Episode 28
Revelation — Read the NT in 90 Days
Have you ever wondered why the book of Revelation is so often misunderstood or shrouded in confusion? In this thought-provoking episode of Seek Go Create, host Tim Winders uncovers the real story behind Revelation by exploring its original context, intended audience, and the fascinating link to first-century events. Dive in as we break through the mystery, challenge popular interpretations, and discover how this final book of the New Testament offers hope rather than fear. Whether you’re a long-time Bible reader or just curious about one of the most debated scriptures, this episode will spark new understanding and insight.
“Revelation isn’t a horror story—it puts an exclamation point on the biblical narrative.” - Tim Winders
Access all show and episode resources HERE
Episode Resources:
- NT90 Hub – This is the central website for the 90-day New Testament reading plan, with downloadable, printable plans, background information, and links to all episodes and resources.
Episode Highlights:
00:00 Why Revelation Misread
00:21 Series Setup And Resources
01:28 Personal Journey Into Revelation
03:28 Key Facts Author Date Audience
06:21 What Revelation Means
07:55 Persecution And Patmos
10:31 What You Will Encounter
12:40 Read It In Context
14:53 Two Ways To Read
18:48 Not A Linear Timeline
20:11 Three Kingdoms In Conflict
21:42 Harlot And Bride Theme
24:56 Wrap Up And Next Episode
26:38 Immersive First Century Scene
28:00 Final Invitation To Read
Transcript
This is the most misunderstood book in the Bible.
Speaker:Not because it's complicated, but because it's been ripped from its context.
Speaker:When you arrive here after reading the New Testament and order,
Speaker:revelation finally makes sense.
Speaker:This is Seek Go Create.
Speaker:You are listening to read the New Testament in 90 days, 27
Speaker:books in order in context.
Speaker:We're walking through the New Testament, the way it was written,
Speaker:so you can hear it the way.
Speaker:The first churches did make sure if, especially if you've been following along
Speaker:all this time, go to our hub K2 Foundation slash NT 90 and get all the resources
Speaker:there, all the links, and also if for some reason you click on this episode first.
Speaker:Please make sure you go back and try to build up to where we're at and get the
Speaker:information for all the other episodes.
Speaker:I know that with a topic like Revelation, there's some people
Speaker:that might click on this one first.
Speaker:That's fine, but please go back and get all the other
Speaker:information in the background.
Speaker:It builds up to where we're at now.
Speaker:K two M Foundation slash NT 90 today.
Speaker:Stop.
Speaker:Is Revelation, the unveiling of Jesus Christ, the final
Speaker:book of the New Testament.
Speaker:And I gotta tell you before we dive in here and get into the
Speaker:context, what was going on?
Speaker:All of those things I gotta tell you.
Speaker:That for all of my life in studying and reading the Bible up until
Speaker:about the last five years, I did all that I could to avoid this book.
Speaker:It was controversial.
Speaker:It seemed confusing.
Speaker:I heard so many air quotes for those listening experts say they knew exactly
Speaker:what it meant and predicting this and timelines and all these things.
Speaker:I avoided it.
Speaker:A handful of years ago, I finally started venturing into
Speaker:Revelation and I had read it.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:It's not as if I totally avoid it, but I read it and went,
Speaker:wow, what is going on here?
Speaker:And so I spent some time and what really helped me over the last few
Speaker:years was doing what we have just done with the New Testament, and that was,
Speaker:and it was reading it as best we could.
Speaker:In context, understanding the audience, understanding the
Speaker:history and what was going on.
Speaker:I don't wanna say that it immediately unlocked and I, you know, saw the vision
Speaker:and knew exactly what was going on.
Speaker:But time after time, after I read it over the last few years, It made more sense.
Speaker:And so some of you that are just now coming to this place in our
Speaker:New Testament reading plan, I'm excited for you because this.
Speaker:Could be when you finally begin connecting the dots and understanding
Speaker:what this book is all about.
Speaker:It is great.
Speaker:It is awesome.
Speaker:It's hopeful.
Speaker:It's not a horror story and it's something that really puts an
Speaker:exclamation point on the biblical story and the narrative, especially.
