Here we deal with the purposes of the letter which is also known as the Book of Revelation. We explain why Revelation isn’t about contemporary politics. It is, nonetheless, an important book to help us understand the liberty and love God wants for us in this age.
It is very important if one wants to follow Jesus Christ and worship in spirit and truth, that the Book of revelation is understood. Firstly, because it is a passionate letter from God to us. It is written largely as New Testament prophecy to the ecclesia of Christ after the ascension, making it unique.
But, at first, it can seem impossible to understand. It is also unique because of the extent of the imagery in the book; biblical imagery is intended to carry the believer into all of God’s Word. It is not a book, as some suppose, warning and threatening the world about the end of history. Although, of course, it contains our Lord’s whole precious gospel for everyone, including the Parousia. Yet it was primarily directed at Christ’s ecclesia in seven geographic locations for their encouragement in that “age”.
Also, Revelation tells the story of the end of that age as a period of time in which the old physical temple of God would be dissolved under the greater realisation of Immanuel – God with us intimately, governing our hearts from within. Thus, it helps us understand, in its final chapters, what to expect in Christian life. The view I hold is a very, very different view from the one made popular through mega churches and rapidly spreading through to evangelical fields; and in Australia at least, is now even seen among reformed congregations.
Yet historically, the view that Jesus gives in Revelation has been the longest standing view, well held by ecclesial fathers such as seen in the Didache (70-110), an ancient and early Christian instruction manual,[1] which, when it deals with the Parousia, has no hint of the premillennialism taught in so many institutional churches. [2]
Thirdly, this book of Revelation that some priests and pastors least like to sermonise, does something important that they may not like – it calls God’s children out of the bondage of religiosity and into the liberty of relationship with God in Christ. It calls us out of the old temple system and physical buildings model of church. That is because it tells of the fall of the Old Covenant people who refused to follow Christ. It is only from the faithful relationship that righteousness springs, not the reverse. This is a pivotal biblical truth that many confess but fewer live, due to impractical teaching about this new living way which is often incompatible with the religion expressed in many churches.
It is also poorly taught because it is so poorly exemplified pastorally. We see the fruit is division into denominationalism instead of living in the power of the Holy Spirit of unifying love. Love and obedience go together in John 14:23. While love follows obedience, we cannot obey of ourselves and must draw on Christ’s imputed righteousness before we can love. We can only experience liberty in the New Covenant and not in the old law. That is why so many in churches suffer depression, illness and defeat. We are not designed for that. Rather, true love is our calling.
And it is this matter of love that is the central theme of the entire canon of Scripture. Paul tells us we have nothing without love, even when our doctrine is correct. That too is Revelation’s message. And one of the messengers, (for there are a few as we shall see), is the human agent bearing Christ’s love – John the apostle. While the authorship is debated, Steve Gregg gives an excellent understanding of the sound reasons for believing John the Beloved apostle penned this work. Further, Gregg points out that the Johannine writings have the “highest Christology”, affirming Jesus Christ as God, His exaltation being seen in heavenly worship as in no other book of the Bible. It is through love that John the Beloved has received confirming expression of the divinity of Christ, confirming salvation and emancipation in all five of his written canonical works.[3]
It is fitting then, that John, who knew the love of Christ, in both the flesh and the spirit in such a personal way, should have been chosen to write a letter about the love relationship of the ages. It makes our understanding of this revelation, this apocalypse or “revealing” so very important as a lens to view the love of God as having both the dimension of intimacy as well as a fierceness against all that would rob the relationship. John was originally one of the “sons of thunder”, yet by the time of this New Testament experiences and later writings, we see a man transformed by the love of Christ. He symbolises for Christ lovers, the pinnacle of the success of the Lord’s eschatological purpose driven from before the beginning of time – the perfect spiritual marriage. There are, no doubt, many others who are and were so enamoured with our Lord, but it was John’s pen chosen to express it in the Word.
In this Book of Revelation, John explains it is a letter.
As a language teacher for decades, I had occasion to teach students about the best format when writing a letter with a specific message for the recipient. In Western culture we state our purpose clearly and “up front”. (Not every culture/ language has this habit. Some cultures find this too confronting). It is a habit drawn from God’s Word where truth is central and God doesn’t “beat around the bush”. The clearest message can be received when the letter has, at the very beginning, an outline of what the writer requires of the recipient. One elaborates within the body of the letter, but in the closing parts and signing off, we need to clarify our desired response again, leaving the recipients in no doubt of what is required of them.
Revelation is such a letter. Amid the splendour of Christ’s appearing in Chapter One, from John, we have the reminder in verse 5b and 6 that this is the One “who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood. And has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be the glory and dominion for ever and ever.” Then the first of the letters within the whole book / letter, specified to Ephesus, we hear the sad news that, although they have everything else that Jesus approves of, they have lost their “first love”. Biblically, we know this means not showing love to the brethren and the downtrodden as we ought to. Jesus calls for the primacy of the expression of the love He has given in 1:5b. [4]
Then, having passed through pericopes of perdition and promise,[5] and come to the end of the book of Revelation, just before the reiteration of promises and signing off verses, we see ourselves emerge with a view of the Lord’s desired “finished product” as it were. It appears in Chapter 19, verses 6-9 in the penultimate of the pericopes which ends with the responsive “wife who has made herself ready.” The praise Jesus has of her, and the richness of the descriptions, overflowing with hyperbolic metaphor upon metaphor, in the last two chapters of Revelation are most heartening, both for the original recipients, meaning the true believers in Asia Minor and also for us in this age. [6]
Stemming from the depth of understanding Paul also desires believers to have of the love of God as superlatively and empoweringly personal, is the promise of blessing that is directed to those who read Revelation. I suggest then, we “read” with all the understanding that is afforded us by the wonderful teachers of truth the Lord had freely provided us with so that we are not caught up in anything that lacks the love of Christ.[7]
We need, however, to take care that we don’t misread Jesus’ letter. It was written, as Jesus explained to John in the use of the Greek word, “σημαίνω (sēmainō)” with symbols in the apocalyptic genre. It wasn’t meant to be a guessing game in a secret code about specific political events or characters of a future century. It was an “unveiling” and unsealing of Daniel’s prophecy – sealed centuries beforehand; hence the name, “Revelation”.
