Interpreting Revelation

⁹ I, John, am your brother and your partner in suffering and in God’s Kingdom and in the patient endurance to which Jesus calls us. I was exiled to the island of Patmos for preaching the word of God and for my testimony about Jesus. Revelation 1:9 (NLT)

The author of Revelation is identified throughout the book as John (see Revelation 1:1, 4, 9; Revelation 21:2; Revelation 22:8), and John was a prophet (Revelation 22:9). The book of Revelation reveals that the author was a Jew, well versed in the Holy Scriptures, a church leader, and a deeply devoted to Jesus. Revelation contains a series of symbolic visions that exhibit the influence of Old Testament prophecies, especially those received by the prophets Daniel, Ezekiel, and Zechariah.

Revelation is an unveiling or disclosure by the divine Author of the book, Jesus Christ to His servant John for communication to the church (Revelation 1:1-3). John was exiled to the island of Patmos for faithfully preaching the word of God and for his testimony about Jesus (Revelation 1:9). Patmos was a small island off the coast of Greece similar to Alcatraz. On that desolate island, John had a series of vision he wrote down as Revelation.

Early church tradition has identified this John as the son of Zebedee and the beloved disciple of Jesus, Apostle John (Matthew 10:2). The Apostle John was one of the original twelve Apostles of Jesus. If this John is the Apostle John, then John would have been very old and the last surviving eyewitness of Jesus and the twelve. However, some scholars have argued against the Apostle John’s authorship of Revelation since the writing style of Revelation is very different from that of the Gospel of John and the three Epistles of John – 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John. However, some biblical scholars argue that the very nature of apocalyptic literature, the fact that this revelation was given in a vision, and the circumstances of John's being an exiled prisoner could easily account for the differences in writing style. John probably wrote Revelation 60 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Consequently, the problem of interpretation of Revelation is complex. Few people today agree on exactly what Revelation means. Because of the conflicting theories about Revelation, readers are tempted to respond in one of two ways. Some judge the book so complicated and confusing that they can find no reason to read Revelation. Others fall prey to the opposite, and they pour over Revelation to discover Revelation’s secrets while ignoring the rest of Scripture. Every generation since the first century has come up with different interpretations of the message from Revelation.

The book of Revelation can be difficult to understand with the book’s various visions and elaborate symbolism. Many scholars assumed that the first readers of Revelation in the first century knew the book’s original message without undue difficulty. With the passing of each generation and the apparent failure of the book’s eschatological promises to find fulfillment, confusion began to set in the church. Since the first century, there have endless variations for interpreting Revelation.

Traditionally, biblical scholars have established four major approaches to interpreting the book of Revelation. The benchmark that distinguishes each interpretation of Revelation is the future forecast. The early Christians saw Revelation as a forecast of the future but there were groups of Christians that rejected that idea of Revelation as a forecast.

First, the preterist interpretation, also called the contemporary-historical, understood the book of Revelation as exclusively regarding first-century setting, claiming that most of Revelation events have already taken place. The preterist only saw the last two chapters of Revelation as a forecast of future events and rejected any future orientation. Preterist believed that Revelation is not a book of the future but that author John was a responding to a current first-century problem of the church similar to Apostle Paul's first-century letters to the various churches. Thus, the preterist views Revelation as being fulfilled in the early history of the church. The preterist view developed early and prominent during the time of the Reformation. Most reformers were preterist.

The second approach is commonly called the historicist view. While the preterist placed the book of Revelation entirely within the first-century world, the historicist interprets Revelation as a forecast of the course of history from Patmos to the end of history. Historicist approach views Revelation as a symbolic depiction of the church’s history beginning with the first century and going to the end of the age with such events as the various popes, the Protestant Reformation, the French Revolution, and individual leaders such as Mussolini. Thus, the historical view understands Revelation as portraying a panorama of the history of the church from the days of John to the end of time. This view is not very popular today because this view is strongly anti-Roman Catholic.

The third approach is the futurist or eschatological view. The futurist is prominent among writers who find in Revelation a major emphasis on the final victory of God over the forces of evil, the “Great Tribulation,” and the establishment of God’s everlasting Kingdom on earth. Many futurists regard everything from Revelation 4:1 to the end of the book as belonging to future events. Futurists are the very opposite of preterist. Preterist believes the book of Revelation focuses primarily on first-century while the futurists support prediction seekers of future events. The futurist views are depicted in such movies at the Left Behind series. Essentially, the futurist says that the book of Revelation is a forecast of future events and those strange visions and symbols are predicting events in our current day. Interestingly, if a futurist makes a prediction and that prediction does not come true, then the futurists makes another revision.

The fourth method of interpretation is the idealist or timeless symbolic. Idealist views Revelation as literature that does not reference to any specific historical event but as an expression of the eternal truths as the victory of good verse evil. The idealists see Revelation as a theological poem setting for the ageless struggle between the Kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness. The idealist view is popular in university settings and church setting where Christians see the book of Revelation as a form of literature of the endless battle of good versus evil.

Possibly, the book of Revelation is both futurist and preterist. Revelation is a “prophecy” (Revelation 1:3; Revelation 22:7) not only of future events but also of God’s message for the present. The theme of Revelation focuses on the risen Jesus and His second coming. The author John writes about the living and glorious Jesus, which is the second part of Easter (see Revelation 1:7, 18; Revelation 2:8; Revelation 19:11-16). Jesus is the slain and risen Lamb to whom worship is directed (see Philippians 2:6-11). When God raised Jesus from total death, Jesus ended evil and death. However, Jesus’ death and resurrection did not have much impact at the first Easter except Jesus’ close followers that witnessed the living Jesus (see e.g., 1 Corinthians 15:1-8). The New Testament says that when God raised Jesus from the dead, Satan's reign ended and Jesus’ death purchased redemption for all who faithfully believe in Him (see Revelation 5:5-14; Revelation 12:10-11). Thus, Revelation is Jesus’ second coming and the second act of Easter (see Revelation 19:11-21). No one knows when Jesus will return nor how specifically Jesus will return (see e.g., Matthew 24:36; Mark 13:32-35; Acts 1:7). John uses metaphorical language and not literal language in Revelation to describe the end of the ages. John's description of the end of the age is beyond comprehension and therefore John uses metaphorical language.

References

Amplified Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1987).

ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008).

New Student Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1992).

Ryrie Study Bible: New American Standard Bible (Chicago, IL: Moody, 1995).

Zondervan NIV Study Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008).

Loyd, Melton, Ph.D., Senior Professor of the New Testament (Due West, SC: Erskine Theological Seminary, 2016).

Mounce, Robert H. The Book of Revelation (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998).