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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011
Decode one of the most complex books in the Bible! Are you baffled by the Book of Revelation? Understand the purpose, key themes, and symbolism of the most fascinating book in the Bible with The Book of Revelation For Dummies, an easy-to-understand guide that will help you grasp the enduring messages of Revelation and apply them to your life. You will understand what Revelation says about the past, present, and future, and how it relates to the rest of the Bible. You will learn how this mysterious book of the Bible fits into a historical context. You'll discover all kinds of interesting facts about the apostle John and learn about the details of his world. You will be able to choose a perspective for interpreting this book of the Bible and decipher the many haunting symbols. There is no need to read this reference guide from cover to cover; simply browse the table of contents or flip through the pages to find the answers and assistance that you need. Discover how to: * Interpret the prophecy of the Revelation * Place it in historical context * Understand how it relates to other books in the Bible * Unravel the details of the apostle John's life and world * Choose a perspective for understanding * See the grander scheme of things Complete with lists of the ten most commonly asked questions about end times and the ten rules of thumb for interpreting scripture, The Book of Revelation For Dummies will help you understand and decode one of the most perplexing books in the Bible!
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The Book of Revelation For Dummies
by Larry R. Helyer, PhD, and Richard Wagner
The Book of Revelation For Dummies®
Published byWiley Publishing, Inc.111 River St.Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2008 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
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About the Authors
Dr. Larry R. Helyer: Larry is Professor of Biblical Studies at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana. He received his doctorate in New Testament from Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California. He pastored Baptist churches in Portland, Oregon, and Sun Valley, California, before moving to the Midwest and teaching biblical studies at Taylor University for 28 years. He has taught a wide range of Bible courses covering both the Old and New Testaments and Jewish literature of the Second Temple. Larry has traveled extensively in the land of the Bible and lived in Israel for a year during his student days at Jerusalem University College.
Larry is author of two books, Yesterday, Today, and Forever: The Continuing Relevance of the Old Testament and Exploring Jewish Literature of the Second Temple Period: A Guide for New Testament Students. Larry has authored numerous journal and dictionary articles on biblical and theological subjects and has just finished a book on New Testament theology. He was the initial translator of 2 Samuel for the Holman Christian Standard Bible.
Richard Wagner: Richis author of The Expeditionary Man, The Myth of Happiness, The Gospel Unplugged, and several For Dummies books, including C. S. Lewis & Narnia For Dummies, Christianity For Dummies, and Christian Prayer For Dummies. He has been a guest on Christian radio programs across the country discussing Christian discipleship issues as well as C.S. Lewis. Richard has served in church leadership and teaching roles for more than a dozen years.
Rich graduated with a bachelor of arts degree from Taylor University and pursued graduate studies at The American University in Washington, DC. Rich lives in New England with his wife and three sons. You can find him online at richwagnerwords.com.
Dedication
Larry dedicates this book in memory of his mother, Hazel M. Helyer (1916–2000). Her love for the Bible, large portions of which she knew from memory, left a legacy far beyond what she could have imagined.
Rich also dedicates the book to his mother, Carolyn, for her lifelong testimony of Jesus Christ as well as her tireless, selfless example of living as a disciple.
Authors’ Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the helpful people at Wiley Publishing who shepherded us through this entire process. Their expertise and encouragement made this book possible. Special thanks go to our indefatigable project editor, Stephen Clark, and our most congenial and efficient acquisitions editor, Lindsay Lefevere. Stephen’s many, helpful suggestions and comments — and timely encouragement — greatly improved this book. Danielle Voirol, our sharp-eyed and savvy copy editor, and our two technical editors, Dr. Robert Berg and Rev. Ken Cavanagh, saved us from more mistakes than we’d like to admit. In short, we’re better writers because of this collaboration.
We’re grateful to our literary agent, Matt Wagner, for his efficient handling of contract, schedule, and financial matters.
Finally, we acknowledge our indebtedness to former teachers, biblical scholars, colleagues, friends, and fellow travelers on the way to the New Jerusalem. Their contributions are too numerous to list. May they all join in for the final chorus: “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:10).
Publisher’s Acknowledgments
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Contents
Title
Introduction
About This Book
Conventions Used in This Book
What You’re Not to Read
Foolish Assumptions
How This Book Is Organized
Icons Used in This Book
Where to Go from Here
Part I : Revealing the End of the Biblical Story
Chapter 1: One Man’s Visions, All Humans’ Fate
Why Read Revelation, Anyway?
Taking a Whirlwind Tour through Revelation
Monitoring the Book’s Timeline
Chapter 2: Setting the Stage: The Apostle John and the World in Which He Lived
ID-ing John Doe, Author of Revelation
Understanding the Troubled Times in Which John Lived
Playing the Dating Game
Unraveling Revelation’s Textured Style of Writing
Chapter 3: The Prequels: Prophecies throughout the Bible
Understanding the Old Testament Backdrop to Revelation
Peeking into Old Testament Prophecy
Examining the 70 Weeks of Daniel 9
Exploring the Olivet Discourse: Jesus’s Prophecy
Part II : Interpreting the Book of Revelation
Chapter 4: Choosing a Perspective for Understanding Revelation
Solving the Revelation Puzzle: Four Solutions throughout History
Futurist: Events Will Take Place at a Moment’s Notice
Historicist: Covering the Entire History of the Church
Preterist: Explaining Historical Events from the First Century
Idealist: Identifying Themes, Not Literal Events
What’s Your Angle? Evaluating the Four Approaches
Chapter 5: Deciphering Symbols with Your Secret Decoder Ring
Giving John’s Readers a Heads-up
Why Use Symbols?