There is one thing, and one thing only, which John heard but was told to “seal up”, meaning it was not for that time. This was an utterance by God symbolised by “seven thunders” in Revelation 10:4. We know that seven indicates God or godly, and thunders is to do with judgment, biblically. We are told, basically here, that what was uttered was not for publication – in which case, it may have been a danger to the messenger who carried it if it fell into Roman hands. The utterance is related to the nations of the empire, as that is the context of Chapter Ten. It may well be related to 10:7 about the “Mystery of God finished” in 70AD, because we know this is about the bride of Christ with her Lord Jesus, free of her enemies. That the readers were assured that there would be no more delay (of the Day of Vengeance) gives us another hint of what the seven thunders would be about in their (not our) future of 70AD. To tell of an end of the war in prophecy may have prevented the divinely intended outcome, which was the destruction of the temple system of sacrifice and worship. It must be remembered that this letter (Revelation), while revealing things to believers, was to be carried through dangerous parts of the Roman empire. If intercepted, and containing specifics in prose about the imminent war, it would be seen as a political letter. The apocalyptic genre ensured safe passage to the recipients, as I explain elsewhere.
The intended audience of Revelation, a generation of lovers of apocalyptic sensationalism, would have really enjoyed these instalments being red – each pericope adding more information about the same set of events – the day they would be avenged (The Day of the Lord). This would be the Roman Jewish War. Except the actual final events – how they worked out, would not be known until after the event. At any rate, there was to be no more delay – the forty years of one generation Jesus had nominated, was up. The boiling pot was about to tip over and the audience would have been on the edges of their seats. Revelation tells us that this is going to happen very soon after the book was written, but the method was not disclosed.
Meanwhile, there is so much revealed that we ought to deal with so that we can do what Jesus asked of the churches back then – and let it feed our lives in the victory Jesus speaks of for us in our day too. This is especially true when we learn that we are living with the final chapters behind us in Revelation.
It was a prophetic word for the letter’s recipients. But for us, it is history affirmed.
In its descriptions of the finality of the law set against humans, the finality of all that is at enmity with God, and lastly the end of death, and Satan’s power to deceive, can we see the victory for all in the call to “Come” drink of the Life-giving waters of Christ.
That the sub-genre of the book is often prophecy in apocalypse throughout should not surprise any person who has spent time in the Bible, particularly the prophets like Ezekiel whose writings and calling often depict apocalyptic encounters and active parables which may seem bizarre on first reading. But these things become meaningful and certainly memorable, when studied with the Holy Spirit’s wisdom.[8] The book of Revelation begins with the identification of one of its three genre, an “apocalypse” being the nominalized form for the verb, to reveal, meaning to bring to light, make fully known.[9]
The degree of symbolism and visionary nature of the Book of Revelation confirms this genre which is announced by John in the opening verse, where he explains that the things in the book were made known to him through symbolic presentation. The one word encapsulating the phrase, “made known symbolically” is “sēmainō” and gives the style with which we associate some of Jesus’ ministry of teaching, particularly parables, in the gospels. Thus, we are given the hermeneutic key for the book and know that these images, numbers and repetitions are not literal.
Apocalyptic writing, more common at the time of John’s writing does not give the modern sense that the word “apocalypse” has today. The meaning has changed to distort the word away from the original meaning of “revealing” or “revelation” – that is, opening up meaning. Today it is used frequently adjectivally as indicating things globally terminal, which was not the meaning of “apokalypsis” at all. The word is rightly rendered a disclosure, a revelation, or a manifestation, or appearance and can also refer to spiritual enlightenment which our text certainly aims to do.[10]
This parabolic style of teaching a spiritual concept through diverse and repeated parallels of varying symbols is familiar to Bible readers. The kingdom ideas in Matthew 13 represented by a pearl of great price, a dragnet, a hidden treasure and a mustard seed all speak the same truth. So too, in Revelation we see a series of pericopes giving spiritual understanding to a reality not seen with the natural eye and encapsulating physical realities summarily. The reader’s task is to listen to the identification of the symbols to gain the truth that brings Holy Spirit liberty and power to overcome in the trials of life set before him. We listen well when Jesus actually gives John the identity of some of the symbols. This happens early in the letter so that John and the reader are initiated into the practice of looking for the identity of other objects and entities as he proceeds.
It is given that “the seven stars” John saw in Jesus’ right hand “are the angels (messengers) of the seven churches” while the “the seven lampstands which you (John) saw are the seven churches.”.[11] We may wonder at the word rendered as “angels” ( angelos ho hepta esekklēsia); it may mean messenger, one sent or angels, so perhaps it refers to the one carrying the letter. Certainly, the meaning of the lampstands and their significance becomes apparent as we continue on in the text. Thus “sēmainō” is set as the style Jesus clearly expects us to comprehend. Now we know who the stars are, for example, as we read of them again, we can connect them with the letters written in more direct speech to the churches. We have already been given the hermeneutic key for the book where the passages can reasonably be taken as figurative.
Jesus expected His audience in the churches of the day to see the symbolic nature of the rest of this presentation with the help of their leaders. We know this because He not only set the “sēmainō” style to begin the letter, and gave the initial examples, the apocalypse continues consistently across the stories of Revelation, even including dream-like morphing of images as we see in the final chapters, where the bride and Jesus are so blended as temple, morphing to gardens, river etc, that we cannot tell them apart. They become one while bearing their own distinct characteristics and roles. Just like a faithful husband and wife grow together as one.
We post-modern readers whose cognitive diet is screen based rather than literary, may need to close our eyes for a while and prayerfully place these colourful Revelation scenes on the screen of our imagination as we consider what was happening back-stage, if you will, behind the physical scenes of life where the spiritual reality can be seen and appreciated. As familiarity with the many references and allusions to Old Testament scriptures and New Testament understanding increases, the reader is enabled to receive the very important messages that God purposes for His children in this amazing letter.
There are no more mysteries that God needs us to unravel.
