The book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ – Introduction:
I believe that the book of Revelation should be an annual read: to reset our focus, fill us with clear insights, give us godly direction, and to bolster our faith in the wondrous promises that God will fulfill for His children, at the end of time.
The contents of the Revelation of Jesus Christ were revealed to the apostle John by Christ Himself.
(Note that there are some who would like to make the Bible mean what they think it should, e.g., a small faction believe it is some ‘other John’, not the apostle, but they have no credible information to back up their claim.)
Major scholarly consensus places the date of John’s transcription of this encounter with Christ at the mid-90s A.D., near the end of the reign of the Roman Emperor Domitian. He received the visions for which he transcribed, on the island of Patmos, a Roman penal colony.
The word ‘revelation,’ is translated from the Greek apocalypsis, meaning ‘the unveiling of things previously hidden.’ The book is a study of eschatology, i.e., of the ‘end times,’ which is the interval between the first and second advents of Christ.
It serves to reveal the great confrontations between the good and evil spirits in heaven, who are driving the current events; and it is also the last evangelical appeal to unbelievers, to latch onto their salvation before it’s too late.
We will be privy to the history of creation, and to the unfolding of its dramatic climax, as we watch Jehovah’s great plan for humankind come to completion.
There are horrific scenes of how things play out for unbelievers; but for God’s children, the book is a blessing of comfort as we are given a vivid picture of our heavenly redemption.
As the nature of the evil spiritual forces behind the scenes are revealed, the oppositional tactics of the devil are exposed – who, because he cannot create anything, must resort to attempting to accomplish his intentions by distorting and misusing what God creates.
Many followers of Christ avoid Revelation because they are frightened by what they read.
However, this fear is only a byproduct of misunderstandings that they have, regarding its content.
These Scriptures are supposed to be a blessing for those who read it. Its purpose is to ease the anxiety of Christians suffering under persecution, and to build their faith in the light of Christ’s imminent conquest of Satan.
It is the only book in the Bible that portrays Jesus as He is today.
The book is also rich in symbolism. Many times, Revelation will tell us how to interpret them. Other times, we must cross-check with other Scriptures and their usage of similar verbiage, to achieve the correct interpretation.
Given the human tendency to quantify and qualify meanings to suit one’s point of view, biblical scholars have formed various ‘camps.’ Each one of them having their own opinions as to how Revelation should be interpreted. This is especially with regards to the place in time where the events within it take place.
One camp, the Preterist, declares that all the events in Revelation occurred during the time when the apostles were alive, (especially John) – thus denying the veracity of the prophecies regarding Jesus’ Second Advent, the resurrection of humankind, and the creation of the new heavens and the new earth.
I believe this view would deny most of the New Testament; and I’m a big fan of seeing the Bible like a pregnant woman. Either it is all true, or none of it is. I’m going with the former…
Another camp, the Historicist, claims that Revelation depicts a broad history – beginning from the time of John, until the condition of the church in present time. They see this period as one of the declines of the church.
The problem with this camp, is that they must adjust their beliefs to realign with any changes that are produced by ongoing present-time events.
A third camp, the idealist, considers Revelation to be a general struggle between good and evil, the suffering within the church in present time, and on to Christ’s Second Advent.
Yet another camp, the preterist / futurist, or eclectic, sees Revelation as a description of events in the time of John, and presents these events in an alternate form, happening in similar variations in the future as well.
If this all sounds confusing, it is!
There is one final camp, the futurist, which ascribes to a point of view that sees the events in Revelation as occurring only in the future. I will borrow extensively from this, as this is the way Christ describes it.
I will not however, use any of these points of view, as a strict rule of thumb when it comes to symbolic interpretation.
Instead, we will examine each of the Scriptures, line-by-line, because Revelation can be complex. Then you have to make a Biblical case for each interpretation along the lined of each ‘camp.’
Afterwards, you can then pray over each case and draw your own conclusions. Your heart will lead you into the truth.
Finally, the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ also shifts back and forth between various time frames and between earthly and heavenly perspectives. I will help you navigate those parts as well.
We are going to study how the world ends as we know it; and for those who are the side of God, it will be a good thing.
It’s going to be a great, wild ride. Next time!
Goodnight and God bless.