I had an unhealthy fear of dying when I was younger. I don't know the cause or circumstances, but I always worried about my parents dying. Even when I went to college in upstate, Ohio, I thought that every phone call from home would be a call that one of my parents had passed. That never happened. Both of my parents lived into their 90s, so a lifetime of worry was wasted on something that never happened. My fear of death may be part of the reason that I shied away from delving too deeply into end times, stories of Armageddon, and the book of Revelation. The end was near, and I didn't want to think about it.
Not until January 2024 did I receive a push from the Holy Spirit to revisit Revelation with a renewed mind and an open heart. I did not expect to jump to the end of the Bible for the next devotional, but the Holy Spirit showed me that Revelation is the bookend to Genesis. What God created from the beginning in its purest form he will restore in the end, purifying the earth, calling his people to a new heaven and earth, and purging the old earth of sin.
Readers don't close the Bible feeling defeated, lost, or wondering what happened to the main characters. We read the last words with victory, hope, and praise to God for keeping his promises, his covenant of love for us.
Let's start at the beginning of the last book of the Bible and personalize our reading to better understand the message of the prophecy given to John. That journey begins now.