Deanna Munger Bible Study and Speaking

This week we're in Revelation 15-16, the the fifth section of Revelation, the Seven Bowls of Wrath, which are poured out on those who worship the Beast. Revelation introduces the Bowls, the shows us a scene in Heaven with "The Song of Moses and the Lamb," then pours out the bowls. So, we'll also look at the Song of Moses in Exodus 15 and see the story it describes and what message it has about when and why God brings judgement. Then we'll look at how the Bowls parallel or contrast with the Seven Trumpets.
Find the Study Questions, links and more at DeannaMunger.com/Revelation

This week we're in Revelation 14 for part 2 of The Seven Signs. In the final chapter of fourth section of Revelation, we cover the Lamb and the 144,000 to complete the retelling of the Christian story that began with the Woman and The Dragon in chapters 12-13. The Beasts have prevailed over those who dwell on the earth, but when we shift our view to the mountain of God's presence, we see the faithful are present and with the Lamb. We discuss the "eternal gospel" as proclaimed by the three angels, and then we see two harvests--one to Jesus as the rider on the cloud, and one to the wine press of God's wrath.
Find the Study Questions, links and more at DeannaMunger.com/Revelation

We're in Revelation 12 & 13 this week for Lesson 7--In this fourth section of Revelation, The Seven Signs, we cover the first five of the seven: the Woman, the Child, the Dragon, and the two Beasts. We're shifting genres slightly, into a retelling of the Christian story in a mythological form. We go back to the birth, victory, and ascension of Jesus from the perspective of the war in heaven and the action of Satan and his two minions, the Beasts. Come consider this fascinating passage with us, as we wrestle with who these Beasts are, why there are two of them, and why the faithful witnesses to Jesus are under attack.
Find the Study Questions, links and more at DeannaMunger.com/Revelation

We have a fascinating passage this week in the interlude after the first six trumpets, as they unleash plagues that sound wake-up calls for repentance, and the seventh trumpet, at which we turn back to the scene in heaven. There are seven thunders whose word is sealed up, but what is offered instead is the message of the "little scroll." The little scroll shows us that we must take in God's word before we share it, and the Two Witnesses show us what it is like to fully and faithfully witness for God, and what a difference we can make when we follow in the footsteps of the true Faithful Witness, Jesus Christ.

Find more at https://deannamunger.com/revelation/ or send me any questions by emailing deanna @ deannamunger.com (without the spaces).

We're back to our Revelation study this week with Revelation 8 and 9, the sounding of the first six trumpets. With each of the trumpets, the world experiences plagues that call back to the Exodus story and the Egyptian plagues. So we ask, what were the Egyptian plagues for? What were they supposed to do? We'll argue that the Egyptian plagues were supposed to interrupt an evil regime oppressing Gods people, and give them an opportunity to see the reality of God's goodness and greatness. The Egyptians were supposed to stop their resistance and abuse because of the power of God. So what does that teach us about the purpose of the Trumpet plagues in Revelation?

Check out more about this study at deannamunger.com/revelation

It's another exciting week in the Revelation! We have the Four Horses of the Apocalypse, the Day of the LORD, the 144,000 sealed, and the multitudes before the throne of God all in chapters 6 and 7--wow!

Find more at https://deannamunger.com/revelation/ or contact me at deanna @ deannamunger.com (without the spaces)!

This week we're in John's vision of the throne room of heaven in Revelation: God of Justice, Lord of Glory. Check out the amazing scene in chapter 4, when John sees the throne with One like jewels sitting on it, the rainbow surrounding it, and the cherubim and elders on their thrones...what a scene! We'll be talking about the throne room of heaven passages earlier in Scripture and how John draws on them, and the intense, worshipful impact of this scene.

Then in Chapter 5, what is the meaning of this scroll sealed with seven seals? Why is John so wrecked that he weeps and weeps when no one is found who is worthy to open it? We'll talk about how the one announced as "the Lion of the tribe of Judah" actually look like a Lamb, and not just a Lamb but one who has been slain. We'll discuss why the Lamb is worthy to open the scrolls, and why this prompts even more worship! It's a great passage, hope to see you there!

Check out more information about the study, including links to videos of past lessons at https://deannamunger.com/revelation/ . If you want to join please email me at deanna @ deannamunger.com (without the spaces, those are for the bots), since I don't always get messages on social media. See you in Bible Study!

The videos are up for Lesson 2 of Revelation: God of Justice, Lord of Glory at https://deannamunger.com/revelation/. This week we talked about the ways Revelation has been interpreted over the history of the church. In our class we're using what's called the "Idealist" or "Symbolic" interpretation, which is looking at the book as a lens to see and understand God's rule of creation, the cosmic struggle between good and evil, God's plans for the culmination of creation in the new creation, and what we can do to be faithful witnesses. There are other interpretations that treat Revelation as a code or cipher, in which the symbols map to specific events or rulers. Those aren't part of our class, but you can use them in combination with the Idealist interpretation too!

Then we looked at the Seven Letters to the Seven Churches. We discovered that they all follow the same seven-part structure, which makes them easier to follow. We also saw that every self-description of Jesus ties back to the vision of the exalted Christ in chapter 1, and every promise to the overcomers is a preview of the new creation in chapters 19-22!

Check out the videos under the Lesson 2 heading at https://deannamunger.com/revelation/. Want to join our class? Email me at deanna @ deannamunger.com (without the spaces--those are for the bots).

The verse of the week is from the seven letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3. In the first half of this week's class, we're going over the different ways of interpreting Revelation and finding what clues Revelation itself gives us for how it interprets itself. I'll talk about what interpretation we're using in our class, and how it's something you can combine with another interpretation as well! Then we'll discuss the seven letters--how they are structured, how they connect to the rest of Revelation, and what we are supposed to learn from them. Take a look at the letters and see what you notice about Jesus' self-descriptions and the promises to overcomers! Links to handouts and Study Questions are at DeannaMunger.com/Revelation.
Hope you can be there! If you need the Zoom link, be sure to email me at deanna @ deannamunger.com (without the spaces, those are there for the bots), since I might not see a comment or DM here right away!

The first lesson videos are up for Revelation: God of Justice, Lord of Glory for Lesson 1: The Revelation of Jesus Christ. Find them on YouTube and on the study page: https://deannamunger.com/revelation/

The verse of the week for Revelation Lesson 1 is from John's spectacular vision of the exalted Christ, who shows himself to John as being among the "lampstands" that represent the churches. God speaks in the opening of Revelation, declaring God as the Alpha and the Omega--the first and the last. Here Jesus does the same; he is also the first and the last, and is now the Living One, exalted, holding the keys to death and Hades, yet still with his beloved churches. Find more about our study or contact me (I don't always monitor social media) at
https://deannamunger.com/revelation/