1 The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.
4 John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia:
Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
7 "Look, he is coming with the clouds,"
and "every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him";
and all peoples on earth "will mourn because of him." So shall it be! Amen.
8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty." Revelation 1:1-8 TNIV
“When we turn to Revelation from the rest of the New Testament, it’s as if we’re entering a foreign country . . . Instead of narratives or letters containing plain statements of facts or imperatives, we come to a book full of angels, trumpets, and earthquakes; of beasts, dragons, and bottomless pits.” Fee & Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth.
The book is in the canon, inspired by the Holy Spirit – so it is God’s Word to us – but most folks in the church don’t know what to make of it. Revelation is often omitted from our study - we don’t “cross the border” because of interpretive difficulties:
- Much of the problem stems from the complex symbolism in the book
- The book deals in future events while firmly set in a recognizable first century context – it’s hard to sort out the “temporal” prophecy from the “end times” visions
- Another source of interpretive difficulty is the way John sees everything in light of the Old Testament, which he cites or echoes over 250 times, so that every significant moment in his narrative is imaged almost exclusively in Old Testament language
We won’t try to resolve all the difficulties line by line, and we have to approach Revelation with a proper degree of humility. But we can at least try to dispel much of the nonsense floating around about Revelation in popular culture, and with many church folk.
Much of the popular writing on Revelation jumps straight to hermeneutics – an arrogant appropriation of the text to talk about “here & now” without any thinking about primary context, the writer’s intent, or the original audience, or even God’s overall story.
And thus these “interpretations” usually take the form of fanciful speculations that John himself could never possibly have intended or understood.
Exegesis comes first and in Revelation exegesis is especially important
So we will examine some of the basics of exegesis (there & then):
- Nature of the text, its literary form, and the challenge of the symbolic language
- Historical context
- Literary context
We’ll also look at some of the interpretive issues (here & now)
Revelation as apocalypse, prophecy, and epistle
Revelation is primarily apocalypse – one of dozens of apocalypses that were well-known to Jews and Christians from about 200 BC to AD 200. Some common characteristics:
Taproot of apocalyptic is the Old Testament prophetic literature, especially Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah, and parts of Isaiah
Apocalyptic was concerned about judgment and salvation – as is some of the prophetic literature
But apocalyptic was born either in persecution or in time of great oppressionTherefore its greater concern was not God’s activity within history, but looking forward to a time when God would bring a violent, radical end to history – and that end would mean the triumph of good and the final judgment of evil
- Apocalypses are literary works (not collections of oracles) - with a written structure and stylistic forms and elements, including:
· Literary devices to give them a sense of ancient wisdom, stored up and found for the current time. Most important was their authors’ use of pseudonyms – giving the appearance that their works were written by ancient sages, who were told to “seal it up” for a later day – the later day of course being the time it was actually written
· Presenting their message in the form of visions and dreams
· Use of symbolic language – and the images are often forms of fantasy rather than reality – such as a beast with seven heads and ten horns, a woman clothed in the sun, locusts with scorpion tails and human heads, et al, The fantasy is often in the combination of forms or attributes
· Great fondness for the symbolic use of numbers
· Visions presented in carefully arranged, often numbered sets. Frequently these sets, when put together, express something (for example, judgment) without necessarily trying to suggest that each separate picture follows hard on the heels of its immediate predecessor
Revelation of John fits all these characteristics, except:
- Not written under a pseudonym
- Not cast as an “ancient seer” instructed to seal up a message for the present day – John highlights that he was instructed not to “seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, for the time is near.” Revelation 22:10
Revelation as prophecy
Revelation is cast in the apocalyptic mold and has the literary characteristics of apocalypse, but John clearly means this apocalypse as a prophetic word to the church, calling it “this prophecy” in the opening verses.
Not sealed for the future, but a word from God for the church’s present situation
Recall from our discussion of the Old Testament prophets that to prophesy does not primarily mean to foretell the future but rather to speak God’s word in the present, a word that usually had as its content coming judgment or salvation.
So this is God’s prophetic word to some churches in the latter part of the first century who are undergoing persecution from without, and some decay from within.
Revelation as epistle
Recipients: Churches in the Roman province of Asia who show a mix of fidelity and internal weakness (Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea)
Occasion
· The early Christians’ refusal to participate in the cult of the emperor (who was acclaimed “lord” and “savior”) was putting them on collision course with the state.
· John saw prophetically that it would get worse before it got better and that the churches were poorly prepared for what was about to take place.
