Table of Contents Chapters Overview Alan's Gleanings
Mobirise

Why Study Revelation

  1. Gives us hope and makes us resilient - Hope is the anticipation of a positive future … of a life after death.  

    If we have hoped in Christ in this life only,  
    we are of all men most to be pitied.     (1 Cor. 15:19)

    If there is no life after death, then there is no hope and we are wasting our time (i.e., our life) in prayer, in the study of the Bible and in church activities. In other words, our faith in Christ would be worthless and we would still be in our sins. The hope of a glorious life after death helps us to persevere and to bounce back in the face of challenges and troubles and it gives us joy in this present life.  
  2. Promotes worship of our God - The Book of Revelation presents God’s overarching plan and purposes for us and the world. Through my study of Revelation, God has drawn me closer to Him as I catch a glimpse of who He is … Almighty Sovereign LORD, the Patient and Righteous Judge. Our traditional hymns are chock full of the images and symbols from the Book of Revelation. Now whenever I sing these hymns, my mind goes to Revelation and I could immerse myself in the scenes in heaven and worship Him with my mind and heart.   
  3. Challenges us to live a holy life and to serve Him - I am weak in the flesh, so I am grateful to God that I am NOT what I can be (through the restraint of the Holy Spirit); I am thankful that I am what I could NOT be (through the empowering of the same Spirit); and hopeful of what I will be. My heart is filled with gratitude of what He has done and will do for me (Eph. 1:3-14) that I just want to serve Him all the days of my life. And I want to help others know our Wonderful God and/or to know Him a little more.  
  4. Helps discern the times and seasons - Moreover Jesus wants us to understand the Book of Revelation. He said to the Apostle John, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near (Rev. 22:10). Therefore, claim the promise of guidance in John 16:13 as you read these pages and study the Book of Revelation. Jesus said, “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.”

Different Approaches to Interpreting Revelation

  1. Preterist: The events described in Revelation all took place around the time of writing and should be read with that historical context in mind. This view argues that Revelation must have relevance for the original recipients and readers.
  2. Futurist: This view holds that apart from the first three chapters, Rev. 4-22 is primarily prophecy of future events … events which immediately precede the second coming of Christ and its value is primarily for believers who will be living at the time Jesus returns. Note: I am approaching the Book of Revelation from this futurist viewpoint.
  3. Historicist: This view holds that some events in Revelation had happened, some are happening, and others are going to happen. In other words, it is history in the making! It is a timetable by which we can interpret world events today.
  4. Idealist: The events in Revelation do not refer to any specific historical situation … nothing literal happens; everything is symbolic. Revelation speaks of the timeless battle between good and evil … a pattern that will be repeated throughout history and as such the book is applicable to any age.

Interpreting Symbols & Images in Revelation

The Book of Revelation is a combination of three literary types: letter, prophecy and apocalypse. Revelation as apocalyptic literature brings us into the world of visions … what the Apostle John saw … that we can only imagine … a fantasy world of hope and despair depending on the choices we make.

One challenge of interpreting the Book of Revelation is that it changes scenes and time. It takes us to scenes in heaven and then back to earth … shifting back and forth. It has both flashback to past events and fast-forward to future events even ( proleptic vision of ) events future in the sequence of the storytelling.

It also has visions of the earth rocked by cosmic disturbances and filled with strange creatures … locusts with stings like scorpions and teeth like lions; a leopard-like beast with 10 horns, seven heads, feet like a bear and a mouth like a lion; and many more. Who or what are these creatures?

We will adopt the following principles to guide us in interpreting the Book of Revelation: 

  • Seek to understand a passage in its literal, normal and natural sense  
    (as conveyed by its grammatical construction and historical context).  

    For example, Rev. 6:14b  
    “… and every mountain and island were moved out of their places”  

    “Every mountain and island” means what it says … every mountain and island. The context tells us that there would be a great earthquake (6:12) that shook every mountain and island. And where the literal interpretation makes sense then we seek no other sense. In other words, we avoid assigning “secret” meanings to the words ... we do not allegorize.  
  • Explore the context of the surrounding verses to determine the interpretation

    For example, Rev. 9:1  
    “Then the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth” 

    Is that a literal star, a heavenly body like the sun? Rev. 9:1b-2 goes on to say that the key of the bottomless pit was given to him and he opened it. This “star” was capable of receiving and opening; these are clearly the actions of a personality. Here the literal interpretation of the star as an inanimate heavenly body makes no sense (in the context of what it could do) and the figurative interpretation as a personality is better and is adopted.  

