OPENING THOUGHTS:

To rightly understand the Scripture we need to come to the Scripture with the following:

1) We must have the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:11 teaches us that "...no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God." Without the Spirit of God we cannot rightly understand the Word of God.

2) We must have humility. If we desire God to open the truths of His Word to us, we must come with a desire to learn the truth. If we are convinced we have the answers, we likely will not be taught by God.

3) We must come with a willingness to obey what we learn. Knowledge for the sake of knowledge only produces pride. Learning God's Word for the sake of obedience is pleasing to the Lord.

We these thoughts in mind, let us begin with some general thoughts about Revelation. I am also studying Revelation step by step as we move forward. One tool I will be referencing often is a book entitled "Four Views on the Book of Revelation" by C. Marvin Pate. This book presents four of the most common views of the Book of Revelation. In addition, I will be using multiple other sources as well.

Let's face it, the Book of Revelation is a highly controversial book. Let's begin by laying out four basic views of the book.

1. Preterist - The book of Revelation is prophecy that was mostly fulfilled in the   first century AD.
2. Idealist - Revelation is a non-historical and non-prophetic drama about spiritual realities.
3. Historicist - The book of Revelation is prophecy about church history from the time of John to the end of the world.
4. Futurist - Revelation is a prophecy that is mostly about the end of the world.

The above explanations are taken from Rose Bible Charts. Each view approaches the book from a completely different perspective. This chart explains each view in more detail. Others views may combine elements of multiple views. Within the futurist view are various interpretations of the end times such as Historic Premillennialism, Dispensational Premillennialism, Amillennialism, and Postmillennialism.

By having a basic understanding of the various views we can better understand how people believe the way they believe. It is not my intent to promote a particular view as being fully correct, nor do I agree with all of the sources I may quote. My hope is to encourage personal study and discussion among those involved in this study.

As you can see, I intend to keep these lessons pretty short and basic. The goal is gain a greater understanding over time as we dig into God's Word and ask the Spirit of God to teach us His truth.

That's all for this first lesson. Check back for Lesson #2 next week.