Reading the biblical Book of Revelation is difficult for most people. The reasons are varied and very different. But one thing that oftentimes is clearly missing in the reading of this wonderful part of Scripture is what one writer called, “a fertile imagination.” Some people have it, while others do not. That writer went on to say that any person who is either devoid of imagination or else refuses to use it in the study of the book, “will do well to leave this book alone.” That is quite good advice. Here is the point he goes on to make:

This book was written to yield its message by creating an impression, and this impression makes itself realized as one yields himself to the drama that is enacted before him on the stage in Asia Minor A.D. 90-96. When the play is ended and the curtain falls after the reverent prayer of the writer, “Even so: Come, Lord Jesus,” one is left with an overwhelming impression of majesty, reverence, and awe. He feels the assurance of victory in spite of seemingly insurmountable odds; he knows without doubt or reservation that, come what may, Christ is supreme and that no power can take from him the victory which is rightfully his” (Ray Summers, Worthy Is The Lamb, 51).

All of my life I have listened to speculations about whether the Book of Revelation might mean so-and-so or not, with the so-and-so part changing from time to time. The answers to some of those questions I am not able authoritatively to answer. But, quite frankly, I believe than any person of average mental ability and with just a smidgeon of imagination will be able to draw a conclusion comparable to the one set forth above in the statement of Ray Summers. In other words, Summers got it exactly right on that count.

We ought to be impressed with the fact that as the book draws to a close God is pictured as sitting on his throne surrounded by myriads of his heavenly hosts, who give him praise and great glory after his judgment of the Great Harlot. There is a roar in heaven like that of “many waters” and “mighty thunders” combined, saying, “Hallelujah: for the Lord our God, the Almighty reigneth” (Rev. 19:6). In the scene that follows, Jesus appears as a heavenly warrior sitting on a white horse. The armies of heaven follow closely after him. The peoples of earth are brought under the judgment of God through the power of The Word of God (v. 13). He rules them with a rod of iron and treads the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God (v. 15). All of his enemies oppose him, but in the end they are brought down to defeat. Satan is limited for a time in an abyss, but after he is loose, he is finally brought down to utter defeat himself. His final destination is the lake of fire and brimstone (20:10). All men stand before the great white throne of God’s final judgment, and the wicked are sent off into the lake of fire (20:11-15).

The next two chapters picture the future in the most glowing of terms. God reigns in his new heavens and new earth and in his holy city, the New Jerusalem (chapter 21). The tree of life is brought back into the range of human enjoyment, as if in some sense the original Garden of God (Eden) were restored to human experience. Once this picture portrait of the blessed future of the redeemed is given, John turns to practical statements and assurances in the latter half of the final chapter.

One thing is certain: by this point in the reading of the Book, the reader who is paying careful attention is brought to a state of mind that is precisely as described by Summers: an overwhelming impression of majesty, reverence and awe.  It is further to be noted that the author of the work attempted at this juncture in the process to impress upon the minds of readers the need for action in the light of all that has been seen and heard in this Revelation. And so he said,

Blessed are they that wash their robes that they may have the right to enter in by the gates into the city (the New Jerusalem) (22:14; see also 7:14).

Furthermore, there is an appeal to all others who might consider this invitation to the heavenly joy that awaits,

And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And he that heareth, let him say, Come. And he that is athirst, let him come: he that will, let him take the water of life freely (22:17).

You may not be able to understand everything about the Book of Revelation, but I would guess that you have no problem at all with this part. The Book wishes to imbue you with an overwhelming sense of God’s might and power and then move you to trusting faith and obedient service.