The Fear of Revelation

Currently at our church, we are going through the book of Revelation. Revelation (or Revelations as I though it was called back when I was a kid) always seemed a bit terrifying.

To give you a bit of background, I come from a Pentecostal church (now more so non-denominational) and if you know anything about the Pentecostal church, we are a special bunch. Most worship services are with people standing up in the aisles of the season, singing along with the worship band. Pentecostals, we knew no bounds! It was time to get out of the seat and run around the sanctuary (with a flag if you wanted to be noticed). I believe the term “shout’n” would apply (look it up on YouTube and you will see what I mean). Though there seemed to be something extra special as we got into talks of the book of Revelation.

This would generally be a few times out of the year during a Sunday night service (which today I don’t think takes place anymore for most churches). I was always anxious about what would be preached or the movie that would be shown (Left Behind, A Thief in the Night, etc..,). I just remember it being very intense and that we were (at that time supposedly) on the brink of the rapture and the second coming of Christ (two separate events). This followed by scriptures of a beast with three heads, fire falling from the sky, nuclear wars, etc… I know great way to end your night and go to sleep until you stay awake pondering (worrying) about those things.

While yes, a lot of the book of Revelation depicts a scary picture for the future, for those who are in Christ, it should not be scary. If you subscriber to a pre-trib rapture theory, then we will be ushered out before these events described, take place. The book of Revelation to put it simply is about the revelation of Jesus and his love for us. He wants no one to perish, but to come into relationship with Him.

Now that I am older, I am more so fascinated by this book of the Bible and enjoy studying it. Perilous times will come, but we are called to fight the good fight until the very end. I will leave you with Revelation 21:4 as it is very comforting.