Understanding Common Interpretations
Part III : Taking a Grand Tour of the Book of Revelation
Chapter 6: Setting Up the Scope of the Book (1:1–20)
Declassified! Releasing God’s Secrets in the Apocalyptic Press
Probing the Prologue (1:1–3)
Saluting the Saints in Asia (1:4–6)
Sounding the Theme (1:7–8)
Initiating the Visions (1:9–11)
Seeing the First and the Last (1:12–18)
Charting the Course (1:19–20)
Chapter 7: Reading the Seven Letters to Conflicted Churches (1:19–3:22)
The Symmetry of the Messages
Asking about the Audience
Getting to Know the Seven Churches Up Close and Personal
Chapter 8: Peeking into the Throne Room (4:1–5:14)
Focusing on the “Someone” on the Throne (4:1–11)
Singing Praise to the Lamb with Scroll-Opening Skills (5:1–14)
Chapter 9: Breaking Seven Seals (6:1–8:1)
Unsealing the Beginning of the End
The First Four Seals: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (6:1–8)
The Fifth seal: The blood of martyrs (6:9–11)
The Sixth Seal: The Day of the Lord Has Come! (6:12–17)
Pausing for Effect (7:1–17)
The Seventh Seal: Silence in Heaven (8:1–5)
Chapter 10: Sounding Seven Trumpets (8:2–11:19)
Previewing the Seven Trumpets
The First Four Trumpets: Fire, Blood, and Hail
Wailing the Woes of the Last Three Trumpets
The First Interlude: The Angel and the Little Scroll
The Second Interlude: Two Star Witnesses in Jerusalem
Beginning of the End: The Seventh Trumpet
Chapter 11: A Woman, a Dragon, Two Beasts, and More! (12:1–14:20)
Heavenly Drama: The Dragon Falls, the Woman Is Saved (12:1–17)
Two Beasty Boys Join the Dragon to Make Their Mark (13:1–18)
The Lamb and the 144,000 (14:1–5)
Three Angels with Three Messages (14:6–13)
Harvesting and the Grapes of Wrath (14:14–20)
Chapter 12: Seven Angels, Seven Bowls, and a Final Smackdown (15:1–18:24)
A Preamble to God’s Final Wrath (15:1–8)
Pouring Out the Seven Bowls (16:1–21)
But First, a Word from Our End-Times Sponsor, the Lamb (16:15)
Exposing the Mystery of Babylon the Great (17:1–18)
Loveless in the Ruins: Celebrating Babylon’s Fall (18:1–24)
Chapter 13: Coming of the Kingdom (19:1–20:15)
Returning as Promised (19:1–21)
Dawning of the Millennial Age (20:1–6)
Letting Satan Loose (20:7–10)
Standing at the Great White Throne (20:11–15)
Sorting Out Two Theological Issues
Chapter 14: Seeing the New Jerusalem and a Triumphant Church (21:1–22:6)
Exploring a New Creation (21:1–8)
Taking a Virtual Tour of the New Jerusalem (21:9–27)
Coming Home to the Garden (22:1–6)
Chapter 15: Promising to Return (22:6–21)
Verifying the Source of the Message (22:6–8)
Getting to the End on Time (22:7)
Knocking “Other” Worship (22:8–9)
Leaving the Scroll Unsealed (22:10–15)
And Now, In Conclusion (22:16–21)
Part IV : The Part of Tens
Chapter 16: Ten Common Questions about the End Times
What Does Eschatology Mean?
What Do the Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls Symbolize?
What’s the Great Tribulation?
What’s the Rapture?
Who Are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?
Who is the Antichrist?
What’s the Mark of the Beast (666)?
What’s the Significance of the Term Babylon?
What’s the Millennium?
What’s the Lake of Fire?
Chapter 17: Ten Tips for Interpreting Scripture and Prophecy
Don’t Depend on English Words for Sorting Out Hidden Meanings
Keep Verses in Context
Look to Other Scripture as a Guide
Remember the Target Audience
Look for the Original Meaning
Identify the Literary Style
View Fulfilled Prophecy as a Prototype
Don’t Try to Pin Down Timelines for Fulfillment
Note that Biblical Prophecy Can Have Stages of Fulfillment
Consider that Some Biblical Prophecy Is Conditional
Appendix: Glossary
Introduction
A common cartoon theme involves a person wearing a sandwich sign or carrying a poster that proclaims, “Repent! The end is near!” What’s implied is that some sudden, violent event is just around the corner and that people need to brace themselves for whatever’s coming. And usually, the end that’s near involves something nasty, if not totally devastating.
The idea of a dramatic and destructive end to the earth has been around for ages. It’s the stuff of some really great sci-fi movies, and a lot of the elements that go into these stories come right out of the Bible. In fact, terms such as repent and Antichrist and Armageddon are direct references to messages, characters, and events that make up the book of Revelation. When you examine these themes and images in the context of religion, faith, and biblical history, things get even more interesting.
But the book of Revelation is no easy read. Some people, after slogging through Revelation, seem to suffer from what we call PTRRD: Post-Traumatic Revelation Reading Disorder. Maybe you’ve had this experience. You start reading with a rush of enthusiasm, and all goes well through the first three chapters and their letters to the seven churches. Then things start to get hairy: visions from heaven, creatures with eyes covering their bodies, plagues, horses of different colors, angels everywhere. Seven seals are opened, seven trumpets are sounded, seven bowls are poured out, and things get really confusing. Throw in grapes of wrath, red dragons, giant hail, and something called the rapture, and, well, you get the idea. Lost becomes more than just the name of a television series — it’s the perfect descriptor of your mental state.
Our intent is to help you avoid PTRRD. We act as your tour guides to help you navigate the amazing book of Revelation. Even if you can’t figure out every single detail, clues that open up large chunks of the text abound. We promise you’ll come away with a better understanding of what Revelation is about, as well as a ton of cool information that you can sprinkle into conversations and impress your friends!
About This Book
The first thing you may discover is that there’s no one dominant or right way to interpret the book of Revelation. About the only thing all serious students of Revelation can agree on is that in the end, good wins over evil. Theological views about what happens, when it happens, and to whom it happens vary widely. In The Book of Revelation For Dummies, we introduce the leading views and point you to some of the most likely meanings.
