Four Ways Revelation Gets Misread — and a Better Way In

In this chapter

In this chapter, you’ll:

Key takeaways

• Revelation was written to bless its readers, not to confuse or frighten them.
• Its first readers had a first meaning; reading with them in mind guards us from reading ourselves into every image.
• Revelation was meant to be read out loud, not sealed up — most of its pictures come from earlier Scripture.
• Fear isn’t the mistake. Letting fear decide what the book is about is.
• Keep Jesus at the center. If you lose sight of him, you’ve lost the book.

Reflect & discuss

• Read Revelation 22:10 and Daniel 12:4 side by side. What’s the difference in the instruction, and why might it matter for how we read Revelation?
• Revelation 17:9 explains its own image. What does the seven-hills picture gain when you read it as John’s first readers would have — and what does it lose if you don’t?
• Which of the four habits have you picked up, from teachers, from culture, or on your own? Where did it lead?
• If Revelation is a book for disciples, what might God want it to change in how you live now, not only what you believe about the future?
• (Personal; feel free to pass.) Is there a part of Revelation you’ve been afraid of? What would it mean to read that part looking for Jesus?

The last question is personal — no one should be required to answer it.