So I'm pretty sure I promised everyone a few little things I noticed about Revelation while I was reading it through... I did right? lol
So to start off, our pastor said he wanted us to read Revelation through three times without looking at anyone's commentary.. just reading it straight from the Bible. After each time we read it, we were told to write a paragraph about what we noticed the most etc... So I will type up my paragraphs and give them with their numbers beside them...
1. What struck me most reading through the first time, was God's anger toward sin. The passages where His anger are poured out are really intense. Also, the ultimate power of Christ as the Lamb. No one else "in heaven or in earth" could open the seals on the document God held. Mostly, the majesty of God and His heaven and His power and glory are what I noticed.
2. On my second time through, I noticed a lot of parallels (they will be listed after the paragraphs..) Mostly the usage of 1260 days (which is the same as 42 months). The symbolism also was a lot more noticeable. It is still difficult to figure out what is symbollic and what isn't, but it's getting easier.
3. I was reading through for the third time, and I realized that a lot of the imagery of like, Kings and such doesn't necessarily refer to actual kingdoms and kings. It's more a grouping of the enemies of God. The imagery is really strong. John wants us to see what he saw and to hear it like he did. The book is definitely organized. Some things that are going to occur at the same time are not all mentioned in the same passages, but you can look and compaare and put a lot together that isn't in the same passage. It really shows how great God's power is and how much He hates sin. It also shows His mercy. When the spirits are crying from under the altar, God says to wait, "until the number of their brethren who would be killed as they were was completed." So really, it's as if He were waiting for more people to accept Him (and be martyred for their faith) Also, when I read what's going to happen to His enemies, I really realize how awesomely merciful He was in saving me. Why me? Just because He wanted to. So it really shows both "sides" of God as it were.
Okay so there are my paragraphs. Now some parallels I noticed (which you can look up) are these:
The times in all these verse are all the same length...
Revelation 11:3, 11:2, 12:6, 13:5
And the number of people standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion is the same as the number of Jewish people sealed (Rev. 14:1 and I can't remember when they're sealed!)
Okay, so other than that, the only other thing I really noticed, was that the plagues when the angels pour out their bowls on the earth are seven of the plagues that plagued Egypt when Israel was going to leave. The only ones not given to the earth are the death of the firstborn, the lice, and the flies. Hail, Fire, Sores, Water to blood (a big amount and then wells and springs in both cases which counts as two separate acts), and then Frogs.. which I find interesting because no, there is not a direct plague of frogs in Revelation, the angel pours out his bowl and the river Euphrates is dried up and three unclean spirits (like frogs) come... so I thought that was really cool. I didn't write this note down yet, so I don't have the references, but if you have a Bible that gives you subjects, then you can find it pretty easily.
So that's all folks! :D Thought it was pretty cool, and it really is a good idea to read through the book a few times, you understand it better each time! :D
Love,
Ruth
