Revelation. Intimidated? Don't be. The final book in the Bible is an awesome study guaranteed to bless you. Really. Chapter 22 specifically says those who read and obey the words in the revelation will receive a special blessing. It was written by the apostle, John, after he was given a vision. His words were meant to admonish, exhort and encourage believers in Asia Minor. Before we start, here are a few things to keep in mind.
Don't make it harder than it has to be. Yes, there are lots of sevens, and symbols and John tries to describe things that defy the imagination, but don't let those things throw you.
The Greek name for the book of Revelation is The Apocalypse. Culturally, we have a ascribed an idea to the word 'apocalypse', and granted some of the events described in the Revelation are horrifying, but the word simply means 'the unveiling'. (Think- yanking a sheet away and shouting "ta-da!") So who or what are we unveiling? Jesus Christ. Not the suffering servant, but the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Divine Warrior King who assumes His throne. In Revelation, we get a Mount of Transfiguration-type glimpse of Christ in all of His awesome glory. See that, study that, meditating on that.
The book is divided into three sections. Revelation 1:19 says that John is to "Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this." Chapter 1 makes up the 'things which you have seen", chapters 2-3 make up the "things which are" (contemporary to John) and chapters 4-22 cover the "things which will take place after this." These sections have their own unique character so we'll take our time and look at each section separately.
Keeping these things in mind, let's look at the first section – Chapter 1, the vision of Christ.
- What do you learn about John?
- What symbols are given and how are they interpreted? (Verses 20-21 explain some of the symbolic things John saw.)
- What do you learn about Jesus? What does He say about Himself? How does He appear? Now, John knew Jesus personally and saw Him on the Mount of Transfiguration- how does he react to this vision of Christ? Keep track of these appearances of Jesus throughout the rest of the book. Note how He appears, what He says and does and how others respond to Him.
- How would our lives change if we saw Christ as He really was and not just our familiar version of him?
Next week – Chapters 2-3, the things which are.
Jude is another short one chapter epistle, and like James, this one was written by Jesus' little brother. If the list in Matthew 13:55 was by age, Jude was the baby. He wrote a tight, yet passionate exhortation to guard against apostasy. Apostasy is a deliberate defection from the truth. 
This week's tip is a short one because the books themselves are short. 2 & 3 John are much more like our idea of a letter. Each is clearly addressed to someone the apostle knows and for whom he has warm personal regard. The apostle's great concern is that these young churches are vigilant in identifying and rejecting false teaching.
1 John is like the Blue's Clues of the Bible. If you've not had preschoolers in the house for a while, you may not be familiar with the television show. It creates a very simple, stripped-down, easy to navigate world. It presents literal easy-to-understand lessons in a warm tone, inviting participation. Finally, the five-day cycle (same show for 5 days) helps tremendously with retention, confidence and mastery of the concepts.
Malachi marks the last prophetic word from God for four hundred years, until John the Baptist burst on the scene, proclaiming the kingdom of heaven was at hand. The remnant who returned from Babylon had been back in the land around a hundred years, but they had settled into an empty ritualistic religion rather than embracing a relationship with their covenant God. God raised up Malachi to tell them in no uncertain terms that they had learned nothing from the captivity and if things didn't change, judgment would fall yet again. It's a harsh message to have hanging over them for 400 years. In spite of that, Malachi is straightforward, readable, and has just a twinge of sarcasm. It's one of my favorite of the minor prophets.
After the Jews returned from Babylonian captivity, they undertook the project of rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem. However, they very quickly ran into opposition from the neighboring countries. It got so bad that the Jews lost their resolve and gave up on the project. Sixteen years later, God raised up Haggai and Zechariah to get them back to work.