The Book of Revelation
(by  Bob Pulliam)

The book of Revelation is one of those either/or books. Either you can’t get enough of it, or you find it’s material so mystical you avoid it. Those who can’t get enough, usually can’t because they try to make it’s every word fit modern events. It becomes a challenge to fit it’s magical picture into today’s everyday news. Those who find it too mystical find the interpretation of it’s symbolism too daunting for their time. Somewhere there is a happy medium. An understanding of the book that takes away the jigsaw puzzle and mystical syndromes that drive people away. This lesson won’t be comprehensive enough to do either by itself. But it will hopefully be a good introduction for your consideration. Eventually, I hope to have an entire section on the book of Revelation on this site.

A book of symbolism...

I know of no one who denies that Revelation is full of symbolism. The problem is not that the Premillennialist denies the symbolic character of Revelation. The problem is that he uses nothing but speculation to interpret it. John specified that the Revelation was "signified" to him (Rev 1:1), which would quickly indicate that these matters were shown to him in "signs" rather than explicit statements.

At the same time, we also find symbols explicitly interpreted for us:

-Rev 1:20 gives us the interpretation of the stars and lampstands mentioned earlier in the chapter.
-Rev 17 offers an interpretation of several symbols. The most memorable of which is in v18, where we find the city of Rome clearly implicated in the meanings of the book.

A Book Written to A Particular People...

Why should we conclude that the imminent events described in Revelation apply to our time when it was not even written to us? The book is addressed to the seven churches of Asia (Rev 1:4, 11). None of those churches have survived down to our time. When we study the Bible, it is important to consider how the first recipients would have understood each work. After all, it was written to them. They would have had every reason to have applied the imminent events to their day. The events at the end of the book are said to occur after a specified "1000 year reign". They would have recognized the judgment scenes as pertaining to all in some future time.

It is interesting to note that the book of Revelation has long been interpreted by people to serve their own causes. The Premillennialist is not new in this. Protestant reformers took the Revelation to refer to the Catholic Church, and events in their near future. Pentecostal religions of the late thirties and forties took it to refer to Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler. It has also been referenced by it’s description of "the mark of the beast". Such applications have been:

-The Social Security number.
-Credit Card numbers.
-ATM Pin numbers.
-Secret identification numbers given to every human by a top-secret world unification organization.

A Message for a Particular People...

If the book is to a particular people, then we should find it’s message pertaining to them (a little too profound?). Chapters 2 & 3 aren’t hard to fit into such a framework. But how does the remainder of the book fit in? Here is a sketchy look at the message of Revelation.

Chapter four - The Glory of God. God still reigns, even though Rome seems to be in control.

Chapter five - The Lamb of God (Jesus) still retains His rightful place.

Chapters six and seven - The seals on the book are opened revealing it’s contents. It’s contents cover the scheme of God’s redemption from the time of Christ’s victorious first coming to the overthrow of the last world empire. You might remember Daniel’s prophecy of the four kingdoms, and the establishment of God’s kingdom during the time of the fourth (Roman) kingdom. That fourth kingdom is destroyed in that prophecy, and these seals include that as a part of God’s overall plan.

Chapters eight through eleven - The seven trumpets within the seventh seal announce the great judgment of God on Rome.

Chapters twelve through fourteen - Various signs are seen defining certain aspects of the revelation. The sign of the woman and child offers a view of the Christ brought forth into the world, and the true source of the conflict that resulted (a heavenly view of the conflict). The beast out of the sea is used by the dragon (the true source of confrontation) to war against the saints. The beast out of the earth is an ally of the first beast. The scene in heaven offers a glimpse of the true safety of the earthly situation. The lamb is away from the dangers of the dragon, and God’s people are free to sing his praises (as opposed to the circumstances on earth where men are forbidden to do such).

Chapters fifteen and sixteen - The seven bowls (vials) pour out God’s wrath, executing his judgment and the fullness of fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy (Dan 2).

Chapter seventeen - A clarification of symbolism, confirming that we are dealing with the empire that was then present during the first century.

Chapters eighteen and nineteen - a description of the collapse of the Roman empire and it’s effects.

Chapter twenty - Satan is bound, no longer meddling in the affairs of men as previously seen in the book, and Jesus reigns (presently in progress). After that reign (symbolically represented as 1000 years) He judges all mankind.

Chapter twenty-one and twenty-two - A glimpse at what the people of God are to become in eternity, and the close of the book.

Conclusion...

Not every symbol in the book of Revelation can be understood with absolute certainty. Remember, it was not written to us. What was important was that the people to whom it was written understand them. We can know a few important things about it, however:

-It was not written to us, but to a people who lived nearly two-thousand years ago. It was preserved for our benefit.

-It had meaning for those people, and must be interpreted with that meaning at the forefront.

-That meaning would place a majority of it’s events in the past, eliminating the need for us to speculate on current day events. It is sad to say, and I don’t mean to be cruel, but that would put some preachers out of business.

The general gist of the book offers great consolation rather than a detailed description of some future conflagration. That consolation can be of great benefit for us today. To know that God has promised a crown of life to those who overcome, and while life may directly oppose us, but we can still count on Him to be faithful... What a glorious hope!