This volume is the 8th and final compilation this year from the New Testament. The three lessons in it deal solely with the book of Revelation. Revelation is perhaps the most interesting, varied book in the Bible. With much poetry, several songs, and vivid cyclical word pictures, it is unparalleled. The scope of its descriptions and metaphors runs the gamut. It starts with a heavenly vision of Jesus Christ in glory surrounded by crowned elders and winged beasts full of eyes. It then descends into scenes with red dragons, a drunken prostitute, seven-headed monsters, plagues, storms, and destruction. We meet angel armies, deadly horsemen, giant locusts with scorpions’ tails, final judgment, and blood flowing as deep as a river. We also see the New Jerusalem shining with welcoming gates of giant pearls, walls of precious stones, and streets of gold. It is the Star Wars of the Bible—with conflict between good and evil spanning the cosmos and all time.
The book is often referred to as the Apocalypse of John. An apocalypse was a common form of Jewish and Christian literature in John’s day. Many were written, but the Apocalypse of John is the only one that became part of the scriptural canon. Most apocalypses were dualistic works written to reveal how the world’s overwhelming evils fit into God’s plan of happiness. They were written to reconcile the existence of sin and adversity with the goodness and omnipotence of God. They show how human history will resolve in God’s favour. The book of Revelation is easily the finest of these works. It richly deserves its place as the final book in the New Testament. It demonstrates that God’s justice and righteousness will prevail. Far from being a book centred on evil, adversity, judgment, and destruction, it is about hope and God’s love.
The text of the book has had a persistent and far-reaching political, theological, and historical effect in western civilization. It has played a prominent role in graphic arts, music, and literature as well. It was almost not included in the Bible. It got into the New Testament by the skin of its dragons’ teeth. Many of the churchmen in the early Church did not want it included. Later theologians often expressed the wish that it had been excluded. Some Christian churches just ignore it. This is understandable, for it has had more nonsense written and said about it than any other book in the Bible. I shall try not to add to the pile. pp.173

This volume is the 7th this year from the New Testament. It includes Hebrews and the general or catholic epistles. Hebrews was traditionally attributed to Paul and the apostles, James, Peter, John, and Jude wrote the general epistles to the members of the Church at large. The Greek word for general or universal is catholic. Eusebius, the 4th century AD Church historian, first called these letters the catholic epistles as a grouping to distinguish them from the Pauline epistles, which preceded them in the New Testament canon. pp.232

John’s three letters have some of the most hopeful and gentle messages of the New Testament. We can see first-hand why he was called John the Beloved. He teaches very clearly that we are here to become like our Father and like Jesus Christ and that love is the only route to that outcome.

Jude was a half-brother of Jesus and a full brother of James whose epistle we considered two weeks before. He wrote to combat the heresies of the day and he provides some food for thought on the divergences from the gospel that we see all around us in our times.

I will also say something about the “great and abominable church” and about gnosticism—what a treat eh? You’ve all been waiting for that day! There’s also a little appendix that will tell you something about Santa Fe, New Mexico that I’ll bet you didn’t know. (No extra charge!) pp.50

The epistle of James is a letter from the apostle James, the half-brother of Jesus. It is one of the first books written that would later be included in the canon of the New Testament. It is a book written with a Jewish perspective on ethics and morality. It is, however, fully Christian in doctrine. In content and style, it is like Proverbs or a prophetic book such as Amos in the Old Testament rather than the other books of the New Testament.

It was written in a prophetic voice in the classical style of the Jewish prophets. It is not that it foretells the future; but, it forthrightly teaches the people what they should be doing. It is all about prayer, justice, fairness, and ministering. The diatribes against oppression of all kinds, and the rich in particular, echo the writings of Amos and Isaiah. On a personal level, it challenges us to choose whether to be friends of the world or friends of God. It affirms the positive moral prescriptions in the law of Moses while not encouraging its ordinances or rituals—much as Isaiah 1 did. Doctrinally and stylistically, it could be placed in amongst the Old Testament writings without much change. It’s a short but good study. pp.24.

Hebrews is a doctrinally dense and very rewarding book. This portion of Hebrews has many references to modern temple worship, the covenants of the Melchizedek priesthood, and Jesus’ role in our salvation. It speaks of faith, endurance, justification, and sanctification. It’s well worth the time we spend studying it. pp.38