Revelation is arguably the most perplexing book in all the Bible, so our goal is to be clear and concise. Therefore, we aim for an easy-to-understand, approachable discussion, without trying to bombard you with a lot of theological gobbledygook.
The topics in the book are logically ordered, so you can read from start to finish if you want to. But thisis a reference book, so don’t feel you have to read it from cover to cover. You may prefer to browse the Table of Contents, flip through the pages, or thumb through the index to locate a topic that you find particularly engaging.
Conventions Used in This Book
To make sure you get the most out of this book, keep the following conventions and definitions in mind.
Apocalypse
The word apocalypse has become associated with a devastating event, including the end of the world. But the term actually means “to unveil” or “to reveal.” And so, Revelation is a revealing (apocalypse) of the biblical view of how all things come to an end. People often refer to any literature that addresses the end of the world as apocalyptic.
Bible references
The Bible verses we quote are from the New Revised Standard Version translation, unless otherwise noted. We cite passages using the standard convention, Book chapter:verse. For example, John 3:16 refers to John as the book of the Bible, 3 as the chapter of the book, and 16 as the verse of the chapter. If you don’t see a colon in a Bible reference, the number refers to an entire chapter; in other words, Rev. 4–5 means chapters 4 through 5 of the book of Revelation.
When we refer to the Old Testament, we’re talking about those sacred scriptures that Christianity shares with Judaism. Jews refer to these scriptures as the Tanak, or Hebrew Bible. For Protestants and Jews, these scriptures consist of the same 39 books; Catholics include several additional books, collectively called the Apocrypha.
We occasionally refer to Jewish works that aren’t part of the Bible, such as 1 Enoch. If you’re really interested in reading the book of 1 Enoch, check out the English translation with introduction and notes by E. Isaac in James H. Charlesworth, ed., Volume 1.The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: Apocalyptic Literature & Testaments (Doubleday).
Christianity
For the purposes of this book, historical Christianity, biblical Christianity, and orthodox Christianity are interchangeable terms. Each speaks of beliefs that the church has historically upheld for some 2,000 years. Simply, Christianity is monotheistic (believing in one God), is based on the teachings of Jesus, and embraces the entire Bible as truth.
Dates
When we refer to dates, we use the newer designations BCE (before common era) and CE (common era) rather than the more traditional BC (before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini, in the year of the Lord). If you’re unfamiliar with the newer terms, no sweat. The year 34 BCE is the same as 34 BC, and 1050 CE is equivalent to AD 1050.
Names of God
Although God has many names, we generally use God and Lord in this book. Also, in accordance with historical usage, we use the traditional masculine pronoun he to refer to God.
Prophecy and prophesying
People often think of prophecy as being limited to future events. But from a biblical perspective, prophecy is a noun that refers to something more general: the act of speaking the mind and counsel of God. Biblical prophets were, in a sense, the mouthpiece of God, delivering important information to God’s people. Biblical prophecy, among other things, addressed current events, offered guidance on behavior, revealed elements of the character of God, reassured God’s people, and often predicted future events. Sometimes, prophecy about the future was conditional: If bad behavior continued, bad things would happen; if behavior was brought back in line with God’s will, bad things would be averted. The point is that biblically speaking, all prophesy isn’t just about foretelling the future.
Note that prophesy is the verb usage of the word: Prophets prophesy prophecy!
Formatting
In order to draw your attention to particular words and phrases, we use the following formatting conventions:
Italics highlight terms that we define.
Boldface indicates keywords in explanatory bulleted lists.
When we provide a cross-reference to another chapter within this book, we capitalize the word Chapter before the chapter number; however, when we’re referring to a book of the Bible, the word chapter is lowercased.
What You’re Not to Read
Although we focus on what you need to know about the book of Revelation, we also include some additional topics that, although informative, you can skip during your first read-through of the book. These include sidebars, the shaded boxes that show up every so often throughout the book. Sidebars deal with subjects related to the chapter, but they aren’t necessary reading.
You can also bypass text with a Technical Stuff icon beside it — this icon indicates technical, theological, or historical bits of info that’s helpful but more advanced. If your eyes start to glaze over in reading them, you can pass over them without missing the basics.
Foolish Assumptions
In writing this book, we didn’t assume any particular religious faith leanings for the reader. You may be a Christian, Muslim, Jew, or atheist. But regardless of your faith background, we believe you’re generally curious about biblical prophecy and the book of Revelation.
Although we don’t assume you have previous knowledge of the Christian Bible, we figure you have access to one — either in print or online — so you can check out our references to specific Bible passages.
How This Book Is Organized
The Book of Revelation For Dummies is divided into four parts. Here’s a glimpse of each one.
Part I: Revealing the End of the Biblical Story
Part I begins with an overview of Revelation and its major themes, side detours, and often-confusing symbolism. You then explore who the book’s author is and when he likely wrote it. Rounding out the discussion, Part I helps you better understand the prophecy of Revelation by diving into the Old Testament prophetic writings and exploring the characteristics of apocalyptic literature, a genre of Jewish and Christian literature that claims to foretell catastrophic events that’ll transpire during the last days of the world.
Part II: Interpreting the Book of Revelation
In Part II, we introduce you to the sticky topic of interpreting Revelation. Within the Christian church, four views on how to understand Revelation have been long dominant. We explain each of these perspectives and compare and contrast them, noting their strengths and weaknesses. After that, we begin to show you how to make sense of all the symbolism that runs throughout the book’s 22 chapters.
Part III: Taking a Grand Tour of the Book of Revelation
Part III is, in many ways, the heart of this book. In it, we take you on a guided expedition through each and every chapter of Revelation. We identify the key themes and explain the likely meaning of the underlying symbolism along the way.
Part IV: The Part of Tens
In the final part, we explain ten confusing terms that often stymie people when they read Revelation. We then give you ten practical tips to think about when you’re reading and studying Revelation and the Bible as a whole. A glossary of terms follows the Tens chapters for easy reference.
