Revelation Bible Study, Day 40 Today’s passage: Revelation 22:17–21 Focus verse: He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” (Revelation 22:20) After Jesus finishes his last teaching, the Holy Spirit weighs in as well. But it’s not just him. It’s also the bride (not the bridegroom). This means you and me, all whose […]
Revelation Bible Study, Day 36 Today’s passage: Revelation 21:9–27 Focus verse: “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” (Revelation 21:9) An angel—one of the angels who carried a bowl filled with one of the seven plagues—invites John to come with him. The messenger has something exciting to share. The angel whisks […]
Revelation Bible Study, Day 35 Today’s passage: Revelation 21:1–8 Focus verse: Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. (Revelation 21:1) We receive John’s vision of a new heaven and a new earth with much excitement. The original version, courtesy of God’s creative work […]
Revelation Bible Study, Day 25 Today’s passage: Revelation 13 Focus verse: Whoever has ears, let them hear. (Revelation 13:9) After the expulsion of the dragon (that is, Satan, the devil) from heaven, he comes to earth and waits at the seashore. A beast emerges and the dragon gives him power. The beast blasphemes God, slandering God’s name, […]
In the post “What is the Second Death?” we saw that the people whose names are listed in the book of life will escape the second death. That raises the question, what is the book of life? The phrase the book of Life is found once in the Old Testament and seven times in the […]
Revelation Bible Study, Day 8 Today’s passage: Revelation 3:1–6 Focus verse: “I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.” (Revelation 3:1) As with the churches in Smyrna and Pergamum, Scripture provides no additional information about the church in Sardis other than what occurs in the book of Revelation. […]
Is Your Name on the List? Chapter 2 in the book of Ezra overflows with names. We often skim it or may face the temptation to skip it altogether. Buried among this dizzying array of names is a sidenote that’s easy to miss, but it carries an important lesson. Many of the Israelite exiles prepare […]
Discover What the Bible Says about the End of Time Some Christians give a lot of attention to the end times. Others choose to ignore it. Interestingly, the phrase end times doesn’t appear in the Bible, at least not in the NIV. Though four subheadings, added later, do carry this phrase. The End Times These […]
The curious phrase the “second death” only occurs in John’s prophetic vision as recorded in the book of Revelation, with just four verses that mention it. But what is the second death? None of these, however, explains what the second death is. What we can learn is that it’s something that can occur after physical […]
John’s Epic Vision The book of Revelation is a curious one; there is none other like it in the Bible. It is perhaps the most scrutinized and misunderstood section. While I will not make any attempt to explain it, I will offer some context as a guide: We can consider Revelation in three sections: Introduction: […]