The Book of Revelation and Overcoming

Last updated on: March 5, 2022 at 5:18 pm by William Hemsworth

The Book of Revelation and Overcoming 2022-03-05T17:18:46-07:00 William Hemsworth

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The theme of overcoming in the Book of Revelation is important to understand. Often times we get so caught up in the prophetical aspect that we lose this important trait. However, we can read through the book of Revelation and come away from that endeavor with a hope and faith that is revitalized [1]. the theme of overcoming happens very early on in the book. For example Revelation chapter two, and in some respects chapter three, and full of overcoming verbiage. These verses make up the message to the seven churches.

libro de las revelaciones o del apocalipsis. - book of revelation fotografías e imágenes de stock

Revelation and the Seven Churches

They are implored to stay faithful, overcome the world, and in return they will be placed, and remain in the lamb’s book of life (Rev. 2:10). Some translations translate the word for overcoming as conquering, but this does not diminish the meaning. When it comes to the churches, and those in them, it means to be a faithful witness and that may even mean our own martyrdom [2]. This is brought to fruition in Revelation 12:11 which states, “And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death” (ESV). There is a lot of symbolism that is happening in Revelation 12, but what we do know is that those who have overcome did so by laying down their lives [3].

Laodicea, Seven Churches Of Asia

Overcoming and Revelation

Overcoming may be the most important word in the book of Revelation, and this is something that we can focus. For example the work for overcoming, nikao, occurs twenty-eight times in the New Testament with seventeen of those occurring in Revelation [4]. Earlier in this discussion I had briefly mentioned chapter two and the letter to the seven churches. John writes in 3:21 that we will only overcome the way that our Lord did. Our Lord overcame by being the sinless Lamb that was slain (Rev. 5:6).

The Lamb takes our sin upon His shoulders so that we can overcome. We often miss the image of the Lion that also occurs in Rev. 5:6. Jesus is not only the Lamb was slain for our sins, but He is the king rules like a Lion would [5]. When we follow the example of Jesus, walk in His ways through faith, then we become overcomers. He conquered through death and believers conquer through martyrdom [6].

Guy, Forest, Man, Outdoor, Overcoming

This concept is not easy to grasp within the context of American Christianity. Compared to the rest of the world we have it easy while others around the world risk their lives to go to church. However, attendance and Christian affiliation in the United States is dropping rapidly. Those areas where there is persecution and martyrdom are seeing an explosion in the faith. They are overcoming and changing the world round them. We need to do the same and not fold in the face of opposition.

Works Cited

1. Buys, Phillipus J. “A Shepherd Stirring up Hope from the Book of Revelation.” In Die Skriflig 54, no. 1 (January 2020): 1.

2. Koester, Craig, ed. The Oxford Handbook of the Book of Revelation. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2020), 230.

3. Dalrymple, Rob. Follow the Lamb : A Guide to Reading, Understanding, and Applying the Book of Revelation. (Ashland: Lexham Press, 2018), 33.

4. Ibid, 29.

5. Ibid, 32.

6. Middleton, Paul. The Violence of the Lamb : Martyrs As Agents of Divine Judgement in the Book of Revelation. (London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2018), 224..

Previous Post

March 3, 2022

Three Ways To Grow During Lent

Next Post

March 6, 2022 1 John: A Historical Analysis

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz