The book at the end of the Bible, the book of Revelation, is a fascinating book! It is majestic, with a cosmological view of the role of Jesus, the Jewish Messiah. It deserves regular reading within the churches; it deserves much more exposure than it gets!
The book includes a promise to those who read it, the only book with such a promise. Despite this promise (given in verse 1:3) it is not much read in American churches, probably because of the tendency for some to view it as some type of timeline of current events and to then attempt to interpret it. But the book is much larger than any prophetic timeline and (in my opinion) a search for a timeline is to search for something that the book does not give.
The book gives a large, cosmological view of God working within the human race and of the general resistance of the human race (and world system) to the things of God. Christians are told to be patient and to persevere, keep their eyes on Jesus. The book describes the end of creation and the universe in majestic terms, leading to a new heaven and a new earth at the end.
The book has a lot to say about Jesus, identifying him as God, the One sitting on the throne of heaven, with tremendous power and purpose. It is the identity of Jesus that explains the importance of patient confidence that is expected of the believer. Jesus is described by name thirteen times in the book, is described as the "First and Last" three times and as the "Lamb" 27 times! In this book we get a view of Jesus that is very different from the gospels; here he is not just a view of him not as Savior but Creator and Judge.
The book also includes numerous short praise choruses, sung by heavenly beings.
The book of Revelation is full of symbolic language. Most of it cannot be taken literally. It is called "Revelation" and so our struggle is to understand. "What does this book reveal?"
The book includes a promise to those who read it, the only book with such a promise. Despite this promise (given in verse 1:3) it is not much read in American churches, probably because of the tendency for some to view it as some type of timeline of current events and to then attempt to interpret it. But the book is much larger than any prophetic timeline and (in my opinion) a search for a timeline is to search for something that the book does not give.
The book gives a large, cosmological view of God working within the human race and of the general resistance of the human race (and world system) to the things of God. Christians are told to be patient and to persevere, keep their eyes on Jesus. The book describes the end of creation and the universe in majestic terms, leading to a new heaven and a new earth at the end.
The book has a lot to say about Jesus, identifying him as God, the One sitting on the throne of heaven, with tremendous power and purpose. It is the identity of Jesus that explains the importance of patient confidence that is expected of the believer. Jesus is described by name thirteen times in the book, is described as the "First and Last" three times and as the "Lamb" 27 times! In this book we get a view of Jesus that is very different from the gospels; here he is not just a view of him not as Savior but Creator and Judge.
The book also includes numerous short praise choruses, sung by heavenly beings.
The book of Revelation is full of symbolic language. Most of it cannot be taken literally. It is called "Revelation" and so our struggle is to understand. "What does this book reveal?"
The book breaks into three pieces, an introductory vision and statement to seven churches (chapters 1-3), then the main vision (chapters 4-19) which describe the eventual downfall of the world system and then a final vision (chapters 20-22) of judgement, defeat of Satan and the appearance of a new heaven and earth.
There are a number of ways to interpret Revelation. I will not elaborate on those here, other than to say that the Christian who believes that God has really given this revelation to his Church must then understand that the book is not intended for a small group of people at the end of the age, but for all Christians everywhere. I think this principle -- that this book was as relevant to Martin Luther as it is to Christians of the twenty-first (or thirty-first) century -- gives some guidance on how it is to be interpreted.
To quote Merrill Tenney, "No other part of Scripture has proved so fascinating to expositors, and no other has suffered so much at their hands." Let us read this book with fascination and excitement and avoid ruining it with wild speculation.
Resources for a study in Revelation
OverviewBible.com has a nice summary of Luke here. along with theme verses and other simple "overviews". In a similar way, a nice Youtube video project, The Bible Project, has some short capsules on the book, Luke 1-9, and Luke 10-24. These are nicely done, great for an introductory class on this book.
I have two commentaries on Revelation, Interpreting Revelation by Merrill Tenney and another, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, by Walvoord. I prefer the first, for Merrill Tenney always emphasizes trying to carefully read and understand the text, without jumping to conclusions or claiming some quick spiritual hit. (Indeed, I recommend any commentary by Tenney! I have three.)
My friend, Tim Hall, recommends a sermon by D. A. Carson on Revelation 12. Although the sermon focuses on the twelfth chapter, it has a lot of good things to say about the message of Revelation.
My friend, Tim Hall, recommends a sermon by D. A. Carson on Revelation 12. Although the sermon focuses on the twelfth chapter, it has a lot of good things to say about the message of Revelation.
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