Speaker:In the New Testament.
Speaker:So let's cover a few things here.
Speaker:Key facts.
Speaker:First of all, the author is John.
Speaker:We know it's John the Apostle.
Speaker:We've just finished reading some of John's work, and John is actually
Speaker:in exile at the time of writing.
Speaker:Now let's get into a little bit of controversy right here.
Speaker:The date that we show it written after doing research and studying the, the
Speaker:text and everything else is AD 68 68.
Speaker:Now, I could slide it up based on some research we've done to about 65.
Speaker:I don't know that I could go earlier than that based on
Speaker:some things we know about it.
Speaker:And some of you may be aware that revelation by some scholars is placed
Speaker:written in the mid nineties under de.
Speaker:But listen, there's so many things that pile up here that make.
Speaker:The evidence really point to a mid to late sixties writing the time is near
Speaker:the temple imagery was still there.
Speaker:6, 6, 6 points to Nero and suggest an earlier date all the way around that
Speaker:earlier date makes the most sense.
Speaker:But either way, and we can show this in this episode and in the next,
Speaker:either way, the events described.
Speaker:Whether it's before or after are going to fit the late sixties and what's
Speaker:about to happen in 80 70 with Jerusalem and the temple being destroyed.
Speaker:So our date.
Speaker:Maybe a little controversial for some is the late sixties, so 80,
Speaker:68 is what we're putting on this.
Speaker:The audience, very specific.
Speaker:It's the seven churches of Asia Minor, Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum,
Speaker:thi Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laia.
Speaker:They're not random cong congregations, and they're really not some secret code
Speaker:for some future interpretation about different ages or anything like that.
Speaker:These are real churches with real people that received this information.
Speaker:Paul likely planted several of them on his missionary journeys.
Speaker:John has been with these churches for years.
Speaker:His gospel and letters were written to this same network.
Speaker:When you read Revelation after John's other writings, which we have just done,
Speaker:if you're in our reading plan, reading them in order in context, you're hearing
Speaker:a pastor write to people that he knows.
Speaker:And loves.
Speaker:Okay, here's the setting.
Speaker:We're 38 years past the resurrection.
Speaker:John has been exiled to Patmos.
Speaker:Peter and Paul are dead Jerusalem.
Speaker:We know this historically is about to fall.
Speaker:Now let's talk about.
Speaker:The word revelation and I, I sort of am humorous.
Speaker:Before I clicked record on this, I was sort of joking with glory.
Speaker:I said, I'm about to go record the episode for Revelation, or is it
Speaker:Revelations or is it Revelation apostrophe s because many people get it wrong.
Speaker:Well, I've got my new King James open right here, and it says the revelation.
Speaker:Of Jesus Christ.
Speaker:That's the way it is.
Speaker:And that word is apocalypses and it means the revealing or the unveiling.
Speaker:Many assume revelation is about some kind of end of the world apocalypse type thing
Speaker:and everything's gonna be destroyed.
Speaker:No, it's a revealing, and it is about an end, but not.
Speaker:Of the world.
Speaker:It's the end of the age that we've been reading about and it's been building up
Speaker:throughout the New Testament that we've been reading in context and in order.
Speaker:It's the end of the old.
Speaker:Testament age, and the title really isn't about endings at all.
Speaker:It's about a beginning.
Speaker:It's an unveiling.
Speaker:It's the revealing of Jesus Christ.
Speaker:The risen groom ready for his bride the first, first tells you exactly what it is.
Speaker:The revelation of Jesus Christ.
Speaker:So now that we got that out of the way, we understand the name and what it means,
Speaker:let's look at some historical context.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:At this time in Rome, Neros.
Speaker:Persecution is at a fever pitch.
Speaker:Believers have been burned as torches in the last few years.
Speaker:Obviously Peter and Paul, Paul's been beheaded.
Speaker:Peter was, was hung, excuse me, he was, crucified.
Speaker:Niro himself, this is kind of an interesting thing to, to note.
Speaker:He'll be dead within months.
Speaker:He dies by suicide.
Speaker:We know this on June 9th of the year, 68 in Jerusalem.
Speaker:There is much going on, in and around that area.
