grant R. Osborne offers a clear exposition of the book that takes seriously both its first-century context and what it means today. Where he disagrees with other interpretations of particular images, he briefly mentions them but remains focused on the text throughout. Rather than being a book that stirs up fear, Revelation is instead a hopeful and even devotional book, focused on the certainty of God''s bringing his plans to completion, the futility of Satan and his plans, and the glory of the Lamb.

Revelation Verse by Verse is the first volume in the Osborne New Testament Commentaries, a new series from noted Bible scholar Grant R. Osborne directed toward pastors and committed laypeople.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• New Testament
• Christianity

Informations

• Publié par: Lexham Press
• Date de parution: 01 janvier 0001
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781577997351
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

REVELATION
Verse by Verse
GRANT R. OSBORNE
Revelation: Verse by Verse
Osborne New Testament Commentaries
Copyright 2016 Grant R. Osborne
Lexham Press, 1313 Commercial St., Bellingham, WA 98225
LexhamPress.com
You may use brief quotations from this resource in presentations, articles, and books. For all other uses, please write Lexham Press for permission. Email us at [e-mail] .
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations from the book of Revelation are the author’s own translation.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations outside of the book of Revelation are from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ® . Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Print ISBN 9781577997344
Digital ISBN 9781577997351
Lexham Editorial Team: Elliot Ritzema, Lynnea Smoyer
Cover Design: Christine Gerhart
Back Cover Design: Brittany Schrock

CONTENTS
Series Preface
Introduction to Revelation
1:1–11
The Work of the Triune Godhead
1:12–20
The Glory and Power of Christ
2:1–7, 12–29
Letters to the Seven Churches, Part 1
2:8–11; 3:7–13
Letters to the Seven Churches, Part 2
3:1–6, 14–22
Letters to the Seven Churches, Part 3
4:1–11
The Throne Room Vision, Part 1
5:1–14
The Throne Room Vision, Part 2
6:1–17
The First Six Seals
7:1–17
The Saints on Earth and in Heaven
8:1–12
The Seventh Seal and the First Four Trumpets
8:13–9:21
The Fifth and Sixth Trumpet Judgments
10:1–11
The Little Scroll and John’s Commissioning Service
11:1–19
The Altar, Witnesses, and Seventh Trumpet
12:1–17
The Dragon and the People of God in Conflict
12:18–13:18
The Beasts from the Sea and the Land
14:1–20
The Destinies of Saints and Sinners Contrasted
15:1–8
Angels with the Final Plagues
16:1–21
The Seven Last Bowl Judgments
17:1–18
The Great Prostitute on the Scarlet Beast
18:1–24
The Fall of Babylon the Great
19:1–21
The End of the Evil Empire at the Parousia
20:1–15
The Thousand-Year Reign and Final Judgment
21:1–27
A New Heaven and a New Earth
22:1–5
The Final Eden Returns to the Faithful
22:6–21
Epilogue to the Book
Subject and Author Index
Index of Scripture and Other Ancient Literature
SERIES PREFACE
T here are two authors of every biblical book: the human author who penned the words, and the divine Author who revealed and inspired every word. While God did not dictate the words to the biblical writers, he did guide their minds so that they wrote their own words under the influence of the Holy Spirit. If Christians really believed what they said when they called the Bible “the word of God,” a lot more would be engaged in serious Bible study. As divine revelation, the Bible deserves, indeed demands, to be studied deeply.
This means that when we study the Bible, we should not be satisfied with a cursory reading in which we insert our own meanings into the text. Instead, we must always ask what God intended to say in every passage. But Bible study should not be a tedious duty we have to perform. It is a sacred privilege and a joy. The deep meaning of any text is a buried treasure; all the riches are waiting under the surface. If we learned there was gold deep under our backyard, nothing would stop us from getting the tools we needed to dig it out. Similarly, in serious Bible study all the treasures and riches of God are waiting to be dug up for our benefit.
This series of commentaries on the New Testament is intended to supply these tools and help the Christian understand more deeply the God-intended meaning of the Bible. Each volume walks the reader verse-by-verse through a book with the goal of opening up for us what God led Matthew or Paul or John to say to their readers. My goal in this series is to make sense of the historical and literary background of these ancient works, to supply the information that will enable the modern reader to understand exactly what the biblical writers were saying to their first-century audience. I want to remove the complexity of most modern commentaries and provide an easy-to-read explanation of the text.
But it is not enough to know what the books of the New Testament meant back then; we need help in determining how each text applies to our lives today. It is one thing to see what Paul was saying his readers in Rome or Philippi, and quite another thing to see the significance of his words for us. So at key points in the commentary, I will attempt to help the reader discover areas in our modern lives that the text is addressing.
I envision three main uses for this series:
1. Devotional Scripture reading. Many Christians read rapidly through the Bible for devotions in a one-year program. That is extremely helpful to gain a broad overview of the Bible’s story. But I strongly encourage another kind of devotional reading—namely, to study deeply a single segment of the biblical text and try to understand it. These commentaries are designed to enable that. The commentary is based on the NIV and explains the meaning of the verses, enabling the modern reader to read a few pages at a time and pray over the message.
2. Church Bible studies. I have written these commentaries also to serve as guides for group Bible studies. Many Bible studies today consist of people coming together and sharing what they think the text is saying. There are strengths in such an approach, but also weaknesses. The problem is that God inspired these scriptural passages so that the church would understand and obey what he intended the text to say . Without some guidance into the meaning of the text, we are prone to commit heresy. At the very least, the leaders of the Bible study need to have a commentary so they can guide the discussion in the direction God intended. In my own church Bible studies, I have often had the class read a simple exposition of the text so they can all discuss the God-given message, and that is what I hope to provide here.
3. Sermon aids. These commentaries are also intended to help pastors faithfully exposit the text in a sermon. Busy pastors often have too little time to study complex thousand-page commentaries on biblical passages. As a result, it is easy to spend little time in Bible study and thereby to have a shallow sermon on Sunday. As I write this series, I am drawing on my own experience as a pastor and interim pastor, asking myself what I would want to include in a sermon.
Overall, my goal in these commentaries is simple: I would like them to be interesting and exciting adventures into New Testament texts. My hope is that readers will discover the riches of God that lay behind every passage in his divine word. I hope every reader will fall in love with God’s word as I have and begin a similar lifelong fascination with these eternal truths!
INTRODUCTION TO REVELATION
P eople are both fascinated and confused by the book of Revelation. The widely divergent ways the book is interpreted in different churches cause many people to be afraid of tackling the work. You can attend one church and hear that every symbol is meant literally, the temple is going to be rebuilt, and Christ will return before the tribulation period. Then you can attend another church three blocks away and hear that every detail is symbolic and that there will be no tribulation period or millennial reign of Christ. You end up so confused that you’re afraid to study the book. I want to clear up all the confusion and bring out the exciting message the book has to offer. By the end of this commentary, I hope you will find Revelation both mesmerizing and spiritually stimulating, feeling that it is a must read for every Christian.
Revelation is a fascinating part of the Bible to preach and teach, and it is highly devotional. Its timeless message is that the future of this world is not uncertain, and for the believer there is no doomsday. We can know that Christ will return and put an end to evil. We can know that we will indeed be caught up to heaven, join Christ’s army, and celebrate the greatest victory this world will ever know over the powers of evil. Through this book we are guaranteed an eternity with Christ in the new heavens and new earth. Our future and our eternity are secure.