    A figure of speech is a word or phrase that possesses a meaning different from its literal (normal) meaning. The purpose for the use of a figurative expression is to intensify the idea being conveyed. What is the idea conveyed in Rev. 9:1? How is this idea intensified by the use of the word “star”?  
  • Check if the Apostle John (the human author) himself interprets the images 

    For example, Rev. 12:3  
    “Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems." 

    Rev. 12:9 explains this image  
    “And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world”.  

    Here the Apostle John helps us in interpreting when he states that the dragon is Satan. But why is the image of a great red dragon used to portray Satan?   
  • Scripture means what it says even though we are unable to explain it (i.e., how it can happen)

    For example, Rev.6:12
    “I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood”. 
From the pictures above, we can see that it is impossible for a total lunar eclipse (earth between the sun and the moon) and a solar eclipse (moon between the sun and the earth) to occur at the same time. Impossible to explain does not mean that these phenomena will not happen in the future. Revelation as apocalypse looks forward to the end times when God would bring about a violent and radical end to history and as such rules of reality may no longer apply. The sixth seal was God's direct intervention in space (the world) and time (history) in contrast to the effects of the first five seals which were largely caused by the actions of men.
An alternative is to interpret the events as sequential but then what would be the interval between the two eclipses? Yet others have resorted to allegorical interpretations e.g., that these cosmic disturbances refer to the breakdown of all authority – political, social, and ecclesiastical – resulting in chaos. But would changes in human institutions bring about such dread of God’s wrath in Rev. 6:15-17? 
15 Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; 16 and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
Moreover, in explaining events and situations, we are often limited to our own experience and the time in which we live.
For example, Rev. 13:15  
"And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed."  
The image of a beast that could speak seems impossible in the past but today with artificial intelligence and robotics, it would seem so passé. However, note that Rev. 13:14 speaks of the image coming to life. How can that be! Another impossibility. 

Presuppositions

  1. There is a future blessing of Israel when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in (Rom. 11:23-29)

    For now, Israel’s rejection of Jesus as the Messiah and their hardness of heart have resulted in the grafting of the wild olive (i.e., the Gentiles) into the root … salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous (Rom. 11:11,17).  

    Then has God rejected Israel? The Apostle Paul said, “May it never be!” In Jer. 31:35-37, the prophet Jeremiah argued in this way: If the order of the heavenly bodies is disrupted then the descendants of Israel will cease and she will no longer be a nation before God. Or if the heavens can be measured and the deep oceans be searched out then God will reject Israel. In one word, “Never!”  

    Israel will once again be blessed of God when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in ... when the blessing of the Gentiles is complete (i.e., until all Gentiles who were to believe are saved).  
  2. Pre-tribulation Rapture View: The present age of believers (i.e., the Church) will not go through the Tribulation.
SUPPORT FOR PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE
  • NATURE OF THE TRIBULATION - upon the nation of Israel (Dan. 9:24; Jer. 30:7). It shall be a time of wrath and judgment poured out by God primarily upon Israel because of their rejection of Jesus Christ (Matt. 27:25).  It will be designed to refine and prepare Israel for Christ’s return and establishment of His kingdom (Zech. 13:9) 
  • STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION (as it relates to the Church)
    (a) Rev. 2-3, the Church is on earth.  
    (b) Rev. 4-5, the Church (represented by the 24 elders) is in heaven.  

    (c) Rev. 6-18, the Church is never mentioned during the Tribulation in these chapters. There will be people saved during the Tribulation but these are distinct and different from the church-age saints who will be raptured before the Tribulation. Then the question arises, "How will people be saved after the rapture?" (see below)

    (d) Rev. 19, our Lord returns to the earth with the Church.  
  • PROMISES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
    (a) Rev. 3:10,13 … keep you (the churches) from the hour of temptation (i.e., the Tribulation) which shall come upon the world. Believers are promised protection from the entire hour of trial / testing, necessitating a removal from the earth to heaven.  

    (b) 1 Thess. 1:9-10 … delivers us from the wrath to come (cf., 5:9)  

    Wrath = the outpouring of God’s indignation upon sin during history and in time on the face of this earth  || The wrath = “the definite, well-known coming wrath”
How will people be saved after the rapture?
(a) The Rapture of church-age believers will cause many to search the Scriptures  

(b) Though the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit may cease (with the Rapture of church-age believers), there will be the continued ministry of the Spirit similar to that which existed before Pentecost … stirring hearts, coming upon people (e.g., 1 Sam. 16:13-14; Judg. 13:25) and  

(c) The testimony of the two witnesses (Rev. 11); the 144,000 Jews (Rev. 7 and 14) and the messages of the three angels (Rev. 14)

(d) The remembrance of testimonies of their family members and friends (who are church-age believers)

© Copyright January 2019 Alan S.L. WONG