The book of Revelation is not intended as a biblical mystery in the way Paul speaks of Christ. That mystery is about the ekklēsia and our oneness in Christ through the counter-intuitive cross. That mystery, kept from the devil for centuries was birthed in Christ and revealed through Him by the apostles, especially Paul. There is no longer a “mystery”. Christ is God revealed in us.
All that we need for Life and godliness is already revealed.
In Revelation we have no guessing games for today. We are never instructed in that book to name people as the Antichrist to be feared; or to teach a fear of any of the governmental controlling measures that happen from time to time everywhere in every century. We are not told to identify a contemporary hidden “mark of the beast”. The original readers knew all too well what this was. Consistent with Bible prophetic imagery, it was a nation, and its ruler. The code was not for us, but to protect the bearer of the letter in case it was intercepted by Rome.
Regarding the “mark of the beast” without which one could not buy or sell, this is not something to fear today – or indeed at any time. It explained in the text as exclusion from the market place, which included trade guilds back in the day. Many believers suffered under those economic sanctions being cut off from trade because they appeared to have abandoned their family religion of Judaism. Economic sanctions have been seen throughout history. Anyone who is not sealed in Christ has the mark of the beast; it just means not sealed in the Holy Spirit; or, being marked by the world system. We don’t need to look for it. It means citizens of the state who are not of heaven, primarily. We are not instructed to fear anything. God promises to provide for His own.
These fears are doctrines of demons to take believers off-track into world watching instead of world healing. It will rob the believer of Christ’s peace and love, cause disunity and hardness of hearts to destroy our great commission, while convincing the waverers that they are fighting a good fight with righteous fervour. Such doctrines do gain numbers; they appeal to men and women of anxiety and begat more speculators to draw followings with their predictions. They also make a lot of money out of fear. This religious fearfulness is part of the beast system; and those “Christians” trying to pin it down to mean today’s calamity are feeding what should be avoided by people of faith.[12]
When fears are played upon in sermons or “evangelistic” efforts, we know that it won’t be long before legalistic bondage rears its ugly head. The Letter of Revelation is about justice served for humanity. The opening of those “seals” is depicted in Revelation as bringing a cessation of John’s tears.[13]
The book of Revelation is rich in so many Bible Old Testament prophetic references about the latter days, that is, the time from the cross to 70AD. It contains more than any other New Testament Book. In studying Revelation with its seemingly weird pictures and behaviours of beasts and harlots, grapes of wrath and disasters, glorious victory scenes and heaven opened, we are also exploring the great Old Testament prophets. These are the ones who foretold the arrival of Jesus and His Kingdom and they help us make sense of Revelation’s apocalyptic progressions in a way that brings confrontation to our character. Jesus Christ intends to bring both warning and comfort to our souls as Revelation would have done for the original recipients. The comfort comes through effective personal victory, empowered in Christ in times of trial and tribulation that Jesus has assured us will be ours. The apostles even tell us to rejoice over the trials because of the opportunities for refinement they afford.[14]
As Revelation draws to a close, we begin the see ecclesial refinement has produced a wonderful “Lamb’s wife”. No longer just “espoused”, she is now the married wife. The marriage supper of the Lamb initiated in 70AD is for all who follow the nascent ecclesia who endured to the end of the Old Covenant Age and the demise of religio-political carnality.
But is this refined lover / bride, refined through trials and tribulation, whom we see as refined in the final pages, Revelation’s only message? We need to know how to approach the text to find out.
To discover the writer’s intention or purpose should be the first observation of a diligent reader. We look at the writer, the intended audience and the register chosen for the desired communication. The register of a text is the language style and genre which are determined by the socio-cultural context, which we will now explain.
Without considering these things – especially who the original writer and audience were, a reader can easily miss the message.
From the writer’s opening address, we quickly discover, as already seen, the genre is a letter. The writer declares himself as John, a servant of Christ, being one who has been directed to give this “revelation” in this letter to the “seven churches which are in Asia.” [15]
We identify the epistolary framework, including its sender, from the addressees (the seven churches in Asia), greetings to the intended audience and a concluding doxology. In particular, the inclusion of the recipients indicates this letter is intended to be understood by the first century believers who will hear it read when they are gathered for their regular meeting.
Since the letter’s purpose is primarily for these recipients, it cannot be claimed to contain application in “secret code” for readers thousands of years later, relating to events unconnected to the seven churches in Asia. Allusions in the letter, we will later discover, relate to the words of the Old Testament prophets and the words of the Lord Jesus Himself.
The reader may well wonder why the genre seems to change from letter to apocalyptic writing because Revelation is commonly thought of as a prophecy.[16] Certainly, within the whole framework of the text as a letter, we see a complexity of genre. Yet since the whole was to be read as a letter to churches and is framed in its opening and closing as such, we see the overarching genre of epistle, meaning, a letter.
But before looking at those other literary forms and devices, i.e., the other genre of apocalyptic writing and prophecy, it is paramount that we stress that the reader never let go of the understanding of the function of the book. It is a above all a letter sent to John’s contemporaries. As we consider the letter, so we consider the recipients, seeing the believers of Smyrna in their first century clothing, gathering together in a home for worship and mutual encouragement around a meal and waiting eagerly to hear more of the visions John has seen. Perhaps we think of Sardis and hope that all who have abandoned the faith have turned up to hear the warnings. We see the few in Sardis who have kept their “garments clean” and wonder how they feel as they hear of the call for others to “Come out of her (referring to Babylon) My people.”
A modern reader whose natural inclination in the first instance is a literal reading may find the complexity of genre a little disconcerting. Yet the language and presentation can make it clear when we disregard any false teaching we may have been subject to from end times sermons in the popular field. We need to read it afresh as a letter containing some prophetic encouragement and warning that is rich in symbolism.
The mix of genre should not put us off either, even though it is found to be quite complex, initially. It can be considered comparable to modern musicals where the characters who have dialogued together may enter other genre or communication style, such as dancing and singing to reinforce the script writer’s message. Modern movies and musical may even have fade in and out devices with dreams or fantasies which have bearing on the stream of consciousness of one or more characters. Modern viewers are generally well able to see through the devices to the message at the heart of a modern musical. So, if we think of the pericope like that, it makes more sense. The pericope are not chronological.
