The Battle of Armageddon
Read: Revelation 16:12-21 Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake. (v. 15) Mt. Vesuvius erupted in AD 79 burying three cities 60 feet deep. By AD 1350 the bubonic plague killed half of Europe. Every year we see the terrible results of natural disasters like floods, drought, and wildfires. […]
Seven Golden Bowls of Wrath
Read: Revelation 15:1-16:11 Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! (v. 3) The Revelation story begins again. Now John sees the redeemed singing the song of Moses and the Lamb: “All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts […]
The King Swings His Sickle
Read: Revelation 14 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. (1 Thess. 4:16) Today’s reading contrasts to the beasts and their followers in chapter 13. John […]
Two Evil Monsters
Read: Revelation 13 This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people. (v. 10 NIV) John sees a beast—multiple heads, horns, crowns and a huge mouth that blasphemes God. It resembles the dragon who controls and empowers it. Satan maximizes his power through collective entities, like governments and political movements. In Daniel […]
What Does Jesus Say about the End Times?
Reading the book of Revelation can help us understand God’s message of salvation, but it can leave believers with a lot of questions about the end times, when Jesus will return. This is part three of a three-part series to help you understand the end times. This week, we look at what Jesus says about […]
The Red Dragon Makes War
Read: Revelation 12:7-17 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8) The glorious woman is carried to safety, so Satan makes war on the rest of her offspring—believers “who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus” (v. 17). […]
A Glorious Woman and a Dragon
Read: Revelation 12:1-12 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. (Gen. 3:15) Revelation 12 tells the story again, allowing us to peek behind the scenes of this cosmic drama. A regal woman in the sky […]
The Last Battle and a Grand Surprise
Read: Revelation 11:7-19 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. (v. 12) After the church completes her mission, the world will be polarized into two opposing forces. A “beast” arises from the abyss—a satanic world […]
Two Lampstands, Two Olive Trees
Read: Revelation 10:1-11:6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts. (Zech. 4:6) A great angel appears and roars out, “There will be no more delay!” (10:6 NIV). God is accomplishing his purposes. The […]