Lay persons in the church might be forgiven for imagining that the book of Revelation cannot be understood. There are many different interpretive schemes proposed, and hundreds of variations within those schemes.

But the reader who is willing to spend the time will find real treasures in the study of this book, and Paul Himes has provided an excellent guide to some of the most important passages, as he looks at the messages to the seven churches, and even more importantly at the One who is sending those messages, based on the vision in the first chapter and the ways in which the...