The messages contained in the Revelation letter were not meant to be a futuristic mystery. They were given as encouragement to endurance as well as warnings about coming judgment to the extent that individual believers and whole ecclesial groups could lose their “in Christ” status, symbolized also in the loss of the lampstand – even to the point of being spat out of Jesus’ mouth despite all the sound doctrine they had. This point must stay in the interpreter’s mind as textual purpose throughout the reading of the book. It is heavily prophetic and arrests our attention with its hyperbole, its terror contrasted with heavenly grandeur and victorious reward.
When we read passages like Revelation 3:10, we should have the Philadelphians in mind. They have probably heard that Peter warned the first believers, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” We keep in mind that this is not being “saved from eternal hell”, but from “the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world.” We know from the other epistles that this “whole world” meant to them the nations of the Roman Empire which was under threat of wars with rumours of wars at that time.
So the purpose of the prophecy is the encouragement to stay faithful is to the Bride of Christ at that time. It is not directly to us, even though it benefits us.
John himself identifies the book as prophecy not only initially, but across the text (in Revelation 1:1,3, 19; 10:11, 11:3 and 22:6-10, 18). Contrary to popular definition, the word prophecy, more often speaks of proclamation of the Word, encouragement to righteousness, warnings against sinful acts and judgments of God, as opposed to predictions of future events. In any case, the future events of Old Testament prophecy are all already fulfilled in Christ. The future set of events Revelation warns of were only a very little time away as we see in the letter to Philadelphia in verse 10 and 11 mentioned above, “Behold I come quickly. Hold fast what you have, that no-one may take your crown.” This to the bride about to be wed and receive her crown.
The return of Christ as judge is given apocalyptically and can be matched with other New Testament references to Christ’s sudden appearing to end the age of the Old Covenant.
It should also be noted that nowhere are believers given the authority to use the allusions to, or sections from Old Testament passages in contemporary speculation which would change the meaning of the Word. An example that we have sometimes wrongly played with is the prophecy regarding Egypt in Isaiah 19:24. It does not, however, refer to the Egypt of the Twenty-first Century which consists of different ethnic peoples and generations to the reference. Egypt is a type or symbol of the fallen world. The meaning is that the former enemies of God and His people will be under His feet. Christ will conquer as in Psalm 2:9 where He breaks down so that the nations may be healed under the Lord’s salvation for His eschatological purpose.[17] This we have seen is for the whole world.
To take Biblical allusions and references that are given metaphorically and present them as contemporary fact means the real meaning is distorted or even lost and another gospel preached; usually one that makes money for the speaker or writer. To take messianic or Parousia prophecies and assume contemporary political meaning twists the word of God, thereby robbing others of its real salvific meaning. Often this can end in a stumbling block for God’s little ones.[18]
That the practice of contemporary political applications is wrong is seen in the eventual fruit of the churches who use this form of sensationalism. The Life of Christ cannot be sustained when it is practiced and eventually victory fails. We see this throughout ecclesial history. Sustained victory is dependent on loving the neighbour, including one’s enemies and living in the Spirit of the risen Christ to rule and reign in this, the Messianic Age.
We need to take seriously the curse that Paul, as apostle to the Gentiles has explained about anyone who speaks another gospel. That other gospel does not have the real Jesus, so therefore they remain under Adam’s curse. Only the genuine Christ has become the curse for us. And this we see also at the beginning and end of the book of Revelation. Curses are real, as are blessings.[19] If we have been wrong in our understanding and mis-preached a gospel which is not in line with the word of God, and we repent, of course He waits to forgive us. That is His business with us. Our business is to humble ourselves and learn to read, or at least, listen.
The purpose of prophecy is to bring behavioural changes for the hearers of the oracles of judgment and salvation. Those “hearers” are us as well as the original recipients. The pattern is the same as seen in Old Testament prophetic writings where there are warnings of God’s judgment of wicked societies followed by promises of restoration, restitution and vengeance on Israel’s enemies. In Revelation the prophetic imagery depicts these states as complete and assured: Corrective judgment for wickedness and fulfilled promise in Christ’s reward for the bride. As such, the reader is urged repeatedly to heed the words of the prophecy of Revelation to stay faithful. That it is not a futurist letter detailing specific political entities can be inferred from the following details:
- In Revelation 1:3 the recipients are urged to observe the words, keeping them in a practical way, because “the time is near.” (ho kairos engys – kairos meaning a limited time or marked season. “Keep” is rendered in the NKJV from tēreō – means attentive and practical observance of the thing being written.) The immediacy of responsive action in the letters to the churches implies no futuristic projection into a time with which the recipients have no obligation.
- Many scholars observe that words “kairos engys” seem not to be used in our modern adverbial sense of “soon,” so much as prepositionally near or close at hand in respect to God. However, when read in conjunction with the plainly stated “time markers” in the epistles, we see that the expectation of the end of the age of the Old Covenant system was very near. Those churches addressed were to read the letter in that time of incredible tribulation across the known world. The Roman empire was in a state of constant wars and rumours of wars. Adherents to the way of Christ were at risk. The letter would be read to the gathered believers in each region. They are urged to hear so that they would hold fast till the end – listeners were repeatedly told “He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches.” This was an individual responsibility, while also being written within a corporate letter, (2:14,15, 20,24, 26; 3:4).