Icons Used in This Book
The icons in this book help you quickly identify specific kinds of information that may be of use to you:
The Remember icon highlights important ideas for you to keep in mind to deepen your understanding of Revelation.
This icon draws attention to important points that help you make sense of Revelation’s prophecy.
Steer clear of the pitfalls we flag in the Warning paragraphs.
The Technical Stuff icon indicates more-advanced or scholarly information about the topic being discussed. It’s useful but not essential for an overall understanding of the discussion.
Where to Go from Here
Now that you’re at the end of the introduction, you have your boarding pass and are ready to begin your travel into the apocalyptical world of Revelation. You have several routes to choose from as you begin your trip:
If you’re interested in reading the book from cover to cover, turn the page and proceed to Chapter 1.
If you’d like to know who this guy called John is (who wrote the book), go to Chapter 2.
To get a perspective on the major ways people interpret Revelation, check out Chapter 4.
If you’d like to use this book as a companion guide as you’re simultaneously reading your Bible, turn directly to Part III.
If you like to read the last page of a novel first, then read Chapters 14 and 15. They tell you how it all turns out in the end!
Part I
Revealing the End of the Biblical Story
In this part . . .
The book of Revelation may be about the “end of all things,” but we have to start somewhere. This part gets your apocalyptic feel wet, so to speak, by introducing you to the book’s author, the original recipients of the book, and the world in which it was written.
After you’ve immersed your feet in the waters around Patmos (where the author wrote the book), you’re ready to dive into biblical prophecy, which is essential to a solid understanding of the symbolism in Revelation. We introduce you to biblical prophecy, taking it step-by-step so you don’t get the bends. After that, we provide a first look at Revelation, giving an overview of the book’s structure and timeline. So come on in, the water’s fine . . . though we do seem to recall a certain beast that may be lurking in the sea! (But you have to wait for Revelation 13 for that.)
Chapter 1
One Man’s Visions,All Humans’ Fate
In This Chapter
Understanding why Revelation is important
Getting a big-picture look at Revelation
Discovering the five natural divisions of the book
Looking for clues to the chronology
Many people love fantasy stories populated with strange apparitions. Others love a good mystery. And still others love an adventure story full of action and battle scenes. If you fall into one of those camps, you’re in luck. The book of Revelation is all these and more.
But Revelation is a challenging book. Those fantastic beasts and creatures are symbols for individuals, nations, governments, and the like. The storyline of the book twists and turns in on itself, not following a straight, chronological narrative. And the whole package is a prophetic vision that’s related to what’s actually supposed to happen when the world comes to an end, at least from a biblical perspective.
This chapter doesn’t try to explore the symbolism behind the events that are chronicled throughout Revelation (we save that for Chapter 5). It also doesn’t pore over the details of these events, personalities, and issues (that’s what’s Part III is all about). In this chapter, we get you started in the right direction. We begin by painting broad strokes of the structure and content of the final book of the Bible. As we do so, we point you to parts of this book where you can find more details on each specific subject.
Why Read Revelation, Anyway?
Humans have always had an insatiable curiosity to know their future and what’s going to happen in the “last days.” That’s at least part of the reason the Left Behind series was popular and why new Nostradamus documentaries show up almost every year. For many, the appeal in reading and understanding Revelation is, quite frankly, not altogether different from the desire to peek into a fortuneteller’s crystal ball. Understanding how it all ends can give you a sense of what your purpose is now.
Revelation can be tough going because of its structure and symbolism and the many ways in which scholars interpret the book. You can easily become discouraged and wonder why you should read Revelation, anyway. Here are several reasons many people consider Revelation to be essential reading:
It helps explain the biblical view of God and his relationship with humans.Many people turn to Revelation in search of definitive answers about what will happen. But Revelation is far more about grasping the nature of God and the close relationship that exists between God and people who believe in him.
It gives readers a glimpse of heaven.The Bible offers few specifics on what heaven will be like. The Old Testament says very little. Jesus and Paul offer more in the New Testament. As if saving the best for last, the final chapters of Revelation offer a rare glimpse into the new heaven and new earth (see Chapter 14).
It offers a message of hope. It’s easy to be a little freaked out by the gloom and doom warnings of the book. But in spite of all of the battles and judgments depicted, Revelation is really all about hope. It portrays, in vivid detail, the biblical view of good triumphing over evil and suffering.
Taking a Whirlwind Tour through Revelation
A major challenge in reading Revelation is sorting out and identifying the overall themes and messages while images — seals, trumpets, bowls, beasts, witnesses, and so on — are ever coming at you. But if you take a step back and get a solid understanding of the big picture, you can begin to dive into the details and make sense of how they all fit together.
Although Revelation contains a lot of confusing symbolism and has many interpretations (see Chapter 4 for a discussion of these interpretations), the book actually divides up rather nicely. At the most basic level, you can split Revelation into five major parts, as illustrated in Figure 1-1. We discuss each of these parts in this section, so read on.
Figure 1-1: The basic structure of Revelation.
Introduction (Rev. 1)
The first chapter of Revelation serves as a prologue or introduction to the entire book. Its purpose is to provide a context to help you make sense of the rest of the chapters (also see Chapter 6). Within the first several verses, you discover that
This is an unveiling of the plans of Jesus (from God) (1:1).
The author is John (1:4).
The audience is the seven churches of Asia (1:4).
It was written on the island of Patmos, a Mediterranean island belonging to modern-day Greece (1:9).
Its purpose is to give readers a sneak peek of what’ll take place (1:1).
As Revelation 1:1 underscores, this book is Jesus’s revealing of God’s plans for the world. In this opening section, John provides explicit details about how his words came to appear in print: God gave the revelation to Jesus, who communicated the message to John through an angel, who was sent for this specific purpose. John wrote these series of visions as an extended letter, which he then sent to the seven churches in Asia (Rev. 2–3).
Today’s readers are a secondary audience for this book because the original readers passed John’s letter both to other churches and to their descendents. Figure 1-2 shows the chain of communication.
