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Lesson OneWhat Kind of Book Is Revelation?3 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson TwoWhy Was Revelation Written?3 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson ThreeRevelation Is Too Hard to Understand!3 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson FourIsn’t Revelation a Depressing Book About Doom and Gloom?3 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson FiveHow Should We Apply Revelation Today?3 Activities1 Assessment
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Course Wrap-UpCourse Completion1 Activity1 Assessment
Participants 264
Discussion Questions
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Why is it so important to understand what type of book Revelation is? How has what you’ve learned in this lecture changed your understanding of the book of Revelation?
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My understanding of the Revelation at this early stage is not really changed, but perhaps better informed. Over the years I have not spent much time trying to really understand, beyond just the reading of it so to know what the contents are. In my experience as a believer not so many churchgoers have even that. I look forward to the learning though, through this great series by Dr. Mathewson.
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Because there is a great deal of symbolic and metaphorical language in the Revelation which can be easily misinterpreted we need to understand the context in which it was written and the purpose of the author’s intent in writing as he did to the seven churches, and how the readers would have understood the contents and its application for them.
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That is not just a doomsday prophecy (which is forthtelling as well) but also an apocalyspe and letter.
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It is important to understand the book of Revelation to understand what the author was trying to get across to the people back then, and to us now.
I now understand that the book of revelation is about future events and a letter to the early church.
I also understand now that John’s letter was not all literal but symbolic as well. and know these things helps me better understand what I am reading. -
Given that the Book of Revelation is a letter to God’s people, it is meant to be understood by His people. Understanding the historical context helps me to understand that the symbolism had meaning, even for the first-century readers.
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Why is Revelation’s first-century historical context important to understanding the book? How has your understanding of Revelation changed after learning more about its historical context?
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You must know the history in order to understand and interpret the Book. My understanding has changed because I focus more on the whole picture and not so much on the details. It was written to the first century Christians during the Roman empire. So the language and imagery reflect that time period.
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Revelation’s first-century historical context is important to understanding the book because this is an important principle when interpreting Revelation that any interpretation of Revelation John could not have intended, and his first-century readers couldn’t have understood, is probably in correct.
I learned to read Revelation from their historical context. What the author trying to address to his readers and his purpose given to their needs.
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The seven churches of Asia Minor accepted Revelation as a letter, a prophecy, and apocalyptic. Accepting that understanding means that John would have been writing to them about current times (oppression by the Roman Empire), a time somewhat different than our current times….or is it really that different? John’s warnings of the evil of the current ruling organization still holds today in much of the world, but the people of the first-century churches may not of understood why they were persecuted by the Romans. Perhaps they thought they had been abandoned by God.
Since reading the novel series “Left Behind”, I have been more prone to seeing only the prophetic side of the Book of Revelation – looking for signs to watch for in the future or to match current world situations to the symbolic descriptions John used in writing the book. I hadn’t given much thought to historical context before, but obviously John was writing to the current world situation and was addressing the seven churches. -
Most tend to read Revelation as only prophecy. But John wrote the book of Revelation so that the 1st century readers could understand what was happening around them by using symbols and images. This not helped them to understand their present day circumstances, but also us in our day and what will be the future our heavenly world.
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The first century historical context is important to understanding the book because it was written to the first century Christians to help them deal with problems they were
encountering in their daily lives. I forget that Revelation was primarily written to the first century Christians and I try to apply it to modern day happenings.