Preface Just a Thought... A few years back, I mentioned to our church’s former Minister of Youth, Jim Moore, that I was interested in writing a book on Revelation. When I told him that, I was not thinking that I would begin that work so soon. But when my seventh and eighth grade boys Sunday school class started asking questions about the beast and the dragon, I realized it might be sooner than later! Well, that was about three years and three versions ago. And now, here I am with something that I hope and pray will help students, and anyone for that matter, better understand the most misunderstood book in the Bible. But more importantly, I pray it will stir up revival in the hearts of young Christians so that they desire a closer walk with Christ than they have ever experienced! And for those that have never met Christ, I pray it will give them the opportunity to know Him and allow Him to change their lives forever! I wrote this in a very unique style, one that I hope will interest students in the Bible and help them understand it a little better as well. I must say I tried to bring a bit of humor into the commentary in order to maintain interest. But please understand, as I tried to spell out throughout the pages, this is a very serious topic with very serious and severe consequences for making the wrong decisions. Teachers and Students Reading This Book… This book is written for students and teachers interested in a deeper understanding of the events of the last days. I hope the conversational style makes the read easy and enjoyable. To help you, the reader, or you, the teacher better understand the information that you are reading, each chapter is formatted as follows: What’s It All About? Located at the beginning of each chapter, this brief summary provides an overview of the entire chapter to inform you of the chapter’s main subjects or ideas. Scripture Verses. As this commentary is a verse-by-verse explanation of the book of the Revelation, all scripture verses displayed in bold italics are followed by the detailed commentary pertaining to those verses. Additional scripture verses utilized throughout the commentary are displayed in italics only. Points to Ponder. Following the scripture verses, you will see bold text bullets that are highlights of the scripture passage(s) they follow. These thoughts drill a little deeper into the passage giving you more details to mull around in that brain of yours as you read the detailed commentary that follows. Detailed Commentary. A virtual, verse-by-verse explanation of the scripture passage being discussed based on insights of some of the most respected Bible scholars of yesterday and today. Also included here are my personal convictions about the relevance and importance that these scriptures play in my life and your life right now. My prayer is that you will become more than informed; you will become transformed through a better understanding of God’s word. Discussion Questions. At the end of each chapter you will find some discussion questions to thrash out additional thoughts. Most of the information is found in the commentary; some questions require a little more thinking outside of the box. Teachers, please feel free to mix in your own questions as well! Other Observations. Within the text, you will find that some of the words are in bold italics in order to identify a word and its definition. Italics are used for scripture references or words that require particular emphasis.