Revelation

Pastor Jared Stepp taught through Revelation one chapter a month at First Wednesday, from November 2023 to November 2025. Each chapter here sets the NIV text beside his notes and that night's teaching.

22 of 22 chapters ready.

  1. 1The Revelation of Jesus ChristJohn, exiled on Patmos, sees the risen Jesus in blazing glory and is told to write. Every detail of the vision is drawn from the Old Testament, and every detail says the same thing: Jesus is Lord, He is alive, and He is coming.
  2. 2Keys to Victory for Four ChurchesJesus, standing among the lampstands, writes to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum and Thyatira. Each church gets keys to victory on its own battlefield, and the themes He sets here (He is coming, He judges, don't compromise, be faithful to the end) carry the rest of the book.
  3. 3Sardis, Philadelphia and LaodiceaThe last three letters to the churches. Sardis looks alive but is dead, Philadelphia has little strength but is Jesus' favorite, and wealthy Laodicea is lukewarm. All three are told the same thing: you can still be victorious, and Jesus is coming soon.
  4. 4The Throne RoomA door opens in heaven and John is caught up into the throne room. After three chapters on the ground with the churches, we get the view from above: God on His throne, ruling everything, surrounded by worship that never stops.
  5. 5The Scroll and the LambA sealed scroll no one is worthy to open, John weeping, and then the Lion of the tribe of Judah who turns out to be a slain Lamb. Heaven breaks into new songs, the circles of worship widen to every creature, and the picture of heaven as it is now is complete.
  6. 6The First Six SealsThe Lamb opens the first six seals. Four horsemen ride out, the martyrs under the altar cry "How long?", and the cosmos shakes until the whole earth knows whose wrath this is. The seals are the overture, not the scroll itself, and they raise the two questions the rest of the book answers.
  7. 7Sealed and StandingBefore the winds of judgment are released, God seals His servants: 144,000 from the tribes of Israel, numbered like an army for war. Then John looks and sees a multitude no one could count, from every nation, standing before the throne in white robes. The Church militant and the Church triumphant.
  8. 8Silence, Incense and the First Four TrumpetsThe seventh seal opens to silence in heaven, the prayers of God's people rise like incense and come back to earth as fire, and the first four trumpets sound. The trumpets are warnings, partial and not final, calling the earth to wake up and come to God.
  9. 9The Fifth and Sixth TrumpetsThe Abyss is opened and demonic scorpion-locusts torment everyone without God's seal; then four bound angels at the Euphrates are released with an army of two hundred million. Even the enemy's forces wait on God's command, and still the survivors refuse to repent. God's mercy keeps offering them the chance anyway.
  10. 10The Mighty Angel and the Little ScrollBetween the sixth and seventh trumpets, a mighty angel straddles sea and land with a little open scroll. The seven thunders are sealed up, the angel swears there will be no more delay, and John eats the scroll, sweet in his mouth and sour in his stomach, and is commissioned to prophesy again. God has more to say.
  11. 11The Two Witnesses and the Seventh TrumpetJohn measures the temple, then takes a holy detour into the story of two witnesses who prophesy in the power of Moses and Elijah, are killed by the beast, and are raised and called up to heaven. Then the seventh trumpet sounds: the kingdom of the world becomes the kingdom of our Lord, and the elders fall on their faces in worship.
  12. 12The Woman and the DragonChapter 12 opens the second half of Revelation with a drama in the sky: a woman, her child, an enormous red dragon, and war in heaven. Satan is defeated by the death and resurrection of Jesus and hurled down, and believers triumph over him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.
  13. 13The Beast from the Sea and the Beast from the EarthThe dragon is joined by a beast from the sea and a beast from the earth, an unholy trinity that counterfeits the Father, the Son and the Spirit. The image, the mark and 666 are Satan playing dress-up, and the call to God's people is patient endurance, faithfulness and wisdom from God.
  14. 14The Lamb, the Three Angels and the HarvestAfter the dark act of chapter 13, hope is restored. The Lamb stands on Mount Zion with the redeemed, three angels proclaim the eternal gospel, Babylon's fall and a warning against the mark, the dead in the Lord are promised rest, and the Son of Man reaps the earth before the grapes are trampled in the winepress of God's wrath.
  15. 15The Song of Moses and the LambThe interlude is over and the bowls of wrath are at the door. Seven angels hold the last plagues, the victors stand by a sea of glass glowing with fire and sing the song of Moses and of the Lamb, and the temple in heaven opens and fills with the smoke of God's glory. God's wrath is completed, and His people are not its target.
  16. 16The Seven Bowls of God's WrathAll seven bowls are poured out at once, and the action accelerates toward the end. Sores, seas and rivers of blood, a scorching sun and darkness strike the people with the mark; the altar answers that God is just; frog-like demons gather the kings at Armageddon; and from the throne comes "It is done!" Three times the people curse God, and they still refuse to repent.
  17. 17The Great Prostitute and the Scarlet BeastOne of the bowl angels shows John the punishment of the great prostitute, Babylon, riding a scarlet beast with seven heads and ten horns. She is false religion joined to political power; the beast is the antichrist and his final empire. The kings give him their power and wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb triumphs, and His called, chosen and faithful followers with Him.
  18. 18The Fall of BabylonHeaven pronounces Babylon's time of death. A radiant angel declares her fallen, a voice calls God's people to come out of her, and the kings, merchants and sea captains who grew rich from her stand far off and mourn while heaven rejoices that justice has come. Then a mighty angel throws a millstone into the sea, and the city is silenced, no more at all.
  19. 19Hallelujah! The Wedding Supper and the Rider on the White HorseHeaven shouts a fourfold Hallelujah over Babylon's fall, and the wedding of the Lamb is announced. Then heaven stands open and Jesus rides out on a white horse, Faithful and True, the Word of God, King of kings and Lord of lords, with the armies of heaven behind Him. The beast and the false prophet are thrown into the fiery lake. It is a tale of two suppers: you either receive the invite to the first, or you end up on the menu for the second.
  20. 20Satan Bound, the Thousand Years and the Great White ThroneThe beast and the false prophet are gone, but the dragon is still out there. An angel binds Satan in the Abyss for a thousand years while the overcomers and martyrs reign with Christ in the first resurrection. Released, Satan deceives the nations one last time, fire from heaven ends the last army, and the devil joins the beast in the lake of burning sulfur. Then the dead stand before the great white throne, and death itself is destroyed.
  21. 21A New Heaven, a New Earth and the New JerusalemAll the bad news is done. John sees a new heaven and a new earth, and the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven as a bride. God makes His dwelling with His people, wipes every tear and makes everything new. The city is a giant cube like the holy of holies, built of gold and jewels, with gates that never shut, and it needs no temple, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
  22. 22Eden Restored and Come, Lord JesusThe end of the book, and the end of the whole story of salvation. The river of the water of life flows from the throne, the tree of life heals the nations, the curse is gone and God's people see His face. Then Jesus speaks for the last time, "Look, I am coming soon!", with the last two blessings, the Alpha and the Omega, the invitation to come, the warning not to add or take away, and the church's answer: "Amen. Come, Lord Jesus."