Speaker:A revolt has begun.
Speaker:Ians legions are marching.
Speaker:Temple will fall within two years.
Speaker:Vespasian began the Judean campaign in 80, 67, and then the temple, as we've
Speaker:said, will fall in August of 80 70.
Speaker:what was going on in the church?
Speaker:John is actually the last of what we would call the inner circle.
Speaker:He's been exiled on Patmos, which is a rock, a small island in the a Gian C.
Speaker:We already said Peter and Paul are dead.
Speaker:Why Patmos?
Speaker:Let's address that.
Speaker:It's right at the beginning.
Speaker:We don't know exactly how John ended up there.
Speaker:We could speculate, but it would be surprising if he hadn't been impacted by
Speaker:all the persecution that was going on.
Speaker:I mean, he was still considered one of the leaders.
Speaker:And if he hadn't been imprisoned or something had happened to him, it actually
Speaker:would've been more shocking than not.
Speaker:So Niro's persecution had already claimed Peter and Paul.
Speaker:Like we said, John was the last living.
Speaker:He was leading the churches in Asia Minor.
Speaker:He would've been a visible target.
Speaker:It doesn't appear that Rome executed him.
Speaker:Obviously they exiled him to a barren island.
Speaker:Hopeful to be forgotten.
Speaker:Alright, let's look at the tension that's going on here.
Speaker:And there is quite a bit of tension that builds the apostolic generation is nearly.
Speaker:The empire looks invincible.
Speaker:Jesus said 38 plus years ago, this generation will not pass away, and
Speaker:that generation is almost over.
Speaker:Typically the biblical generation is right at 40 years, so that.
Speaker:It is all coming to a head here with this message, with this letter.
Speaker:Alright, there's a lot to encounter.
Speaker:I'm not gonna try to explain everything that goes on.
Speaker:What I highly recommend you do is if you're following along with this reading
Speaker:plan on Facebook or YouTube, go to.
Speaker:Personal Facebook page and I will daily be adding in just some comments and thoughts,
Speaker:about the scripture for that day.
Speaker:And I actually post a similar thing over on the posts on our
Speaker:YouTube channel at Seek Go Create.
Speaker:So go over there.
Speaker:Read along, jump in and comment, argue back and forth.
Speaker:That's fine, but there's just a lot that goes on here.
Speaker:This is some of the things you'll encounter within
Speaker:the, the Book of Revelation.
Speaker:The judgment is real, but you're reading history, not a future horror story.
Speaker:Keep that in mind.
Speaker:What had to end?
Speaker:Ended and what had to begin began.
Speaker:Jesus is among the lampstands.
Speaker:We hear that early on.
Speaker:Letters to seven real churches, warnings and promises.
Speaker:The lamb.
Speaker:Is on the throne standing as though slain but worthy to open the scroll.
Speaker:Now, the seals, the trumpets, the bowls, it can get kind of confusing,
Speaker:but that is basically judgment that is unfolding and it's the old order,
Speaker:the old covenant passing away, you'll hear about Babylon falling.
Speaker:The powers that rejected Christ are being.
Speaker:Removed, we'll hear about a new creation.
Speaker:That's the buildup it's building to, the end of the new creation, the holy city.
Speaker:Descending and behold, I make all things new.
Speaker:And again, there's a lot more detail there.
Speaker:Make sure you're following along.
Speaker:Jump over on again, Facebook or over on YouTube and, and track
Speaker:along with some of the daily things that we'll be commenting on there.
Speaker:Now this.
Speaker:To me is so important, and that is reading revelation in the proper context.
Speaker:This is where I got it wrong every time I tried to jump in and read it
Speaker:because I was reading it from the wrong frame of mind, the wrong context.
Speaker:So we're gonna spend a little bit of time here, and I know this episode is a little
Speaker:bit long, but it's very, very important.
Speaker:Here's what you need to know, revelation.
Speaker:Is a wake up call to the seven real churches about events that were
Speaker:about to happen in their lifetime.
Speaker:Not a fear letter.
Speaker:It was more of a dispatch the day of the Lord is near, and this is your moment
Speaker:to get your house in order before.
Speaker:These events unfold.
