Unveiled Hope: Eternal Encouragement from the Book of Revelation

by Scotty Smith, Michael Card

The very name of the book invokes images of fire, dragons, death, destruction, doom, and despair. Unfortunately, centuries of misinterpretation of the last book of the Bible probably don't call to mind images of paradise, angels, eternal life, restoration, joy, and hope. But they are there, and in Unveiled Hope, Scotty Smith and Michael Card do just that.unveil the hope found in the Apocalypse.

Genres: Christian, Theology, Christian Living, Nonfiction, Spirituality

256 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1997

About the author

Scotty Smith is founding pastor of Christ Community Church (PCA) in Franklin, Tennessee. He is now teacher in residence at West End Community Church (PCA) in Nashville, a daughter church of CCC. Scotty also serves as an adjunct professor at five seminaries, including Covenant, Westminster, Redeemer, RTS Orlando, and Western Seminary in Portland. He is the author of several books, including Everyday Prayers, as well as Unveiled Hope with Michael Card and Speechless and Restoring Broken Things with Steven Curtis Chapman.

Reviews

[Andy Huette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unveiled Hope is an easy-to-read commentary on the book of Revelation from an amillennial perspective. I enjoyed the devotional nature of the book and it's a really helpful tool for an into to Revelation. He does some explaining of amillennial vs. other views, but he doesn't overdo it. Just enough to explain himself while keep the book at a broad-view, topical level. A great primer to the book of Revelation.

[AL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thorough, comprehensive study of revelation. Would be great to read WITH revelation!

[Hayley Meijndert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good book! Goes through Revelation in good detail, while relating it to life and how we should respond. I love this books focus on how Revelation is not scary and all about the end times, but rather about true worship of our King Jesus. Has some really good points and things to ponder!

[Cheryl Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very deep but very reveiling in unexpected ways

[Aj · Rating 3 out of 5]

A different look at the book of Revelation. This book pulls out the hope within Revelation as opposed to trying to figure out all the symbolism.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

First sentence: As I write these words I am sitting at the foot of the Swiss Alps in the little fishing village of Iseltwald, just outside of Interlaken.

Scotty Smith and Michael Card walk readers through the book of Revelation in Unveiled Hope. Scotty Smith's sections are prefaced "From the Word," and Michael Card's sections are prefaced "From the Song."

Is it a commentary? Yes and no. Is it a devotional? No and yes.
It does not go chapter by chapter, verse by verse. It is not an analysis of Revelation word by word or phrase by phrase. It is not a dry, scholarly approach intent on cramming your mind with hundreds of facts and details. The purpose seems to be to awaken a deep, passionate desire and longing for the LORD--to cultivate a heart of WORSHIP, of devotion. It serves the purpose of a devotional certainly. But. People have such narrow ideas of what a devotional is: One or two pages of text that can be read in under five minutes, preferably with cup of coffee or tea in hand, something clear enough that can be read with foggy early-morning mind. The chapters in Unveiled Hope vary in length. But most are about twenty pages long!!!

One thing the book is emphatically not is a book about end-times prophecy.

Chapter 1: Revelation 1
Chapter 2: Revelation 2-3
Chapter 3: Revelation 4
Chapter 4: Revelation 5:1-8; 11-14
Chapter 5: Revelation 5:9-10
Chapter 6: Revelation 6:1-8:1
Chapter 7: Revelation 8:2-10:11; 11:15-19
Chapter 8: Revelation 11:1-14
Chapter 9: Revelation 12-14
Chapter 10: Revelation 15-18
Chapter 11: Revelation 19
Chapter 12: Revelation 20
Chapter 13: Revelation 21-22
Epilogue: Revelation 22:6-21

I love, love, love, LOVE, love-like-crazy the book of Revelation. The key for me was learning to read the book in one glorious sitting. Reading the whole book at once--one is overwhelmed magnificently with the glory of God, with the weight of his glory, with the incredible depth and beauty of the good news. How could you see the book as anything but a worship book?! When read in one sitting, one doesn't have time to be scared about this verse or that verse; one doesn't have time to speculate.

This book was a good fit for me--for the most part.