The Apostle John was in exile on the island of Patmos, when one Lord’s day he heard a loud voice like a trumpet telling him to write what he would see in a book and send it to the seven churches. The book of Revelation, then, comes in two main parts. First, ‘the things that are’ (chapters 1–3), where John relays the letters which the Lord dictated to him to seven actual churches. Then, ‘the things that shall be’ (chapters 4–22). There follow three series of sevenfold judgments leading to the climax: the great day of God’s wrath; the coming of Christ, the setting up of his kingdom and the final rebellion; the passing away of heaven and earth and the final judgment. These will be followed at last by the new heaven and the new earth linked by the city of new Jerusalem. At this point in the vision John heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.’ 

I want to…