Tracing God's Story: New TestamentSample

Today, let's discuss the Bible's final section—apocalyptic literature. While many apocalyptic books have been written, just one is included in this section: the Book of Revelation. The book of Daniel in the Old Testament is also considered apocalyptic and is in a section called the Prophets. Other apocalyptic ideas are found in other places in Scripture, such as Joel, Amos, Ezekiel, and Zechariah.

The word apocalyptic means apocalypse in Greek, which means a revealing or disclosure of something unknown.

While that sounds simple enough, this genre is generally difficult to understand. It is a form of prophecy that uses symbolism, metaphors, clues, and bizarre descriptions. Keep in mind that the writers were seeing future events, and depending on how far into the future they were seeing, they may not have been able to describe the people and items.

Often, animals are used to symbolize men or nations. Trumpets symbolize divine voices. Eyes signify understanding, and horns signify authority. There are colors used, like white, which means victory, purple, which means loyalty, and black, which means death. Numbers are also important, like the number 7, which means perfection, and 666, which represents what is anti-God. Usually, the writers of apocalyptic literature are vague about who they are and who they are writing to, but that is not the case with the Book of Revelation.

The writer directly identifies himself and his audience. This genre of writing might be so difficult for many because it foretells the devastating events that will occur at the end of the world, events that include judgment and destruction.

Thankfully, believers do not need to fear, as it ends with God's final victory and our opportunity to dwell in paradise with Him for eternity. It is the source of all hope, as God's promises are fulfilled. And if you have never studied this section of the Bible, I highly encourage it.

I hope the information shared today helps you guess how interesting the Bible is so that you develop a passion for reading it. I pray that as you dig into Scripture, God speaks to you in exciting new ways, and your spirit begins coming to Him.

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This study was taken from the full Coming to Life course at www.katiehauckministries.com .