Arial
Active member
The book of Revelation seems, at least at first perusal, almost unrelated and disconnected from the rest of the NT as to its purpose and spiritual benefit. In the four schools of thought related to its interpretation the futurist view is the most prevalent today, therefore the one most of us hear almost exclusively. Having heard, we tend to approach Revelation with that view already in mind. What we find then from the very beginning is a puzzle we must solve, and therefore not a revelation at all but a concealing, and there is where we focus. Fitting all the pieces of the puzzle together so we can see what the book is telling us. What we encounter is symbols, images, analogies, numbers, apparent timelines, all crammed into our starting point of one timeline. Seven years in which Christ's church is not even there if we add to this the rapture of the Church before the seven years, called the Tribulation, leading to the second coming of Christ. We see, consciously or unconsciously, the title to mean revelation of what will occur at some future time, and some of that does exist in Revelation, but primarily it is revealing what is going on in the spiritual realm and the effect it has on the Church. What we ought to be doing is interpreting it by letting the Bible itself interpret what is not clear, by what is. Revelation is not isolated from the rest of scripture, but is a specific type of writing, and this specific type of literature is found all over the OT in particular, in the use of images, visions, symbols and even numbers as symbolic. The symbolic use of numbers is all through the Bible, and the meaning of a number is found within the Bible by how it is always used by God. They represent something. I will examine these meanings in detail as we look into the structure of Revelation. The images etc. we see in Revelation we also see in the prophets of the OT. They are alien to us, but they were not to the people of John's day.
The best way to get to the meat and meaning, and message of Revelation is to approach it with two truths in mind. The central message can be summarized in one sentence: God governs and rules history and will bring it's consummation in Christ. And it is a picture book, not a puzzle book. We will never understand fully all the details and we do not need to. The picture book concept can be summarized by the experience of one pastor who was reading aloud the book to children. He simply read it as it is written and the children listened. No interpretation given. No teaching. A twelve year old boy came up after and said, "I understand it now." When asked what he understood he answered, "We win!" Another said he read it like it was a fantasy but he knew it was real.
Revelation repeats in symbolic form the message that is the rest of the NT. It is meant to strengthen our hearts.
What is the purpose of Revelation and what was the occasion in which it was written? It is addressed to seven churches in Asia (1:4,11). Persecution had fallen on some Christians (2:1-3:22). More persecution was coming (2:10; 13:7-10). Roman officials would try and force Christians to worship the emperor, False teaching and complacency would cause Christians to compromise with the pagan society in which they lived (2:2, 4, 14-14, 20-24; 3:1-2, 15,17). It is an assurance that Christ is aware of their situation, and calls them to stand firm against all temptation, that their victory is secured through the blood of the Lamb (5:9-10; 12:11). He will come soon to defeat Satan and his agents (19:11-20:10). And we can see clearly that all these things written to the seven churches is also applicable to this very day, and has been throughout all of the time between the resurrection and "now" and will continue to be so until Christ's second coming.
To keep this from getting too long, my next post in this thread will deal with the structure of Revelation, but I look forward to all comments as we go along.
The best way to get to the meat and meaning, and message of Revelation is to approach it with two truths in mind. The central message can be summarized in one sentence: God governs and rules history and will bring it's consummation in Christ. And it is a picture book, not a puzzle book. We will never understand fully all the details and we do not need to. The picture book concept can be summarized by the experience of one pastor who was reading aloud the book to children. He simply read it as it is written and the children listened. No interpretation given. No teaching. A twelve year old boy came up after and said, "I understand it now." When asked what he understood he answered, "We win!" Another said he read it like it was a fantasy but he knew it was real.
Revelation repeats in symbolic form the message that is the rest of the NT. It is meant to strengthen our hearts.
What is the purpose of Revelation and what was the occasion in which it was written? It is addressed to seven churches in Asia (1:4,11). Persecution had fallen on some Christians (2:1-3:22). More persecution was coming (2:10; 13:7-10). Roman officials would try and force Christians to worship the emperor, False teaching and complacency would cause Christians to compromise with the pagan society in which they lived (2:2, 4, 14-14, 20-24; 3:1-2, 15,17). It is an assurance that Christ is aware of their situation, and calls them to stand firm against all temptation, that their victory is secured through the blood of the Lamb (5:9-10; 12:11). He will come soon to defeat Satan and his agents (19:11-20:10). And we can see clearly that all these things written to the seven churches is also applicable to this very day, and has been throughout all of the time between the resurrection and "now" and will continue to be so until Christ's second coming.
To keep this from getting too long, my next post in this thread will deal with the structure of Revelation, but I look forward to all comments as we go along.
