• Journal & Pray. Here are some tools to help you with the devotionals:
  • A Guide to Journaling & Prayer
  • A Guide to Self-Reflection
  • A chart to help articulate feelings
  • Bible Project sketch notes and commentary on the Book of Revelation

• Read & Reflect

  REVELATION 18:3-7

• Note how Babylon’s sin and values are described.  How are God’s people told to respond to Babylon?  How does this apply to me today?

  REVELATION 18:11-13

• Given the list of commodities the merchants once sold to Babylon, what can be gleaned about its lifestyle and the value system of its culture? What is the relationship between that kind of value system and the selling of “human souls”?

• What are some parallels that can be drawn between Babylon’s culture and our modern-day culture?

  REVELATION 18:9-19

• Who are the groups that mourned over the fall of Babylon, and what is the commonality behind their reasons for mourning? What lessons does this passage teach regarding the ultimate destiny of those who place their hope in wealth? What are the things in my life that would perish along with the “fall of Babylon”?  What are the things that would survive the “fall of Babylon”?

• Journal & Pray. Here are some tools to help you with the devotionals:
  • A Guide to Journaling & Prayer
  • A Guide to Self-Reflection
  • A chart to help articulate feelings
  • Bible Project sketch notes and commentary on the Book of Revelation

• Read & Reflect

  REVELATION 17:4,16

• How is the description of the prostitute an apt illustration of some aspects of our world system?

  REVELATION 17

• This chapter describes once-allied forces of evil turning on each other, a cycle of decline, and a resurgence of evil. In what ways are these patterns evident in human history?

• Journal & Pray. Here are some tools to help you with the devotionals:
  • A Guide to Journaling & Prayer
  • A Guide to Self-Reflection
  • A chart to help articulate feelings
  • Bible Project sketch notes and commentary on the Book of Revelation

• Read & Reflect

  REVELATION 16

• Notice the parallels between this chapter and the plagues described in the book of Exodus.  Like Pharaoh, the people “did not repent and give him glory.” (v.9, v.11).  Reflect on the pride of man that hardens itself against God, refusing “to repent and give him glory.”

• Notice the progression in the people’s response, from refusing to repent, to cursing God (v.11), to assembling to directly oppose and fight against God (v.14, v.16).  What are some manifestations of God-opposing pride I have seen in the world, or in my own heart?

• Journal & Pray. Here are some tools to help you with the devotionals:
  • A Guide to Journaling & Prayer
  • A Guide to Self-Reflection
  • A chart to help articulate feelings
  • Bible Project sketch notes and commentary on the Book of Revelation

• Read & Reflect

  REVELATION 15

• In the midst of the descriptions of judgment, there is a song of praise regarding God’s “righteous acts” being revealed through his judgment. In what ways is it good news that there is an ultimate judge of good and evil in the universe? Am I able to praise God for his rightful judgment against sin?

• Reflect on the theme of God’s judgment and salvation as it is played out in Jesus, the Lamb that was slain.

• Give God praise for your salvation: “All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

   

• Journal & Pray. Here are some tools to help you with the devotionals:
  • A Guide to Journaling & Prayer
  • A Guide to Self-Reflection
  • A chart to help articulate feelings
  • Bible Project sketch notes and commentary on the Book of Revelation

• Read & Reflect

  REVELATION 14:4-5

  “This description of the saved multitude is as pictorial as their number. They are viewed as males who did not defile themselves with women, most plausibly because they were soldiers of the Lamb engaged on active service (cf. the OT regulations concerning holy war, which include abstention from sexual relations: Dt. 20:1–9; 23:9–14; 1 Sa. 21:4–5; 2 Sa. 11:6–13). The symbolism could include abstaining from ‘fornication’ with the harlot Babylon (cf. v 8).” [1]

   

• Reflect on the description of the redeemed as those who “follow the Lamb wherever he goes,” along with the passages below:Matthew 4:19–20 (ESV) 

  ¹⁹ And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” ²⁰ Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

  John 10:3–4 (ESV) 

  ³ To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

  John 12:26 (ESV) 

  ²⁶ If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

• What would it look like for me to follow Jesus “wherever he goes”?

• REVELATION 14:6-7
• What is the content of the “eternal gospel” and to whom is it proclaimed?
• How has the gospel been proclaimed to me, and through me?[1]  Beasley-Murray, G.R. (1994). Revelation. In D.A. Carson, R.T. France, J.A. Motyer, & G.J. Wenham (Eds.), New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition (4th ed., p. 1444). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press.  