WHAT KIND OF BOOK IS REVELATION?
You may have heard that Revelation is “apocalyptic” literature, which comes from apokalypsis , the Greek title for the book. But what does it mean? Apocalyptic designates both a type of literature and a mindset. As a type of literature, it describes a book that presents the revealing of hidden secrets by heavenly beings who communicate through a seer to God’s people. Esoteric symbols are at the heart of apocalyptic writings, for they both hide and reveal the truths the work intends to convey. Numerous Jewish writings—such as 4 Ezra, 1 Enoch, the Sibylline Oracles, and the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs —were written in this genre between 200 BC and AD 100 . All of them are built on similar material found in Old Testament books like Isaiah (chs. 24–27 ), Ezekiel (chs. 1–2 , 37–39 ), Zechariah, and Daniel. The primary intent of such books is to contrast the transcendent nature of God’s realm with the temporary, illusory realm of this world. In an apocalyptic work, a reversal takes place: the heavenly mysteries become true reality; and the earthly powers arrayed against the saints become the illusion, because they are soon to be destroyed. Revelation, as a distinctly Christian example of this genre, challenges Christ followers to persevere in light of the promise that God will soon intervene and transform this world for the faithful.
The apocalyptic mindset centers on God’s sovereignty. God controls the past, present, and future; he is “the one who is, who was, and who is to come” (Rev 1:4, 8; 4:8; 11:17; 16:5). This is the reason his suffering followers can endure present opposition and suffering: They know that God is sure