Revelation is probably the most misunderstood and unfairly maligned book of the entire Bible. I've been surprised by the number of people who have said the following (or something like it): "I'm not sure about reading that book. It's really scary!" My experience of Revelation is completely different. When I was in high school, I was pretty obsessed with end-times theology and was completely convinced of the validity of premillenial dispensational rapture theology (we'll break that down over the next few weeks). I've come a LONG way since then, basically due to my understanding of (a) Methodism; (b) Scripture; and (c) theology as a discipline. Next week, I'll blog some about the system of end-times thought that has been dominant in the US (otherwise known as Darbyism) and why that is inappropriate on several levels. Today, I just want to give a little introduction. (By the way, our study of Revelation will be at Johnsontown UMC in Thomasville on Tuesday's at 7:00 - everybody's invited!)
First, some helpful Scriptures to establish a framework. Matthew 24:36 - “But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father”; and Matthew 6:34 - “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” Jesus calls us to be present now, today. To work for God's Kingdom today, not to only look to the horizon for a way out. This theme will appear again.
As we move through this book, there are some important words that will recur. These terms also help to set up a framework of interpretation as we move ahead.
Eschatology – from the Gk. eschaton (means “the end”); the study of the end times
Parousia (Gk.) – the return of Jesus Christ to the earth; what we typically call the “Second Coming”
Apocalypse – does not mean destruction or cataclysm; an apocalypse is a revealing, kind of like pulling back the curtain to see what’s really going on in the world; think of the scene at the end of The Wizard of Oz when Toto pulls the curtain back revealing the little man posing as the Wizard - that's an apocalypse (some helpful advice: avoid any 'documentary' on the History Channel with the word "apocalypse" in it)
Millenialism – an interpretation of Revelation based on Revelation 20:1-6, there are three variants, which are related to the Parousia: pre-millennialism, post-millennialism, and amillennialism - we'll explore these in more depth next week
Jewish Apocalypse – a specific genre of writing that developed in the 2-3 centuries before Christ (the second half of the book of Daniel is a good example)
Revelation is in the genre of Jewish apocalypse and is characterized by the following: (1) a visionary journey or experience by the author in which mysterious or hidden things are dramatically revealed; (2) scenes of judgment extending to all of creation; (3) a clear separation between good and evil, there really is no ambiguity in who's good and who's bad; (4) symbolism that borders on outlandish, especially in regards to human institutions of power (more on this later); and (5) the ultimate triumph of God and His people after great struggle and adversity (at least on the part of people, God never really struggles to triumph - He speaks and it is done).
The best place to see an example of Jewish apocalyptic writing in our Bible is Daniel 7 - it would be helpful for what follows if you would read it. Here's a link: http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Daniel+7. There, Daniel sees a vision of 4 beasts, each beast more terrible and powerful than its predecessor. It is important to note that Daniel's dreams are interpreted (in 7:16 and following). This would indicate that Daniel's visions are not strictly literal. They describe symbolically the empires of the earth:
1. A lion with eagles’ wings = The Babylonian Empire
- Winged lions show up in a lot of Babylonian art
- The plucking of the wings and reduction of the beast to a human indicates the defeat of the Babylonians and the fact that, after all, they’re just people
2. A bear with tusks = The Median Empire
- “Raised up on one side” – ready to attack
- Three tusks represent a ravenous appetite for treasure
3. A leopard with four heads and wings = The Persian Empire
- The wings may be referring to the speed of Persia’s conquests under Cyrus
- The four heads can either refer to Persia’s dominance in all directions (North, East, South, West), or to the four Persian kings mention in Ezra 1:1 and 4:6-7
4. A scary beast with ten horns and iron teeth = The Seleucid (Greek) Empire under Alexander the Great
- The ten horns represent the ten kings of the Seleucids culminating in Antiochus IV Epiphanes (his name means “Antiochus the fourth, the god manifest”; this guy was pretty crazy, so his enemies called him “Epimanes” which means “the mad one”, as a play on his name). I love this guy's name by the way, it's right up there with Tiglath Pileser.
- The first Seleucid kings had coins decorated with horns, which are symbols of divine power – (these will come up again in a big way in Revelation)
Revelation as uses beasts to describe the empires of human construction. This is a typical element in Jewish apocalypse. With symbolism being so prevalent in Revelation, the question comes - how shall we go about interpreting these symbols? Unlike Daniel, John does not have an interpreter to go to figure how the meanings behind some of the fantastic images and visions that are shown to him. Personally, I kind of like relying on the Holy Spirit, prayer, and patience to help in understanding, but that's just me…but here's some hopefully helpful thoughts about interpreting the symbolism.
1. Understanding the historic and literary context of the book. Revelation, like all of Scripture, is a product of its time and place as well as being a timeless work inspired by God. The book of Revelation has a historical setting and is rooted in the experience of Christians under the heel of the Roman Empire. Knowing the history is immensely helpful as we seek to understand. A major part of this study will be increasing our understanding of the Roman Empire and the persecutions that Christians were facing.
2. Understanding the reasons behind John's use of symbolism
a. Again, John is writing in the tradition of Jewish apocalypse
b. Revelation, in one sense, is a scathing critique of the Roman empire (and can serve to be a scathing critique of any earthly power, including America)
c. At its core, Revelation is about God's triumph over sin and evil; one surprising aspect of the book is how prominent scenes of worship are
3. It is helpful to understand the nature of apocalypse and prophecy; "prophecy" does not refer to telling the future, but to telling the future. The way prophecy "tells the future" is that the prophet says: "if you continue to do rotten awful Thing A, then rotten, awful Thing B will happen to you." For example, if a king mistreats poor people, then eventually his kingdom will fall. Or, if the people of God continue worship false idols, God's judgment will fall upon them. The prophet's job is to tell powerful people that their behavior and beliefs are rotten and that God will punish them if they persist. Prophets were not popular people. Revelation is a book of prophecy in the sense that it reveals to us the depravity of a broken humanity and the reality of God's judgment. Revelation is not a chronological ordering of events yet to come. More about that next week.
That's enough for now…I'll post more next week! The grace and peace of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be with you!
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