Speaker:John writes in code.
Speaker:You've got to remember this.
Speaker:This is what's so tough for us Old Testament imagery that Jewish
Speaker:readers would recognize instantly, but Rome wouldn't understand.
Speaker:Scholars count over 500 Old Testament illusions or symbols in
Speaker:Revelations 400 ish verses more.
Speaker:Perverse than any other New Testament book.
Speaker:That makes it tough for us because we may not be steeped
Speaker:and educated in all of those Old Testament symbolisms and illusions.
Speaker:So makes it even tougher for us.
Speaker:If you didn't have that background, someone in your congregation in those
Speaker:churches could most likely explain it, and then what they saw was.
Speaker:Those events actually happened.
Speaker:Most of what confuses modern readers didn't confuse the original audience.
Speaker:They recognize the symbols.
Speaker:We're actually, now, this is the tough part for us.
Speaker:We're just reading someone else's mail and it's confusing because often
Speaker:we don't understand the context.
Speaker:That's why we've been reading the New Testament in context and in order so
Speaker:that we can understand specifically this book, this revelation even more.
Speaker:There's really two ways I believe that you can read this book.
Speaker:The first, and this is the way I did it for many years, and it's
Speaker:why it was so confusing to me.
Speaker:The first way to read Revelation is to treat it as a puzzle about the future.
Speaker:People have done this for centuries in the 15 hundreds, the 18 hundreds, the
Speaker:1970s, and today they read the headlines.
Speaker:They listen to experts and prophecy teachers and so-called experts, and they
Speaker:try to match up events and timelines with things like the Antichrist, the Beast,
Speaker:the Mark 6, 6, 6, the Great Tribulation.
Speaker:It feels like it should make sense, and some of those experts sound so good.
Speaker:But if you're intellectually honest, it doesn't, the timeline
Speaker:shift things never come true.
Speaker:The predictions fail and the book stays confusing.
Speaker:So that's one way you can read it.
Speaker:Always looking to the future and it's predicting something.
Speaker:Or you can do what we've done.
Speaker:You could read the entire New Testament in order.
Speaker:In context and watch it build toward an event, and then read Revelation
Speaker:as the vivid symbolic description of something that already happened.
Speaker:It's written in the language of the Old Testament prophets.
Speaker:If you do that, it will finally.
Speaker:Make sense.
Speaker:And I just wanna remind you in the next episode, kind of our conclusion, the
Speaker:end of the age, we're gonna walk through the actual historical events that match
Speaker:up with what you're about to read in Revelation, they match up perfectly
Speaker:and it just begins to get clearer.
Speaker:And again, as someone who's been immersed in this for close to five years.
Speaker:It is starting to be such a hopeful and encouraging thing
Speaker:to read, not a horror story.
Speaker:One thing to keep in mind, these are churches that John knows.
Speaker:Again, like we said earlier, Paul likely planted several of them.
Speaker:John has pastored them for years.
Speaker:His gospel and letters were written to this same network.
Speaker:When he writes, I know Your works, he means it.
Speaker:This isn't a blistering attack on strangers.
Speaker:It's a shepherd preparing his flock.
Speaker:Now this is something important and if you've been reading
Speaker:in context, you know this,
Speaker:The warnings that we read about in Revelation didn't start with John.
Speaker:They started centuries earlier, and really, they're part of
Speaker:the entire story of the Bible.
Speaker:Moses warned Israel, he said, break the covenant.
Speaker:Specific curses will come.
Speaker:Siege, famine, and the sanctuary destroyed.
Speaker:That was in Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26.
Speaker:The prophets, of course, they repeated the warnings using cosmic language.
Speaker:Sun darkened, stars, falling mountain shaking.
Speaker:John is quoting their vocabulary.
Speaker:Jesus of course specified exactly what would happen on the Mount of
Speaker:Olives that we saw in Matthew 24, and he said, this generation will not
Speaker:pass away until these things occur.
Speaker:The Apostles echoed the urgency.
Speaker:The Lord is at hand from Paul.
Speaker:The end of all things is at hand.
Speaker:Peter said that it is the last hour.
Speaker:John, this isn't one book's obsession.