· John writes to both warn and encourage them and to announce God’s judgments against Rome
Dealing with the symbols – importance of thoughtful exegesis
Primary meaning of Revelation is what John intended it to mean, which in turn must have been something his readers would have understood it to mean
· Their advantage over us includes familiarity with their own historical context, and familiarity with the forms and images of apocalyptic literature
· Also had a thoroughgoing acquaintance with the Old Testament, and thus would have recognized the source of John’s echoes and allusions of the Old Testament, and known what he was doing with them
We need to be sensitive to the rich background of ideas that informs the images of Revelation – from Old Testament prophecy, from apocalyptic, from mythology – often these images are not used consistently with their original source
Several kinds of apocalyptic images
· Some are constant (like donkeys and elephants as symbols of political parties). “Beast out of the sea” for example, is a standard image for a world empire, not an individual leader
· Others are fluid – the “Lion” of the tribe of Judah turns out in fact to be a “Lamb”
· Some are specific – the seven lamp stands in 1:12-20 are identified as the seven churches, and the dragon in Chapter 12 is Satan
· Many of the images are probably general – for example, the four horsemen in Chapter 6 probably do not represent any specific expression of conquest, war, famine, and death, but rather represent this expression of human fallenness as the source of the church’s suffering (6:9-11) that will in turn be a cause of God’s judgment
Some cautions on understanding the imagery in Revelation – and to avoid misappropriation
When John himself interprets an image, these interpreted images must be held firmly and must serve as a starting point for understanding other images.
There are six such images:
- The one like a son of man (1:13) is Christ, who alone “was dead and . . . is alive for ever and ever!” (1:18)
- The golden lamp stands are the seven churches
- The seven stars (1:20) are the seven angels, or messengers of the churches
- The great dragon (12:9) is Satan
- The seven heads (17:9) are the seven hills on which the woman sits (as well as seven kings, thus becoming a fluid image)
- The prostitute (17:18) is the great city, clearly indicating Rome
See the images as a whole, and not press allegorically all the details
The whole vision is trying to say something; the details are either for dramatic effect, or add to the picture of the whole so readers will not mistake the points of reference.
John expects his readers to hear his echoes of the Old Testament as the continuation – and consummation – of that story.
· Read 1:7 – a collage from Daniel 7-13 and Zechariah 12:10
· Read 1:12-16 – a collage from Daniel 10:6, Daniel 7:9, 13; Isaiah 49:2; Ezekiel 1:24
· The presentation of Christ climaxes as the “Lion of Judah” (Genesis 49:9), the “Root of David” (Isaiah 1:1) turns out to be a slain Lamb (from the Passover and sacrificial system).
· Final judgment of Rome in chapters 17-18 is expressed in language and images from the several prophetic judgments on Babylon and Tyre in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel – and Rome itself is called Babylon
Apocalypses in general, and Revelation in particular, seldom intend to give a detailed chronological account of the future. Their messages transcend that concern.
John’s larger message is that despite present appearances, God is in control of history and the church. Even though the church will experience suffering and death, it will be triumphant in Christ, who will judge his enemies and save his people.
Historical context
The key to understanding the historical context is the motif of shared suffering and persecution of God’s people
· John himself was in exile for his faith, and his readers are companions in his suffering (1:9)
· Note in the seven letters such verses as 2:3, 8-9, 13; 3:10 – and the repeated “to those who are victorious”
· In chapter 7, the great multitude has “come out of the great tribulation,” and will never again suffer Read 7:13-17
· In chapters 13-20, suffering and death are specifically attributed to “the beast”
Main historical themes:
· Church and state on a collision course, and initial victory will appear to belong to the state.
· It will get worse before it gets better – John is greatly concerned that they will not capitulate in times of duress.
· But his prophetic word is also one of encouragement – Christ holds the keys to history, and he holds the church in his hands
· God will finally pour out his wrath on those who caused this suffering and death and bring eternal rest to those that remain faithful
One of the keys for interpreting Revelation is to understand the distinction John makes between “tribulation” and “wrath” – confusing those and assuming they mean the same thing will cause us to get very muddled about what’s going on
· Tribulation – the persecution, suffering, and death that the church was enduring and was yet to endure
· God’s wrath – judgment poured on those that have afflicted God’s people
From every context in Revelation, it’s clear that God’s people will not have to endure God’s awful wrath when it is poured out on their enemies, but it is equally clear that they will indeed suffer at the hands of their enemies
Opening of the 5th and 6th seals (Read 6:9-17) raises the two critical questions of the book:
· When the 5th seal is opened, the Christian martyrs cry out “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?”
Twofold answer: They must “wait a little longer” because there will be many more martyrs, and judgment is absolutely certain – as the 6th seal indicates
· When the 6th seal is opened, the judged cry out “who can withstand it?”
Literary context
Need to think about the visions in Revelation as building blocks for the whole argument – these are not collections of oracles in random order – the book is a creatively structured whole, and each vision is an integral part of that whole.
The visions interlock and repeat and do not seem to be designed to carry one along sequentially in time but rather to amplify the revelation
The book unfolds like a great drama in which the earliest scenes set the stage and the cast of characters, and the later scenes presuppose all the earlier scenes – and must be understood that way in order to follow the plot.