Figure 1-2: Passing on the book of Revelation.
One of the keys to understanding Revelation is in 1:19. In this passage, Jesus instructs John, “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now, and what will take place later.” Scholars offer various assessments on how to interpret this verse. However, the interpretation that seems to best fit the original grammar of the passage as well as the structure of the book itself is a threefold timing of events: past tense, present tense, and future tense. In other words, Jesus tells John to write about
The vision he has already seen (Rev. 1)
The current state of the seven churches (Rev. 2–3)
The events that will take place in the future (Rev. 1–22)
Figure 1-3 shows how Revelation 1:19 provides a broad chronology for looking at the entire book.
Figure 1-3: Revelation 1:19 hints at what John wrote about the past, present, and future (in relation to his day).
Letters to the seven churches of Asia (Rev. 2–3)
Revelation 2–3 details the individual letters that Jesus dictates for the seven churches in Asia (see Chapter 8). Each of these churches is in a different spiritual state. For the faithful churches in Smyrna and Philadelphia, Jesus offers only encouragement for their steadfast faith. For the churches in Sardis, Ephesus, Pergamum, and Thyatira, he commends them for some aspects of their faith but also rebukes them for specific areas of failure. Finally, for the church in Laodicea, he offers no encouragement at all and simply calls for their repentance from a lukewarm, middle-of-the-road faith.
Judgments and vignettes (Rev. 4–20)
The primary plot of Revelation 4–20 is a series of progressively severe judgments that are unveiled through seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls. These judgments climax with the return of Jesus, the ensuing battle of Armageddon, the Millennium, and the Last Judgment (see Chapters 9–14).
As you read Revelation 4–20, don’t expect a single, linear storyline. The narrative includes a series of vignettes that make up a secondary plotline. These scenes help fill in the details of the main story, but they’re not necessarily tied to the judgments that surround them. As such, commentators sometimes refer to these vignettes as parentheses, interludes, or insets.
Read on for an overview of the main plot and these interludes.
The primary storyline: Judgments and the last battle
The judgments in Revelation consist of three sets of seven judgments each, symbolized by the opening of seven seals, the sounding of seven trumpets, and the pouring of seven bowls. The three sets are tiered: The seals provide a partial judgment, the trumpets grow more severe, and the bowls show no restraint at all:
Seals: Judgments begin in Revelation 6 when the Lamb (Jesus) opens seven seals on a heavenly scroll. As each seal is opened, a judgment occurs (see Chapter 9).
Trumpets: As soon as Lamb opens the seventh seal, seven angels begin to play seven trumpets in succession. As each is played, a more severe judgment occurs (Chapter 10).
Bowls: More judgments take place when seven angels pour out seven bowls of wrath on the earth (Chapter 12).
As Figure 1-4 shows, the seals, trumpets, and bowls seem to be interrelated. Some scholars hold that the seventh seal triggers the sounding of the trumpets (8:1), and then the seventh trumpet seems to kick off the pouring of the bowls (16:1). As Chapter 9 explores, others suggest that the judgments happen at the same time. Note: Figure 1-4 is not a timeline; it merely maps where Revelation mentions specific events. The events, in some instances, may occur simultaneously or in very rapid succession.
Figure 1-4: The primary storyline from Revelation 1–20.
The pouring of the final bowl sets the stage for the Second Coming of Jesus (the first coming was his earthly life) and the battle of Armageddon, in which Jesus leads his angelic army to victory over Satan’s forces (see Chapter 12). Satan is bound for 1,000 years, commonly known as the Millennium (see Chapter 13). During this time, Jesus and his faithful reign on earth. At the end of this period, Satan is let loose one final time to deceive the world. However, Jesus defeats Satan again and permanently throws him into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10).
Finally, Jesus judges each person. Believers in Jesus — those whose names are found in the book of life — are welcomed into heaven (see Chapter 13). Those whose names don’t make the guest list get thrown into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:15).
The secondary storylines: Vignettes
Interrupting the primary narrative of Revelation is a series of vignettes that help form a secondary storyline. Some of these interludes may be related to the events that immediately surround them, though others seem not to have any chronological relationship at all to the main story. These vignettes include the following:
Seals are placed on the foreheads of 144,000 believers from the 12 tribes of Israel (Rev. 7:1–8).
A “great multitude” is delivered from the Great Tribulation (Rev. 7:9–17).
John encounters an angel and eats a little scroll (Rev. 10).
Two witnesses prophesy for 3.5 years and are then martyred (Rev. 11:3–12).
A woman and a dragon (Satan) appear, and a war in heaven occurs (Rev. 12).
A beast out of the sea and a beast out of the earth arrive (Rev. 13).
Jesus appears with 144,000 believers on Mount Zion (Rev. 14:1–5).
Three angels proclaim messages of repentance and warning (Rev. 14:6–13).
The harvest of the earth separates the believers from nonbelievers (Rev. 14:11–20).
The saga of the great prostitute on the beast (Babylon) and her eventual fall unfolds (Rev. 17:1–19:3).
Figure 1-5 shows how these vignettes fit into the flow of the judgments.
New beginnings (Rev. 21–22:6)
The last you hear of Satan and nonbelievers is at the end of Revelation 20, when they’re thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 21, however, tells the flip side: the future that reportedly awaits those who believe in Jesus. It tells of the “new heaven and new earth” that God will create as the permanent home for his children. But this new world is more than an improved version of their current surroundings. It’s a perfect world in which God will live alongside humans (Rev. 21:3–5). See Chapter 14 for details.
Epilogue (Rev. 22:7–21)
John closes out Revelation with an epilogue that marks the end of the prophecy (see Chapter 15). The major refrain in this final section of the book is Jesus’s reiterating three times, “Behold, I am coming soon!” (Rev. 22:7, 22:12, 22:20). Each of these alerts precedes a call:
Obedience: A call to “keep the words contained in this book” (22:7)
Action: A call to act because he will “give to everyone according to what he has done” (22:12)
Faith:A call to believe Jesus when he says he is coming and to be able to testify to that claim to the rest of the world (22:20)
Figure 1-5: The context of the vignettes.
