Revelation 1 Study Questions

Revelation 1 Study Questions

  1. Revelation 1:3 tells us why this book is important. Reflect on how we can receive the blessing that is promised. What does John expect his readers to do with what he is writing?
  2. How might the church in the first century have followed John’s exhortation to “Keep what is written in it…”? How can we do that today?
  3. How can we understand John’s statement that “the time is near” in a way his readers might have understood it? (Be careful about overly complicated explanations that make this statement say something other than “the time is near.”)
  4. What do we learn about John’s relationship to the churches and how he feels about them? What are some things John communicates to them (and to us) in this first chapter?
  5. What are some good tools we can use to figure out where John is referring to Old Testament passages? How can this help us in our understanding of Revelation.
  6. What imagery and names are used to describe Jesus? Where else in the Bible do we find this imagery?
  7. How might we go about trying to understand the significance of John’s use of this imagery?
  8. What is John saying about Jesus with his use of the passages that describe “the son of man” in this same way? (Hint: you don’t need super-deep understanding of end-times theology or prophecy to answer this. You need simply read the passages the imagery point to…)
  9. What other symbols are present in this chapter?
  10. What symbols are clearly explained in this passage?
  11. What symbols are not clearly explained in this passage?
  12. How does this passage fit into the overall purpose for the book of Revelation?

Application

  1. How does this chapter encourage us in our faith today? What reminders does it give us?