- The words, “kairos engys” are being used adverbially here of time, meaning that the time of testing was immediate – it is written with an imperative tone requiring a response to the prophecy because the words relate to both individual and corporate eschatology. Each reader’s and listener’s individual eschatological testing and refinement in God is always close, whether for original recipients or ourselves. Interestingly, the “one who reads” is the person delivering the text to each of the seven churches; whether this was John himself (given that Patmos was not far from Asia Minor), or another messenger is uncertain and immaterial. (Some scholars cannot agree on John the Beloved as the author). The “reading aloud” to the group is a Greek verb implying more than a mere decoding of written symbols. The word “anaginōskō”, means to discern or gather exact knowledge of something read.[20] Readers of scripture are called to desire discernment in the words of prophecy. “Reading” without understanding the Lord’s intention is what is meant by those with no spiritual ears to hear. We see Isaiah point to such stubborn hearts in Isaiah 29:11 where illiteracy is the charge against Jerusalem (also called Ariel) .[21] In this reading aloud, Revelation 2:3 implies knowing the written material in a precise way, discerning and definitely not missing the points being made. To understand this long revelation, the reader would have had to be impressed by the warnings and commendations in the seven letters; this is no future speculative knowledge or guesswork. It is the sure word of the Lord about the end of the Old Covenant and judgment for those who crucified Jesus – then, ultimately, life in “this age”. It teaches how believers can trust Him to not only be faithful, but to bring His witnesses / martyrs who love their lives not unto death into ultimate victory over all evil depicted by beasts, wicked cities and the dragon.[22]
- Finally, the person who attends to what he hears is promised blessings (1:3; 2:7, 11, 17,26-28, 3:4,5, 9,10). How could the hearers of the day attend to a futuristic description in their witness for Him in their current lives of testing? The text of the letter must have had contemporary application for the first century believers.
If all believers are also to take the words of the book seriously as advised in the opening lines, then a humble and repentant heart is needed to discover the meanings of those parts that are apocalyptic, or symbolic. This is particularly true of those who may be young believers without a background in the historical contexts of first century believers who themselves had some access to teachers in their gatherings to explain the Old Testament allusions and Paul’s New Covenant teaching.
As to the wider audience of Revelation, as with all Scripture, it is universal. It has application across time and place. We are told that Revelation’s original author is God the Father which makes it a book for all believers like any other, as there is no division in His ecclesia, either by race, gender, country or time. Apostolic letters were being shared around the early churches as a practice because these were the days when their only Bible was the Old Testament. And many did not have the scroll or the literacy for that. Letters of encouragement and correction were sent to be read to the gathered believers who also shared psalms and hymns in their meetings, as well as edification through the practice of spiritual gifts related to the Word.
This highly significant Revelation message is relayed after being given by the Father to Jesus Christ, who is the most prominent character in the book as He relays the material from His Father to John, sometimes via an angel. An angel is also mentioned as a messenger from the Divine Author. Thus, the message passes earthwards from heaven to John who is instructed to pass it to the seven churches. The purpose, we observe, is also given a wider and more universal audience – as the oft repeated phrase, “He who has an ear (implying a willing ear) let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches”. Therefore, Revelation is a message for believers in the seven churches; but anyone with a willing ear may read, listen and learn about the faithfulness of God to fulfil His Word and deliver justice. All people of a good heart long for justice. But many read the book without realising that this is a major revealing. It is presumed that other churches, beyond the seven in that region also received the letter for their edification.
To “have an ear” is to be willing to listen intently, knowing one’s own need to learn, without dismissing God’s message. This need for spiritual enlightenment and its gratification is exemplified earlier when a eunuch, who was an important official to the Ethiopian queen, was on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza, reading the book of Isaiah 53. Philip, the evangelist was sent by the Holy Spirit to help him make sense of what was read. Philip asked the man if he understood the passage and his response, “How can I unless someone guides me?” demonstrates humble willingness to hear and learn from another.[23] Beginning at that same Isaiah text about the humiliation and crucifixion of Jesus, Philip preached the gospel to the man. People often need help from a teacher well versed in the Bible so that they can begin to study the material themselves. Paul instructed Timothy to prepare people in just this manner, teaching good men who could then instruct others. This is a particular and essential role of our genuine scholars and teachers whom we are called to value and respect.[24]
This, then is the Pauline model implicit in the Great Commission of Matthew 28:20 and of necessity for understanding and learning about the book of Revelation. This is not only because of the already mentioned challenge of apocalyptic genre in the text, but because Revelation is a little different from the general apocalyptic literature that first century readers would have known. The imagery in each section is not dissociative, but moves in what scholars have called “progressive parallels” beginning in Chapter 4 in an interconnected way. While each gives an account of happenings in “this age” between the first coming and return of Christ in judgment / raising the dead from soul sleep, they each come from different perspectives and give different emphases to certain entities; yet at the same time major players continue throughout, so that we see the church and Babylon in a variety of contexts and roles as we progress through to the end of Chapter 22 verse 5, just prior to the epilogue, epistolatory warning and signature. The reader knows that there is a repetition of the similar events, even though the perspectives differ because the end of that age with its final judgment is repeatedly related at the end of some sections, making a concluding marker.
Note that the Parousia seen by many and recorded in Josephus, brought an end to soul sleep for the majority of humans who had died over the centuries.[25] Now no human would “sleep”’ all rise to judgment thereafter.
This is why Paul explains to those who would still be alive at the time of the fall / judgment of Jerusalem, they would in no way precede those in soul sleep – they too would now rise at their own point of physical death to be with the Lord or face judgement, because this was the great event of the thrones being placed for judgment. It began with the “house of God” physically in “the Land” and after death as well.
The key images of Revelation are drawn from across the entire Bible, allowing the determined and humble reader to see the greater reality of the spiritual message. Spiritual truth is not revealed to the casual reader, any more than an ethical person would value a casual and careless lover deeply. God is absolutely ethical at the same time as He is absolute love. Hence the lack of understanding given to those who do not earnestly desire/seek Him.[26]
And that enduring love is one of the key images that I draw upon in understanding what God is asking of us by way of response to the Revelation prophecy. The marriage that was begun in the garden of Eden finds its final symbolism in the closing pages of the Revelation letter to small groups of believers in Christ in Asia Minor at the close of the first century.
The love and her Lover are featured throughout the book of Revelation: the cherished and perfect bride of Revelation is starkly contrasted with the ugly and loud whore of Babylon. The stories of these two women thread their way through the ages and pages of both Old and New Testaments in many different contexts. One is a responsive bride, the other an unfaithful and stubborn harlot, who, in having rejected Christ in both Testaments – and effectively crucified Him, receives the fruit of her choices and selfish work.