Speaker:At least 20 of the 27 New Testament books point to the same event.
Speaker:The day of the Lord, the end of the age, the coming judgment,
Speaker:the entire New Testament builds toward what you're about to read.
Speaker:And they weren't wrong.
Speaker:They weren't confused.
Speaker:They were preparing their readers for what was about to happen.
Speaker:So how do you read a book like this?
Speaker:Don't read it like a timeline.
Speaker:Revelation isn't a linear sequence of events.
Speaker:Many scholars see it as the same vision told from multiple vantage points
Speaker:each cycle, seals, trumpets, bowls, covering similar ground with increasing
Speaker:intensity or from different viewpoints.
Speaker:First century readers familiar.
Speaker:With Hebrew prophecy would've recognized the pattern, read it sort
Speaker:of as waves, maybe not as a checklist.
Speaker:In order John's imagery maps to what Jesus said, wars and famines.
Speaker:The red horse and the black horse persecution, martyrs
Speaker:under the altar crying.
Speaker:How long?
Speaker:Sun darkened stars falling, sun blackest, sackcloth stars like figs.
Speaker:And then of course, this generation, John saying the time.
Speaker:Is near the code really was about protection.
Speaker:John writes under persecution.
Speaker:He can't name Rome, he can't send a letter off that says Rome.
Speaker:So he uses code words like Babylon.
Speaker:He can't really name Nero, so he uses 6, 6, 6 first century readers.
Speaker:Steeped in the prophets, recognized those symbols.
Speaker:This is really where three powers that we talked about at the beginning of the
Speaker:New Testament, they are about to collide.
Speaker:They've been interacting with each other for the last 20 plus
Speaker:years of the New Testament letters and, and gospels being written.
Speaker:They are about to come together and collide here.
Speaker:Revelation shows three kingdoms in conflict, Rome, Babylon, the beast,
Speaker:the dragon, the ancient serpent, raging, because his time is short
Speaker:and the kingdom of God where the lamb reigns and new creation descends.
Speaker:Jerusalem also appears as Babylon.
Speaker:That's why it sometimes is a little confusing.
Speaker:The harlot, the unfaithful bride, drunk on the blood.
Speaker:Of the prophets, John calls her the great city where their Lord was
Speaker:crucified in Revelation 11, eight, knowing who's who helps clear up the
Speaker:chaos for them that we're reading this.
Speaker:There was so much hope.
Speaker:In Revelation, they were caught between Rome's brutality and the
Speaker:temple leadership that rejected Jesus Believers were hated by both powers.
Speaker:The coming judgment wasn't terror, it was vindication.
Speaker:This is why Revelation ends with come Lord Jesus.
Speaker:They wanted him to come.
Speaker:Their suffering would end.
Speaker:Babylon would fall, and the lamb would be revealed as king.
Speaker:Something else to kind of keep in mind here is this whole theme
Speaker:of the harlett and the bride.
Speaker:Revelation isn't just about Rome, it's the end of one marriage
Speaker:and the wedding day of another.
Speaker:Let's look back at the biblical narrative so that we can kind of get
Speaker:a concept of what's going on here.
Speaker:God married Israel at Sinai, but she played the harlett.
Speaker:That's most of the Old Testament, chasing other gods, breaking covenant.
Speaker:Jeremiah three eight says, God sent her away with a decree.
Speaker:Of divorce.
Speaker:Here's the legal problem.
Speaker:Deuteronomy 24 says A divorced woman who remarries can't
Speaker:return to her first husband.
Speaker:It would be an abomination.
Speaker:So how can God take Israel back?
Speaker:How can there be a new covenant?
Speaker:Okay, Paul answers this in Romans seven.
Speaker:A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives, but if he dies,
Speaker:she's free to marry another death.
Speaker:Ends the binding.
Speaker:The old covenant husband had to die and he did in Christ.
Speaker:The law's claim was satisfied, the barrier was removed.
Speaker:Now God is free to marry a new bride.
Speaker:Jew and Gentile together in Christ.
Speaker:Understanding a little bit of that will help as you read through Revelation.
Speaker:this is what Revelation shows.
