“REVELATION: WRITTEN FOR OUR DAY?” SERIES
#5: “The Progressive Parallelism of Revelation”
INTRO:
For whom was the book of Revelation intended? In other words, to whom was it
written? Let’s look at the beginning verses of the book:
1The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his
servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his
angel to his servant John, 2who bore witness to the word of God and to the
testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3Blessed is the one who reads
aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep
what is written in it, for the time is near.
Fill in the blank: “. . . show to his servants the thing that must ______ take
place. . . Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy and
blessed are ________________. . . for the time is ______.”
So, this writing is for the reading and heeding of any who will hear, from
those who read it the moment John laid down his pen to any who will read and
hear it today.
In other words, John is writing about the era of the church, the dispensation we
call “The Church Age.” There are three eras or ages when God dispensed His will:
Patriarchal, Mosaical, and Christian or Church Age. Needless to say, we are in the
Church Age.
A number that appears time after time in the Revelation is the number seven:
• The seven lampstands;
• The seven churches;
• The seven seals of the scroll;
• The seven trumpets;
• The seven angels; and
• The seven bowls of wrath.
Most Bible scholars agree that the biblical number seven symbolizes
completeness. So, we take the sevens of completeness to mean the complete age of
the church, from its beginning on the day of Pentecost in A.D. 30 until Christ comes for
it sometime yet in the future.