We need to keep these two women in mind as we progress through the book of Revelation as the events so graphically symbolised will involve them both.
Other major themes of Revelation that depict the divine / human relationship are also taken from the prophetic pages of previous time – the temple imagery of Revelation is seen from Eden through the patriarchs, Moses, the post Babylon deportation, intertestamental prophecies in Daniel and in the teaching of Jesus and His apostles. The temple is such a wonderful type of the relationship and woven so deeply in scripture that it is almost impossible to extricate it from the multidimensional imagery of the relationship when we arrive at the closing chapters of the book.
Ultimately the temple is the groom and bride in joyful domicile. The many other symbols of this relationship, as well as the violation of it, begin to make sense once the audience, purpose and genre of John’s apocalypse is clarified. And herein lies a problem: being the last book of the New Testament, it has repeatedly been supposed through recent centuries to concern itself mainly with the end of the world. Since the meek are to inherit the earth, and the Bible speaks of “world without end”, one wonders where we got this finite idea from. But the purpose in writing to seven churches two millennia ago will help the reader hear what Jesus is saying universally for everyone. And it’s not about the end of the earth. Rather it is about the new promised land coming from the heavenly realm via Holy Spirit love and living to fill the earth as in Psalm 22:27
“All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.” This means all people throughout time, not the end of the world.
One of our big problems with this is that we fail to believe that He can do it in us, His temple.
While the overarching genre of Revelation is Christ’s letter, what follows the ecclesial matters in Chapters 2 and 3 is an expansion of those issues that inform, warn and encourage believers. It calls for endurance and explains the spiritual reality behind the physical experiences of the church and those who have rejected Christ. Like the letters of Chapters 2 and 3 which are rich in plain prose, the apocalyptic depictions contain blessings and curses, warnings and promises. It proceeds in what scholars call a “seeing / hearing” pattern. Visions alternate with the recipient of the vision hearing a voice or receiving information or some other kind of verbal exchange, like a question or response. For example, John finds himself part of the vision in a dream-like state in Chapter 5 verse 4 where he is wholly involved emotionally in the vision. He responds with weeping at the sealed scroll because “no-one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it.” Then he is told not to weep because “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.” We know this refers to Daniel’s sealed prophecy because in Daniel’s time, he was told to seal the prophecy because it referred to a future time far ahead of Daniel’s death. Now, at the prevailing of Christ, He has been found worthy as the second and successful Adam to open / reveal the contents of God’s seven sealed will. That time came at the cross, resurrection, ascension and exultation.
The prophecy had been sealed for some six hundred years. Now this prophecy, which we see is the scroll within the greater prophecy of Revelation, is to be revealed in its fulfilment. Gregg posits that the seven seals and later trumpet and bowls judgments describe the fall of Jerusalem. He provides sound reasons for this position. In his view, that would mean the book was written before 70AD which is the timing of the Preterist view. Gregg owns to being a partial preterist. His reasoning on the dating of the book before the more commonly accepted 95 AD, is that it could not be seen as prophecy unless written prior to the Roman-Jewish war and probably in the time of Nero. Nero’s persecution of the church was horrendous. He had thousands of Christians killed, including Peter and Paul. (Domitian was ruling in Rome at the time of the more commonly accepted writing date.)
I also consider the judgments of Revelation as relating to the events leading up to, and including 70AD and the fall of Jerusalem. The measuring of the temple prophetically, which is in Revelation 11:1 and 2, could only be written if the temple were still standing. If the date of writing was past 70AD, the audience would think there was no need to measure it. The book must have been written prior to the fall of Jerusalem and the temple’s utter desolation.
In any view taken, there must be demonstrated relevance of the content of the work for the seven churches. This must be the fulcrum upon which meaningful content of the whole is balanced.
Prophecy under the Old Covenant ultimately pointed forward to Jesus Christ and the new creation. The cross, resurrection and victory are the fulcrum on which all scripture centres. The New Covenant ultimately points back to Christ’s victory as timeless. New Covenant prophecy is primarily to edify, correct and encourage the believer (1 Corinthians 14:3) to live from a platform of graced victory. Therefore, importantly, it’s all about Jesus (Revelation 19:10).
Thus, we can see that much of Paul’s writings are prophetic while epistolatory. We humans are too focused on prophecy as being prognostic words from God as being geo-centric. It is to our loss to be thus diverted from the Christo-centric nature of prophecy in this age. Revelation does tell the first century believers of things to come for them back then. In plain prose Jesus mentions quite a few of them in warnings and promises to the seven churches – but Christ is always central to these words.
Also, in the judgments and other scenes of temporal judgment, we see warnings about the coming turmoil and punishment as well as comfort for the true bride of Christ.
Gregg’s reasons regarding the judgments are sound, and he does mention the universal warnings that the relation of the events of 66 to 70 AD contain for the ecclesia. What is distinctive in his view is the dating of the text prior to the Roman-Jewish war. He is certainly not alone among scholars regarding that dating. It is interesting to note that the epistles predate the Roman Jewish war and make reference to the fact that the end of the ages had come upon the (then) ekklesia (See 1 Corinthians 10:11; Hebrews 8:23; 2 Timothy 3:1-5 Paul lists last days’ wickedness, saying avoid such people. If it referred to a time 2000+ years hence, how could Timothy avoid them?).
I have heard many a sermoniser say that the apostles expected the Day of Judgment as imminent. Such pastors then say that the apostles were wrong. This is not so. I rather think the preachers of the twentieth century were wrong. Revelations’ judgments were said, by Jesus to be about to happen “ταχύς (tachus)”, that is “soon”. See Revelation 22:6 and 7 as well as 1:3.
Then we clearly see the judgments as the ultimate fulfilment of all prophecies “without delay” because Christ’s worthiness in cross and resurrection qualified Him alone to open the seven sealed scroll. This was what Daniel had been told to seal. The seven churches then could see that God in Christ was about to fulfil His promises in Deuteronomy 28, Leviticus 26 and all the prophets regarding apostasy.
This was the vengeance for unfaithfulness, martyring the prophets and saints, and in crucifying Christ (Matthew 23:35). Now, even to the faithless of the ecclesial age, the message is to take this warning and turn to be healed.” But to the faithful, it is an encouragement regarding their rewards.