Getting in the Spirit
As you read through Revelation, the curious phrase “in the Spirit” may jump out at you. John uses in the Spirit to mark the specific visions he has when writing Revelation. The Apostle Paul actually uses that same phrase in his epistles (Romans 8:9), but the way in which John uses the term is altogether different. John is referring to the mysterious state that he’s in as he experiences these visions. In John’s view, God somehow frees him from his normal human limitations and enables him to tangibly experience these visions in his mind and spirit.
In the Spirit appears four times in Revelation: 1:10, 4:2, 17:3, and 21:10. Every time John uses this phrase, he is documenting the details of one of these four visions (see the table). Each of these visions “transports” John to a new geographical location — the island of Patmos, heaven, a desert, and a mountaintop. John never clarifies whether these locations are part of the vision he has on the island of Patmos or whether he is somehow supernaturally beamed to these locales.
You can think of John’s in-the-Spirit experiences as something like a four-part miniseries. Each experience is a separate installment, but together, they form a cohesive storyline.
Monitoring the Book’s Timeline
One of the biggest problems most people have with the book of Revelation is that they expect a traditional, linear model of storytelling. A linear story begins at a particular point in time and then uses progressive scenes to move the characters to some sort of destination. Other stories start out with the characters looking back at something, tell what happened in the form of a flashback, and return to the present. For the vast majority of films out of Hollywood, these two tried-and-true formulas are almost always used, primarily because they’re a natural way to tell a story and are easy for audiences to understand.
However, once in while, a story comes along that — like the book of Revelation — doesn’t fit into this storytelling model. Snow Falling on Cedars and The English Patient are two prime examples. Both have multiple storylines with flashback sequences involving different characters. If you don’t want a mental workout, stories like these can be quite frustrating. But if you persevere and stick with them, you can find the increased texture worthwhile, adding to the overall experience.
As you read through Revelation, prepare yourself: The book of Revelation may start out linear for several chapters, but various vignettes or interludes interrupt the main story. When you equip yourself for that reality, you’ll be in a much better position to deal with the timing of events.
As you consider the how the various pieces of the book fit together, keep in mind the following two topics: transition phrases and parallel events.
And then some: Interpreting transition phrases
Revelation is littered with scores of transition phrases that imply timing. The primary examples include “then I saw,” “and I saw,” “after this,” and “after these things.” Strictly speaking, these transitions may not always translate to the order of prophetic events. For example, you can find 53 instances of the word then in the book. Although some of them imply a connection between one event and the next, others reflect the author’s technique of relaying his story, interweaving the content of his visions with his own experiences. In other words, the narrative has two layers:
John’s experience of having a vision while on Patmos
The content of the visions — horsemen ride, beasts arise, angels fight, and so on
With this kind of setup, a transition may apply to the outer layer (the order of John’s visions) or to the order of prophetic events themselves. For example, suppose I were to tell you, “I saw the season finale of 24. Then I saw reruns of the rest of the episodes over the summer.” In this example, the then relates wholly to the timing in which I saw the episodes. It says nothing about the logical order of episodes for the series.
Although some transitions may be open to interpretation, you shouldn’t just dismiss all transitions, either. In particular, the phrases “after this” and “after these things” are noteworthy. Combined, these two phrases appear just six times and don’t always seem to relate to the order in which John received the visions. For example, its usage in Revelation 4:1, 15:5, 18:1, and 19:1 seems to easily imply a logical sequence of events. However, its usage in 7:1 (which introduces the 144,000 believers of Israel) seems more of a writing device posed to answer the question raised at the end of chapter 6: Who can withstand the wrath of God? (6:17). John uses the term again in 7:9; in this context, the phrase seems to imply the order in which he received the visions rather than a sequential flow of events.
The four major interpretations of Revelation and the different perspectives on the Millennium all weigh in on the timing of events in the book. See Chapters 4 and 13 for details.
Parallelism: Watching things go down at the same time
Revelation has a flow of events, but how each section fits into the timeline isn’t always apparent. Although commentators disagree on the particulars, most agree that at least a few of the portions of the book parallel each other. Perhaps the most obvious example is Revelation 12’s story of the woman in the desert, which is told in two ways in different places in the chapter (12:6 and 12:13–17). A second example, though more contested, is the 3.5-year period mentioned several times throughout the book (11:3, 12:6, 12:14, and 13:5). Some hold that these references indicate that the associated sections parallel each other.
Many futurists (who believe Revelation describes real events that are going to occur — see Chapter 4) downplay parallelism. They think that, by and large, the book progresses in a linear fashion from beginning to end, except for the vignettes (see the earlier “Judgments and vignettes” section). Other futurists view Revelation 1–11 and 12–19 as parallel accounts of the Great Tribulation. Offering a different take, people who embrace a symbolic interpretation of the prophecy (once again, see Chapter 4) see up to seven parallel sections in the book.
The issue of parallelism is also key factor in the interpretation of the Millennium, which appears in Revelation 20:
Premillennialists hold that all the events from Revelation 1–19 will happen before the Millennium.
Amillennialists see the discussion of the Millennium as a parallel section that describes the entire church age; this church age goes from before Revelation 1:1 even starts up until the Second Coming of Jesus in Revelation 19.
Chapter 13 dives into the interpretations of the Millennium.
Chapter 2
Setting the Stage: The Apostle John and the World in Which He Lived
In This Chapter
Discovering who the author of Revelation really is
Understanding how the first-century Roman Empire impacted the book
Knowing why John wrote the book
Looking at the when the book was written
Discovering Revelation’s textured style
Books — perhaps with the exceptions of dictionaries and instructional manuals for gas grills — often reflect the personality of the author. What’s inside a book has a lot to do with who the author is, the times in which he lives, the place where he lives, and the experiences that have shaped his life. So usually, the more you know of the author’s story, the greater the understanding and appreciation you have for the book itself.