Chapters 1-3 set the stage and introduce most of the significant characters, including John himself who is the “seer” and will be the narrator throughout. Other key characters include Christ and the church.
Chapters 4-5 further help set the stage. With breathtaking visions, set to worship and praise, the church is told that God reigns in sovereign majesty. John reminds them that God’s “Lion” is a “Lamb” who himself redeemed humankind through suffering. And so all heaven bursts forth in praise to God and the Lamb.
Chapters 6-7 begin the unfolding of the actual drama itself. Visions presented in a carefully structured set of seven, in this case seals (happens again in chapters 8-11 – seven trumpets, and in chapters 15-16 – seven plagues, seven bowls). Here we have the horsemen, the martyrs’ question, the earthquake (God’s judgment) and God’s wrath.
Chapters 8-11 reveal the content of God’s temporal judgments on Rome. We’ve moved from the suffering of the church and the judgment of God to the final triumph of God
Chapters 12-22 offer details of this judgment and triumph
Chapter 12 is the theological key to the book. In two visions we are told of Satan’s attempt to destroy Christ and his defeat instead. Satan is revealed as a defeated foe whose final end has not yet come. There is rejoicing because of the salvation of God’s people, yet there is woe to the church because Satan knows his time is limited and he is taking vengeance on God’s people.
Read 12:7-17 – note the parallels to the exodus
Chapters 13-14 – show how Satan’s vengeance took the form of the Roman Empire, with its emperors who were demanding religious allegiance
Chapters 15-16 – the empire and the emperors are doomed
Chapters 17-22 – the book concludes as a “tale of two cities.” The city of earth (Rome) is condemned for its part in the persecution of God’s people. This is followed by the city of God, where God’s people dwell eternally.
Hermeneutical questions
The “here & now” difficulties about Revelation are in some ways similar to the Old Testament prophets, where the “yet to be” had a temporal immediacy to it – where things in the future for them are in the past for us.
We can still hear as God’s Word the reason for the judgments – persecution of God’s people, injustice and oppression.
We can still hear as God’s Word that discipleship goes the way of the cross, that God has not promised us freedom from suffering and death but triumph through it.
Most of our difficulties lie in the challenge that the “temporal” world of prophecy is often so closely tied to the final eschatological realities – and this is especially true in Revelation.
Many want to connect the fall of Rome in chapter 18 as the first chapter of the final wrap-up – the real end of time, and many of the pictures of temporal judgment are interlaced with words or ideas that also imply the final end is part of the picture.
A few suggestions
· Need to learn that the pictures of the future are just that – pictures. They express a reality, but they are not themselves to be confused with the reality, nor are the details of every picture to be “fulfilled” in some specific way.
Thus when the first four trumpets proclaim calamities on nature as part of God’s judgment, we must not necessarily expect a literal fulfillment of all the details of these pictures.
Their point – made by the deliberate echo of God’s plagues against Pharaoh – is to encourage believers under Rome’s soon-coming oppression that God’s “plagues” will fall on Rome as well.
· Must be careful not to spend too much time speculating how any of our own contemporary events may be fitted into the pictures of Revelation.
The book was not intended to prophesy the existence of Communist China, the European Union, or the United Nations (to cite just a few of the wacky inferences people make) – or to give us literal details of the end of history.
And yet, for all the effort to read Revelation for an “end times” view . . . we need to continue to mine the last chapters of Revelation for what they have to show us about John's vision for how life here on earth should be a reflection of heaven - and that what we think we see may not be the best picture of reality.
For example, he portrays the heavenly city coming down as an earthly reality (Chapter 21 – Read 21:1-4). Perhaps in the style of most of the rest of the book John is attempting a re-imagining of present realities.
He may be telling the church that through that pivotal point of history, the death and resurrection of Jesus, this weak-looking church is now a heavenly city on earth, bringing the nations of the earth in to its walls to provide healing and comfort.
Maybe we have a difficult time believing that is what he could have had in mind, but this seems most consistent with the rest of the book.
Wrap-up / Recap
Just as the opening word of Scripture speaks of God and creation, so the closing word in Revelation speaks of God and consummation. If there are some ambiguities for us as to how all the details are to work out, there is no ambiguity in the certainty that God will work it out – in God’s time and in God’s way.
And the Revelation provides a large, motivating, awesome vision for the life we can share now, and the life we offer the world. Our vision is not the best description of reality – What if we could see the world as God sees it? What if we had a God-framed view of reality? How would life be different?
Krista Tippett writes in Speaking of Faith: “I sense that seeing the world the way God sees the world means, in part, grieving in places the world does not forgive, and rejoicing in places the world does not notice. It would mean, therefore, to live with a patience that culture cannot sustain, and with a hope the world cannot imagine.”
We can read John’s specific message to the church at Laodicea as a call to see themselves differently:
14 "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with them, and they with me.
21 To those who are victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches." Revelation 3:14-22 TNIV
Next week: Our final session – an opportunity for review and reflection