Speaker:The prostitute judged in chapter 17 and 18, battle on the Great,
Speaker:The great city where their Lord was crucified in Revelation 11 eight.
Speaker:As we said earlier, Jerusalem herself, both powers that
Speaker:rejected the lamb are judged.
Speaker:The bride is then adorned in 19 seven through nine.
Speaker:The wedding supper of the lamb occurs.
Speaker:The new Jerusalem then descends in 21 2, and it's prepared as a
Speaker:bride adorned for her husband.
Speaker:The Harlet is destroyed.
Speaker:The bride is revealed.
Speaker:The wedding, the whole Bible has been building toward finally
Speaker:happens for us 2000 years later.
Speaker:Revelation feels like a puzzle for them.
Speaker:It was a love letter promising everything Jesus said was about to come true.
Speaker:And within two years it did.
Speaker:Rome destroyed Jerusalem.
Speaker:That was part of the judgment.
Speaker:The temple fell.
Speaker:The old Covenant age ended the day of The Lord had come the end of the age.
Speaker:Was there.
Speaker:And in the next episode, we will walk through the exact historical
Speaker:events that line up with what you're about to read in Revelation.
Speaker:And it is the end of the age, the, the final conclusion of what we've
Speaker:been reading in the New Testament.
Speaker:All right, man, there's a lot there.
Speaker:Sorry, this has been just a little bit long.
Speaker:This is such an important book of the New Testament that has been so confused.
Speaker:So I want us all to get this.
Speaker:You're gonna be reading Revelation over the next five
Speaker:sessions and, just break it down.
Speaker:Spend your time, take your time.
Speaker:Think about it, let the Holy Spirit lead and guide you.
Speaker:It really is some powerful stuff.
Speaker:And then after this episode.
Speaker:This is the final book.
Speaker:Congratulations.
Speaker:You're here.
Speaker:You've made it.
Speaker:you've just read the New Testament in the order.
Speaker:It was written, 27 books, one generation in context.
Speaker:The story continues in the next episode, and we'll just kind of put
Speaker:a cap on all the things we've done.
Speaker:Make sure, as I said earlier, that you're following along K two M Foundation
Speaker:slash NT 90, and listen, as we've wrapped this up, I believe this has been
Speaker:powerful for, it is it has been for me.
Speaker:I've been reading along too, but for you.
Speaker:If it's been as incredible as I believe it could be, share this with a friend.
Speaker:Share the first episodes and let them get started with it.
Speaker:I really do desire, I was actually spending some quiet time this morning with
Speaker:the Lord and I was saying, Lord, I just want people to understand the context of
Speaker:the New Testament so that we could allow it to live and breathe in our lives.
Speaker:And in my quiet time, I felt like the Lord said.
Speaker:I'm not saying thus sayeth the Lord.
Speaker:I felt like the Lord said.
Speaker:So do I, Tim.
Speaker:So do I. So anyway, let's, let's do this.
Speaker:Before we wrap this one up, let's immerse ourselves in
Speaker:what was going on at that time.
Speaker:Listen to this.
Speaker:The island is small, 10 miles long.
Speaker:Six wide rocky wind battered Rome uses it for prisoners they want forgotten.
Speaker:John is one of them now.
Speaker:Peter is dead.
Speaker:Paul is dead.
Speaker:The apostolic generation is nearly gone.
Speaker:Of those who walked closest to Jesus, only John remains back
Speaker:on the mainland seven churches.
Speaker:Wait.
Speaker:They've heard the whispers.
Speaker:Jerusalem surround.
Speaker:Nero's torches still burning in memory.
Speaker:The empire tightening its grip.
Speaker:They're caught between powers that hate them, and they remember what Jesus said.
Speaker:This generation will not pass away.
Speaker:On the Lord's Day, John is in the spirit, a voice like a
Speaker:trumpet, seven golden lampstands.
Speaker:And in the midst of them, someone like a son of man, the lamb stands
Speaker:at the center of everything worthy, victorious, alive, forevermore.
Speaker:This letter was written to them to first century churches
Speaker:about first century events.
Speaker:Their warning, their hope, and everything John saw was about to come true.
Speaker:Now, let's read the revealing of Jesus Christ.