Such a message has both local and universal application without compromise to the text nor the fact that the genre is prophecy within the wider context of a letter.
I take this view regarding both the fall of Jerusalem and the specific prophetic warnings and comfort to the seven churches as immediate recipients. Yet we also see the universal prophetic benefit for all who follow in “this age”. The fact that the judgments of the ancient Jewish rulers and followers, as prophesied by Jesus did happen and appear in Revelation in apocalyptic genre, make them serious prophetic warning for the churches of Asia minor and we who read today. If the fall of Jerusalem had been written in prose it would have been a history with less tendency to be taken to heart prophetically – and it would have taken a book as extensive as Josephus’, War of the Jews to express the horrific details.
When Jesus spoke to those who opposed Him, He had said, ““Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.”
But if we look at the original word, here rendered as “hell” in this verse, Matthew 25:15 we see the Pharisees make their followers into double the sons of γέεννα (Gehenna).
This was a warning of what was to happen in one generation’s time (40years) to the hypocritical leaders and their followers. Gehenna is not a supernatural or eternal hell. It was the valley of Hinnom south of Jerusalem. It had been the idolatrous place where the very ancient Israelites burnt their children in idolatrous sacrifices to Molech. This was something God said He would never even think of doing (three times in Jeremiah). After corrective punishment and repentance of this heinous sin, the site was turned into a burning rubbish tip where the carcases of dead animals and malefactors were burnt. This was a cleansing and avoidance of pestilence. Thus the fires continually burnt.
So we see it is not a warning that modern hypocrites go to a post-mortem hell. I repeat my position on this subject of hell. I am not positing a lack of post-mortem consequences for unrepentant sin in one’s lifetime. What I am saying, is this: the passage in Matthew 23 is primarily about 70AD.
Sadly, much error has come into our thinking from Roman mythology which affected mistranslation of a few key words once translations were made by those who pushed the family of God into a state institution because of their political motives.
The One who leads us into all truth is the Holy Spirit in agreement with God’s original Word – not the western take on it.
Of paramount importance is to know the Holy Spirit as one’s personal friend, help and teacher. He is always at hand, within and gently leading us into all truth. But this activity is one that takes time as all teaching-learner relationships do. If we give Him our time, He gives us so much more. And to him who has, more will be given. Giving time to listen to the Holy Spirit, (as opposed to chattering in “prayer”, as we read the text), is part of our spiritual worship.
The bride, the Lamb’s wife, of Revelation 21:9 is a key player throughout the Bible. “She” is you. “She” is we believers. Therefore, identifying her in her various roles is important not only when we read the Bible, but when we consider God’s reason for what believers faced back then and what He expects of us in “this age”.
Since sound scholarship easily identifies Christ’s ecclesia as “the bride, the Lamb’s wife” in Revelation 21:9, it is possible to see her as a central theme in not only the seven churches, but featuring in the pericopes that enlarge Jesus’ teaching throughout the book, culminating in spiritual Zion, the New Jerusalem, the holy city in which it is difficult to distinguish the Lord from His people as both are the temple in unison – they have become one – and yet, as GK Beale establishes – they are also a garden.[27]
This dream-like morphing of entities from one image to the other is the multi-dimensional imagery of marriage between the bride and the Lamb – themselves figures of speech of the intimacy in relationship that God has desired since creation. This is why, as we have seen Vos assert, we know that eschatology predates soteriology. Thus, we see the importance of our doctrine of eschatology. It cannot be misplaced, misused or misunderstood; for to do so is to miss the purposes of God for all believers in “this age”. There is no “oops” of a parenthesis in God’s eternal plan; no “asides” or reversals to physical temples.
The Bible all tends to this end: It’s all about the amazing and powerful, spiritual temple relationship that is meant to accomplish so much for the world. Where we have failed, we repent and pick up again in the glorious victory of loving, healing and bringing the Kingdom of the Prince of Peace to others.
The Bible in general, and the book of Revelation in particular, is about the one and only most powerful love relationship between the Lamb and His bride. Christ is to be our all in all. Not politics. Not promises of wealth. Not a focus on a physical temple of any sort or any war but the spiritual one. The strongholds to be defeated are not overcome by pummelling at the air hoping to hit some evil entity – but by the transformation of our minds in line with His word that we might know His kingdom power over sin and repent successfully. It is our character He desires for His indwelling and to this end He prophesies in His Word for and to His ecclesia.
Revelation is a message largely about the immediate for both the original recipients and for us today, calling us to faithfulness and warning against religious idolatry / humanism. It is like other books of the Bible in that it plays its part in transforming our minds in line with the mind of Christ. It is the ultimate expression of biblical truth spelt out in summary of all the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have said throughout Holy Writ. It is the pinnacle of prophecy in its weaving together of the prophets of the ages to avenge and bless the ecclesial bride.[28] And this, so that we may adore Him as a bride does – in spirit and in truth. And from that heavenly position, i.e., the river of Life, we are empowered to love our neighbours with joy, liberty and healing.
[1] Didache: Complete Text http://www.scrollpublishing.com/store/Didache-text.htm-), Accessed 2nd September 2021.
[2] Boyd (1977 cited in Menn 2018, p 65) Likewise and on through Hermas (c95-154), Ignatius (c35-117), Polycarp (c 69-155), Hegesippus (c 110-180) and on through others to such as the Epistle of Barnabas (c 170-131) and eventually Augustine (354-430), who dispelled the early carnal interpretations of a literal millennium which was largely seen as Jewish rather than Christian in textual origin.
[3] Gregg explains that despite the poor grammar and awkward idiom of the Greek in Revelation, the work of Revelation uses Johannine phraseology and concepts and was probably written without the aid of amanuensis, being written on Patmos. The other Johannine writings were more fluent and John, an unscholarly person (Acts 4:13), most probably had the benefit of an amanuensis being from the Ephesus ecclesia. The use of amanuenses was common practice, rather like a secretary, and we see some named, such as Tertius in Romans who interposes a greeting from himself in Romans 16:22. Details of Gregg’s exploration of the authorship of Revelation can be found at https://www.thenarrowpath.com/audio/verse-by-verse/revelation/01_2012_Revelation_Introduction_Part_1_Overview_and_Authorship.mp3 accessed 16th October 2022
[4] Matthew 22:37–40; John 13:34,35.