The books of the Bible are no exception. Although Christians believe the Bible to be the word of God, most still recognize that each book of the Bible retains the personality, writing style, and experiences of the individual author. Take the Gospel of Luke as an example. You don’t have to know anything about the author to get something out of reading Luke’s account of Jesus. However, when you discover Luke was a gentile (non-Jew) and was educated as a physician, you get a new appreciation for his Greek-oriented perspective and his keen attention to detail.
In this chapter, you get to know John, the John most scholars believe is the author of Revelation, as well as explore the world in which he lived. You gain insight into the man himself, as well as understand his reasons for writing the book. You also discover his unique textured style of writing for this final book of the New Testament.
ID-ing John Doe, Author of Revelation
When you walk into your local bookstore and scan the bestsellers display, you see the author’s name spread out in large letters on each book. The more successful the author is, the larger the font. In fact, for super-selling authors like John Grisham and Tom Clancy, their names appear so large that you often have to search for the title. But regardless of whether you’re dealing with a bestselling author or a first-time writer, you can usually pick up a book and find a biography telling you at least a snippet of the author’s credentials. Even if the author is using a pseudonym (writing under an assumed name), someone somewhere knows the author’s true identity — after all, the publisher needs to know where to send the royalty checks!
Unfortunately, the books of the Bible were written before there were even printing presses, let alone large publishing companies. Frankly, we wish the biblical authors would’ve been as outspoken about biographical details as they were in spreading their messages. It’d make our lives far easier by eliminating any debate about who exactly wrote a particular book.
In many instances, at the time of the writing, everyone knew who the author of a book was, whether the author’s name was attached to it or not. In fact, a lot of the books in the New Testament part of the Bible were written as letters; when you write a letter to a friend, do you add a detailed biographical note at the end? Of course not! The recipient knows who the letter is from even if you merely sign off with your initials.
The authors of the books of the Bible had more important things on their minds than identifying themselves — namely, accurately communicating what was believed to be the word of God. Downplaying their role out of genuine humility, the biblical authors sometimes included their names and sometimes did not. The author of Revelation identifies himself four times (Rev. 1:1, 1:4, 1:9, and 22:8) by simply referring to himself as John. No last name. No title. No biographical data. Because John was a popular name of the day, he could be any old John.
The general consensus of the church since the second century has been that the author is the Apostle John. Yes, this is the John. He and his brother James were two of the original 12 disciples of Jesus, and John was viewed as Jesus’s “best friend.” He’s the author of the Gospel of John and the three letters bearing his name (referred to as the Johannine epistles). In fact, the list of church fathers who credit the Apostle John as the author of Revelation reads as a virtual who’s who of the early church, including Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, and Origen.
As you consider the question of authorship today, be careful not to commit what a logician would call chronological snobbery, believing that modern people are more knowledgeable and sophisticated than people were in the past.
Doubting the Apostle John’s authorship
Not everyone through the centuries has agreed that the Apostle John is the author. Dionysius, who was the pope of the influential Alexandrian church in the mid-third century, argued that the author was actually an obscure first-century church leader named John the Presbyter. He based his argument on internal evidence, or evidence found in the text itself, that he believed pointed to a different author. Dionysius claimed that the vocabulary and style of the book were so different from the Gospel of John and the Johannine epistles that it couldn’t have been written by the same author. According to Dionysius, there are several discrepancies, including the following:
The author of Revelation identifies himself by name. Although the author of Revelation names himself four times (Rev. 1:1, 1:4, 1:9, 22:8), the Apostle John generally avoids doing so in his other writings. In the Gospel of John, he identifies himself only as the “disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23, 21:7, 21:20), and in two of his three epistles, he calls himself the “elder” (2 John 1:1; 3 John 1:1).
Revelation is written in a sloppier style of Greek than the other works of the Apostle John. Clearly, the author of Revelation is highly knowledgeable in the Old Testament books, probably knowing both the original Hebrew texts and the Greek-translated Septuagint (an ancient Greek version of the Hebrew Scriptures). But his writing skills aren’t always as sharp as his explanation of Scripture. Although John’s Gospel and epistles are written in refined, polished Greek, Revelation is scribed in a Semitic Greek style that some scholars argue is slipshod in comparison. In other words, if you were to say the Apostle John’s other writings were composed like a John Grisham novel, then Revelation seems more in the style of a hastily cobbled together term paper.
The vocabulary and writing style (the author’s voice) of the acknowledged Johannine writings contrast with Revelation. Most authors fall into similar writing patterns. If you have favorite authors, you can often discern their tone and voice, even if the topics they’re writing about vary. The sentence structure, vocabulary, rhythm of the paragraphs, and so on tend to be similar from article to article and book to book. The Apostle John’s Gospel and epistles have this common feel to them. For example, the Gospel of John begins with, “In the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1), and 1 John starts with a similar tone: “We declare to you what was from the beginning” (1 John 1:1). This type of similarity doesn’t carry over to Revelation.
Dionysius’s position gained a few followers over the centuries, including Martin Luther. However, not until recent times did his opinions gain momentum. Modern scholars in some circles have jumped on the Dionysius bandwagon and worked to expand on the issues originally raised by the third-century church leader.
Defending the Apostle John as author
As some modern scholars have rejected the Apostle John as author of Revelation (see the preceding section), other contemporary scholars have vigorously defended the traditional view of apostolic authorship. As we explain in this section, proponents of Johannine authorship raise several internal and external issues (evidence outside of the book itself) to back their claim.
The text: Addressing Dionysius’s challenges
Here’s how scholars have responded to Dionysius’s claims that the Johannine epistles and Gospel differ too much from Revelation to have the same author:
John may have had a purpose in specifically naming himself in Revelation.Though the Apostle John never identifies himself by name in his other books, the fact that he does so in Revelation doesn’t necessarily eliminate him as its author. In fact, there are reasonable explanations for his doing so. In particular, keep in mind that Revelation is a completely different type of book from the other New Testament books. Authority is particularly important for prophetic writing, so he may have felt obligated to name himself to eliminate any question about the book’s credibility.