   

• Journal & Pray. Here are some tools to help you with the devotionals:
  • A Guide to Journaling & Prayer
  • A Guide to Self-Reflection
  • A chart to help articulate feelings
  • Bible Project sketch notes and commentary on the Book of Revelation

• Read & Reflect

  REVELATION 13:1-18

• Notice that the dark spiritual powers work through secondary and tertiary intermediaries. Who or what are some of the agents of “blasphemies against God (v.6),” and that control commerce (“buy or sell” [v.17]) in our world?

• REVELATION 13:7-10
• What implication does the fact that “all who dwell on earth will worship [the beast]” have on Christians?
• Given this, how should Christians understand the “call for the endurance and faith of the saints”?

• REVELATION 13:13-14
• What are the tactics the beast employs to deceive the inhabitants of the earth?
• How should believers discern true divine power?

• Journal & Pray. Here are some tools to help you with the devotionals:
  • A Guide to Journaling & Prayer
  • A Guide to Self-Reflection
  • A chart to help articulate feelings
  • Bible Project sketch notes and commentary on the Book of Revelation

• Read & Reflect

  REVELATION 12:1-6

  “The dragon represents Satan and his demonic forces, the woman represents God’s faithful people who have been waiting for the Messiah (the crown of 12 stars represents the 12 tribes of Israel), and the child represents Christ.”[1]

• How does the power of the dragon compare to the apparent power of the woman and child? What is ironic about this contrast in power?
• 1,260 days represents the period of persecution (cf. 11:2; 13:5). What is the inherent promise of God to the persecuted church in this verse?REVELATION 12:9-11
• What are the activities of Satan? What accusations from Satan do I face? What evidence is there that Satan is deceiving the whole world today?
• Notice that the battle rages in heaven, but the people of God are also said to have “conquered him.” What does this show about the close link between our faithfulness and the cosmic spiritual battle?

[1] Life Application Study Bible, study notes (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers and Zondervan, 1991) 2260.

• Journal & Pray. Here are some tools to help you with the devotionals:
  • A Guide to Journaling & Prayer
  • A Guide to Self-Reflection
  • A chart to help articulate feelings
  • Bible Project sketch notes and commentary on the Book of Revelation

• Read & Reflect

  REVELATION 11:3-8

  “The imagery employed bring to mind Elijah and Moses, but in the New Testament context, ‘the most common view is that the two witnesses represent the prophetic witness of the church’”[1]

  • What example and challenge do the two prophets serve for the church today?
  • What kind of life should I expect if the church is to fulfill its prophetic role in our world?

  REVELATION 11:9-10

  • Why would the inhabitants of the earth think that the two prophets were “tormenting” them? What is my attitude towards those who play the prophetic role in my life?

  REVELATION 11:15-18

  • Reflect on that day when “the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ” How much am I living today with this day in mind?

  [1] Craig S. Keener, Revelation, NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1960) 291.

   

   

• Journal & Pray. Here are some tools to help you with the devotionals:
  • A Guide to Journaling & Prayer
  • A Guide to Self-Reflection
  • A chart to help articulate feelings
  • Bible Project sketch notes and commentary on the Book of Revelation

• Read & Reflect

  REVELATION  10

  One of the first things the prophet Ezekiel is told to do is to eat a scroll.

  Ezekiel 2:8–3:4 (ESV)

  8 “But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.” 9 And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in  it. 10 And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words  of lamentation and mourning and woe.

  1 And he said to me, “Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2So

  I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.

  4 And he said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them.

  • Eating the scroll is a vivid picture of the way in which the prophet can only speak God’s word to the extent that it has become a part of the prophet’s life. How much have I “eaten the scroll” of God’s word, and internalized God’s truths, values and directives contained therein?
  • Reflect on John’s mission as described in11. The gospel is inherently missional and involves many people and nations. How has this same call played out in my life?

   

• Journal & Pray. Here are some tools to help you with the devotionals:
  • A Guide to Journaling & Prayer
  • A Guide to Self-Reflection
  • A chart to help articulate feelings
  • Bible Project sketch notes and commentary on the Book of Revelation

• Read & Reflect

  REVELATION  9

  • What can I learn about God’s mercy from the limitations of power and duration placed on the various destructive acts of judgment? How have I responded to God’s forbearance, kindness and mercy (cf. Romans 2:4)?

  REVELATION  9:14-15

  • These verses reveal there have been destructive fallen angels, or demons, bound at Euphrates (the river from which Israel’s enemies traditionally invaded), which are released at a specified time. What implication does this have on my view of life and history?

  REVELATION  9:20-21

  • What does the fact that these verses note mankind did not repent reveal about God’s desire in the midst of judgment? What does it reveal about man?