[5] Pericopes are small units of narrated material, like the parables in the Gospels. While there are a number of pericopes in Revelation, they are somewhat different from narratives, being sometimes non-chronological, but repetitive. Even within each pericope, the material is not always chronological being apocalyptic and seen in a multidimensional visionary way at times. This is how John would have perceived them as visions. In our Greco-Roman culture we tend to relate material events in chronological order, as “this happened, and then next, such and such happened, and so on”. Dreams and visions are not of this paradigm, but follow apocalyptic genre, so that what is “seen” is recorded by saying, “then I saw / heard….”. The word “then” relates to the next vision rather than something happening next. So, we need to keep that in mind as we read the pericopes. When a believer is given, for example, two or three dreams and visions in a night’s sleep, they are often not chronological, but follow apocalyptic genre, so that what is “seen” by John the revelator is recorded by saying, “then I saw / heard….”.
[6] Revelation 21:9 -22:5 is expressed in metaphor; we see it also in the prose of Proverbs 31, particularly verses 28 – 31.
[8] To the post-modern reader, Ezekiel may seem a little insane; but we must recall that there were no screens or billboards in Ezekiel’s day, and these were the graphics that God gave. Pictures speak volumes and for Ezekiel’s contemporaries, may have stimulated some questioning for us, as we read them, Steve Gregg notes that the visual pictures we form as we read of odd things like the prophet cooking using excrement as fuel and sending his cut hair thither and yon as a message, as very memorable. See Gregg, S, Enacted Parables, Accessed 20th October 2022, https://www.thenarrowpath.com/audio/verse-by-verse/ezekiel/02_0000_Ezekiel_4-5,_12,_24,_37_(Enacted_Parables).mp3
[9] BDAG, lexicon (200 cited in Menn 2018, p 201).
[10] It is also found in the following: Romans 8:19; 1 Corinthians 1:7; 2 Thessalonians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:7, 13 and 4:13.
[11] Revelation 1:20
[12] Matthew 23:14, 15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers. Therefore, you will receive greater condemnation. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.”
[13] See Revelation 5:1-14. Note in particular, verse 13, “and every creature that is in the heaven, and in the earth, and under the earth, and the things that are upon the sea, and the all things in them, heard I saying, `To Him who is sitting upon the throne, and to the Lamb, [is] the blessing, and the honour, and the glory, and the might — to the ages of the ages!’” Young’s Literal Translation leaves no doubt that everything and every being will bow and bless the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.
God intends that those “in Him” do this great work of bringing everything under Jesus’ feet. It cannot fail to happen as it has been declared repeatedly beforehand by God’s Word, Himself.
[14] “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” James 1:2-4
[15] Asia minor, the location of these seven churches was also the location of other churches in the Roman province then called Asia constituted in 133 BC. The area is not referring to the greater part of the continent we know as Asia today, but to the area known today as Turkey. The particular number “seven” of the churches, is used symbolically throughout Revelation and gives us a hint that while these churches were actual churches with problems receiving this letter, this is God’s universal message to all believers.
[16] So much so, that Revelation’s narration, or at least the judgment parts, are referred to as “The Apocalypse” and any reference to feared disasters may be termed such in common modern idiom.
[17] ] Ecclesiastes 3:3 “A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up.” Isaiah 19:22 “And the Lord will strike Egypt, He will strike and heal it; they will return to the Lord, and He will be entreated by them and heal them. Jeremiah 1:10 “See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.
[18] “Jesus said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks will come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be betterfor himto havea millstonehungaroundhisneckandto be thrownintotheseathanto causeoneof theselittle onesto stumble.” Luke 17:1,2.
[19] Revelation 22:18,19.
[20] Revelation 1:3.
[21] Isaiah 29: 11 “The whole vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, ‘Read this, please.’ And he says, ‘I cannot, for it is sealed.’ Then the book is delivered to one who is illiterate, saying, ‘Read this, please.’ And he says, ‘I am not literate.’ Therefore, the Lord said: “’Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honour Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men, therefore, behold, I will again do a marvellous work among this people, a marvellous work and a wonder;
For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden’.”
[22] As Ladd succinctly points out, “Martyrdom has ever been a mark of faithfulness to Christ.” p 29. It is the preparedness to die, whether physically or giving up “self” for Christ and others that is the evidence of faith of the believer.
[23] Acts 8:26-40.
Acts 8:26-40.
[24] Paul had urged Timothy to teach good men who would teach others, 2 Timothy 2:2.
[25] Josephus F., The Wars of the Jews, Book 6, Chapter 5, Section 3
[26] “But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have come upon you, in the latter days you will return to the Lord your God and listen to His voice. For the Lord your God is a compassionate God; He will not fail you nor destroy you nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.” Deuteronomy 4:29-31.
“And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, says the Lord.” Jeremiah 29:13-14a
“Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.” Matthew 7:6.
[27] Beale, GK, The Temple and the Church’s Mission, p 23. Beale notes how John is introduced to “a new heaven and a new earth” and then the focus of this entity is an “arboreal city-temple.” Beale’s Temple text explores this theme throughout the scriptures. We recall also in the Song of Songs, the romantic garden scene suggestive of love and intimacy, which tells us of God’s intention to have a loving family. He is no distant God.
[28] That this bride is pictorial of relationship is seen in the marriage imagery drawn from the Old Testament. We see this resoundingly exemplified in Isaiah 62:4-6; one of so many such relationship pictures: “It will no longer be said to you, “Forsaken,”
Nor to your land will it any longer be said, “Desolate”;
But you will be called, “My delight is in her,”
And your land, “Married”;
For the Lord delights in you,
And to Him your land will be married.
For as a young man marries a virgin,
So your sons will marry you;
And as the groom rejoices over the bride,
So your God will rejoice over you.”