John doesn’t feel compelled to qualify himself. When the author does give his name, he doesn’t attempt to give himself a title. He’s simply John. Given the Apostle John’s preeminent role in the early church, he would’ve been able to simply drop his name and provide no further explanation.
John consistently stresses eyewitness testimony. In his Gospel and epistles, the Apostle John stresses his eyewitness testimony. Revelation carries over this theme, such as in Revelation 1:1–2 (“He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw”) and in Revelation 22:8 (“I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things [. . .]”). Compare this to a similar emphasis in the Gospel of John (John 19:35, 21:24).
Details are consistent with what scholars know of the Apostle John’s ministry.The writer speaks of the churches in western Asia Minor in a way that clearly demonstrates that he had a relationship with them before the writing and was knowledgeable of its geography. Credible second-century historical records state that the Apostle John lived in Ephesus from 70–100 CE. While there, he had a thriving ministry that spread throughout the region. Scholars generally believe that he wrote his three epistles while he lived there, sometime between 80 and 100 CE.
The texts share some common words and phrases. In spite of some stylistic differences between Revelation and the Gospel of John and John’s epistles, many common words and phrases are actually scattered among all these books. The Gospel of John refers to Jesus as Logos (“Word”) in John 1:1. The only other reference to Jesus as Logos in all the Bible is in Revelation 19:13. In addition, only John 1:29 and Revelation 5:6 refer to Jesus as a “Lamb.” Moreover, both the Gospel of John (19:37) and Revelation (1:7) refer to the same Old Testament verse, Zechariah 12:10.
Teaching sections of Revelation are quite similar to the Gospel of John and Johannine epistles. Although much of Revelation is obviously focused on the prophetic visions of John, the book contains some expository sections (text that presents information or explanations) as well (Rev. 1:1–8, 1:17–3:22, 22:18–21). Careful analysis of these sections reveals a similar style to Johannine books. The major differences, therefore, lie in the other, apocalyptic portions of the book.
Revelation’s sloppier style has an explanation. Although proponents of the Apostle John’s authorship of Revelation fully agree that the book isn’t as well-written as his other works, they suggest three possible explanations:
• The Book of Acts describes John as an “uneducated,” “ordinary” man (Acts 4:13). He may have, therefore, used a well-educated secretary (called an amanuensis) when he wrote his Gospel and epistles. However, because he was exiled on the island of Patmos (Rev. 1:9) when he wrote Revelation, a secretary wouldn’t have been available for him.
• Because of the way in which John received the prophetic visions of Revelation (see the later “Revelation as extraordinarily inspired” section), he may have hurriedly scribbled what he saw in what literary critics call a stream-of-consciousness manner. If so, then to ensure the contents of the original vision stayed intact, he may not have wanted to edit his writings afterward.
• Some suggest that John wrote Revelation around 65 CE. If the early date is correct (see the upcoming section “Playing the Dating Game”), it would’ve been the first book he wrote — years before he wrote his Gospel and epistles. Therefore, his rough writing skills may have improved over time.
Siding with the early church leaders
People may never be certain whether the Apostle John wrote Revelation. Getting a conclusive answer based on in-text clues is difficult because both sides can supply plenty of supporting evidence. So if the debate over internal evidence ends as a draw, then perhaps the view of the early church leaders can sway the balance.
Except for Dionysius, all the other respected church fathers in the second and third centuries claimed the Apostle John as author. In fact, adding even more weight to their claims, some of the original readers of Revelation (members of the churches to whom the book was addressed) were still alive during the lifetimes of Justin Martyr and Irenaeus.
Understanding the Troubled Times in Which John Lived
As the longest living Apostle, John saw a rapidly changing world and experienced major spiritual transformation (see Figure 2-1). After all, John went from a lowly, spiritually immature Average Joe to perhaps the disciple closest to Jesus — and ultimately, he became a major torchbearer for the Christian church. Throughout his long life, he saw extraordinary political, economic, social, and religious changes. This section explains some of what John witnessed back in the day.
Increasing Roman domination: Rise of the emperor-gods
Rome was at the peak of its military and political power during John’s lifetime, expanding in territory like never before. Complete domination of the known world seemed like only a matter of time. The empire was also growing increasingly rich. And for the first time, wealth was flowing to more than just the emperor and the aristocratic patrician class. An upwardly mobile middle class, comprised of former slaves and skilled craftsmen, was developing. What’s more, the stability created by the powerful empire enabled trade to flourish throughout the region. As a result, people of all socioeconomic levels became more and more focused on money and material goods.
Rome also had an increasing spiritual influence over the region, especially during the reign of the emperor Domitian (81–96 CE). Many people were beginning to view the former Greek and Roman gods as passé, replacing them with the tangible deity of the emperor himself. Table 2-1 lists some early Roman emperors.
Figure 2-1: Historical events during the Apostle John’s lifetime.
Rome was the model of a modern nation-state, looking for answers horizontally rather than vertically. In other words, Rome sought human solutions to human problems instead of looking for divine answers from above. Revelation 13 reflects this attitude by portraying humanity at war with God. As time went on, the emperors increasingly named their predecessors (and themselves!) to be gods, demanding worship and persecuting the people who refused.
Deification — god-making — usually required approval from the Roman Senate following the death of an emperor. However, Gaius Caligula, Nero, and Domitian demanded that they be worshipped as gods before their deaths. Significantly, the Senate denied them that honor because of their arrogance in making the claim while still living. On the other hand, each of the seven cities in Asia Minor competed for the honor of building and maintaining temples dedicated to Roman emperors such as Julius Caesar, Augustus Caesar, and even Livia Drusilla (Augustus’s wife). And in Asia, Domitian was indeed addressed as “master” and “god” during his lifetime.
