How to Read the Book of Revelation

Confession: I have struggled to read the book of Revelation. I’ve had seasons where the more effort I put into studying it, the less I understand what it’s saying or why it matters for my walk with Christ.

I can point to a few reasons for this: strange interpretations that haphazardly connect Revelation’s symbols to current day events, myriads upon myriads of charts and views regarding the book, and perhaps most importantly, my own poor reading skills.

Maybe you’ve had a similar experience.

The temptation is to write off the book as impossible to understand and thus keep it closed. But doing so comes with significant loss. We understand why as we read the extraordinary promise in the book’s third verse:

Blessed 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. (Revelation 1:3)

How do we reach this blessing? As I’ve grown as a reader of Revelation, I’ve found the seven suggestions I share for Open the Bible invaluable.

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Kevin

I serve with Unlocking the Bible. I blog for the glory of God, to nourish the church, and to clarify my mind. A lover of Christ first, people second, and random things like coffee, books, baseball, and road trips. I wrote When Prayer Is Struggle. Soli Deo Gloria