Revelation

Why Open This Book at All?

For many of us the book of Revelation is an unopened book. Why should we open it? After all, greater men than us like John Calvin wrote commentaries on every New Testament book except for Revelation. Jerome, the great biblical translator, once wrote: “The Apocalypse of John has as many mysteries as it has words.”

It is difficult; it is mysterious; it is seemingly unprofitable. But this attitude is tragic, for “all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16).

As well, the book of Revelation was intended by the apostle John to be read in public worship, which reading is one of the seven “blessed's” of the book of Revelation: “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear” (Rev. 1:3). No other book of Scripture has this blessing.

How Can I Read Revelation?

As I preached through this amazing book several years ago, I came up with the following basic hermeneutical principles for my parish to use in reading and listening to this book as we studied it from Lord's Day to Lord's Day. Of course it is not all that can be said or that I would say, but it is a start.

Revelation Is About Jesus

If you forget everything I say about every chapter and every verse, remember that the book of Revelation is about one person: Jesus.

How many of you like puzzles? You pour out all the pieces and they're a big mess in front of you. And you can get lost in the overwhelming amount of pieces and details. But then you sneak a peek at the box cover and you are brought back to reality. The puzzle isn't about all those pieces, it's about the picture. Revelation is not about an end-times puzzle; Revelation is about a person.

Instead of Revelation being a book that is turned into a speculative mess about such things as the 144,000, or the beasts from the sea and earth, or the “Battle of Armageddon,” we find meaning in the book because it reveals Jesus Christ in His person and work.

Revelation Is Just That — a Revealing

It is meant to clarify not confuse; to communicate not obfuscate; to reveal not conceal. The opening word in Greek is apocalupsis. It is a compound word, made up of apo, away from, kalup, to cover, and sis, the process of doing this. In other words, Revelation was not given to be interpreted by us but to interpret the world for us by taking the cover off it and showing us how Jesus Christ is central to all that ever will be.

Revelation Had Real Every-Day Meaning for Its Original Audience

John wrote Revelation to seven actual, historical, living and breathing, first-century churches in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). These churches needed the strength this book offered in times of persecution and suffering while they awaited the return of their heavenly King, Jesus Christ.

This is such an obvious, basic fact, that we must keep before us when we read and listen to this book. The tendency of many interpreters and preachers today is to pull Revelation out of its historical context and interpret it in the light of current events or of some future events that are predicted to come. What Revelation says to those ancient churches to comfort them it says to us by way of application to comfort us. In other words, it is not about us although it is for us.

Revelation Is Written in Symbols

Revelation is a visionary world that corresponds to reality. Satan is not a big scary looking red dragon (12:3), angels are not holding large cauldrons and tipping them over so that they spill onto the earth (16:1), and there is not a manhole cover on a hole to hell (20:1–3). These are vivid word-pictures used to communicate to our world what is happening in the spiritual world.

Symbols are intended to communicate one main point to us, and we need to keep that in mind and not try to find special meaning for all the details. For example, in 9:1–11 we read of locusts who come out of the abyss. If we try to over-interpret, we'll end up saying these are Apache helicopters, with the teeth being .50 caliber machine guns, the hair being the fire out of the exhaust pipe, the breastplates being the titanium armor, and the tails being tomahawk missiles. This misses the point entirely. What did Jewish Christians hear in the synagogue? They heard the Old Testament! And what does a locust do in the Old Testament? It destroys, as in the plagues on Egypt or the judgment on Israel in Joel's day.

God did not use signs to describe modern warfare in a way-off future that only “prophecy experts” can discern, but to communicate to first century Christians great spiritual truths that they could understand — and that we can as well by way of application.

Revelation Is Saturated in the Old Testament

When I became a Christian, I was given three books: the Bible and two of Hal Lindsey's books, The Late Great Planet Earth and The Rapture. I was told I needed to study these two books because they were the key to the Bible. To crack the so-called code of Revelation, though, you don't need these books; the “code” is the Old Testament. To crack the “code” in Revelation we need only look as far as the first part of our Bibles.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking that the word “prophecy” means “to predict the future.” It is true that the Old Testament prophets did this, but they were primarily preachers to their own generation in front of them, just like John is here. Revelation is not meant to predict the rise of Russia or the European Common Market, nuclear war nor advanced military tactics, or the revival of Babylon and Rome. John is a prophetic herald, proclaiming judgment and salvation, law and gospel.

Revelation Is Structured with Recapitulation

The Fathers of the ancient church taught that Scripture employs a literary device called “recapitulation.” Those such as Tyconius (ca. 380) in his handbook on biblical interpretation, The Book of Rules, and St. Augustine (354–430) in his book to young pastors, On Christian Teaching, explain this principle in detail. “Recapitulation” means “to return to the top.” What this means is that in Revelation one chapter or group of chapters describes an event from one symbolic point of view, while the next chapter or group of chapters returns to that event only to describe it again from a different vantage point with different emphases. This rule has been applied to Revelation in the history of the church by the Venerable Bede in An Explanation of the Apocalypse (ca. 710), B. B. Warfield, and William Hendriksen.

The heart of the book is seven parallel sections which describe the period from Christ's first to His second coming, the church age. Each section climactically concludes with the Final Judgment.

Revelation Must Be Interpreted by the Analogy of Scripture

As we read difficult sections of Revelation, always remember our Protestant principle of letting the clearer portions of Scripture interpret the more difficult portions. One example of this would be 20:1–3. What does it mean that Satan is bound? Read the clearer texts such as Jesus' words in Matthew 12:29 and John 12:31, Paul's words in Colossians 2:15, and the book of Hebrews 2:14–15.

Revelation Must Be Interpreted by the Analogy of Faith

The analogy of faith are those basic doctrines of the Christian faith that we have summarized for us in the ecumenical creeds and that we have as Reformed churches in the Three Forms of Unity. We must presuppose these doctrines any time we read a book of Scripture, for they come from Scripture.

Revelation Is to Lead to Obedience

Just listening to this word of God being read is not enough. Hearing must result in doing; the root of our faith must produce the fruits of good works. Revelation is not a book of speculation, then, but of adoration and action.

For these reasons we need to keep Revelation open, not closed. For by doing so we will reap a blessing from the Lord in this “present evil age” (Gal. 1:4).

What This Series Will and Will Not Do

We will work through the text of Revelation itself, section by section. We will let the Old Testament unlock the symbols rather than the morning headlines. And we will preach Christ, because He is what the book is about.

We will not set dates. We will not identify the beast with any living politician, nation, or institution. We will not hand out charts. Revelation is not a book of speculation, but of adoration and action.

Sermons in This Series

Updated weekly as the series continues.

Frequently Asked Questions About Revelation

Join Us Sunday Evenings

You are welcomed to join us in-person at any point in the series. There is no cost, no registration, and nothing to prepare. We meet at the Chapel of the Army & Navy Academy at 2549 Ocean St. in Carlsbad, serving Camp Pendleton to the north down to Del Mar in the south, from Oceanside, Carlsbad, Encinitas, and Solana Beach on the coast, to Vista and San Marcos inland. Read what to expect on a Sunday, or learn why we gather again in the evening.

Are you ready to open this mysterious but Christ-centered and comforting book?