The Book of Revelation has the literal title in Greek, the ‘Apocalypse of John.’ The word apocalypse means revelation, that which is uncovered. It comes from the Greek word which literally means ‘to pull the lid off something.’
Revelation is a book that people either ignore or find too difficult to understand. For these reasons, many people do not study it at all. If this was true, God would wake a mockery out of every one of us, Revelation 1:3. God says to the recipients that He intends to bless the lives of those who read the content of the book. So, if the book was too difficult, how could God bless us?
Revelation is not a difficult book, it’s less difficult to understand than Romans or Galatians, even less difficult than 1 Corinthians. Almost two-thirds of Revelation is found in the Old Testament. Keep in mind that to clearly understand the book, a proper background has to be put in place and so, knowing what the Old Testament gives, this proper context in which Revelation becomes clear.
When we read about people suffering because of their faith, we often wonder if it’s really worth it. John’s revelation is an answer to that question. However, we understand the book by remembering the people to whom it was originally intended to and the circumstances in which they found themselves.
John suffered because of the Gospel and his loyalty and allegiance were to Christ. The book is about the revelation of Jesus Christ, Revelation 1:1. At the end of the day, no matter what people may say, it’s about our Lord Jesus Christ. If it’s about Him, the only question to ask is ‘will the victory be ours?’ The book of Revelation is answering, ‘yes,’ Revelation 12:11. In the light of what God says, you and I can overcome evil.
Revelation is not a book in isolation, the message is consistent with the rest of the Scriptures. To understand the whole picture, we should keep it simple. If we go too much into details, then we will miss the point.
The Book of Revelation was most likely written about A.D. 95-96, during the reign of the Roman Caesar Domitian. There are some who believe it was written earlier, A.D. 68 or 69, because they believe the main teaching in the book is about the impending destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
The Illustrated Bible Dictionary says the following.
“The book was obviously written at a time when the church was undergoing persecution and difficulty. During the possible time for the composition of the book the two most important periods when this was so were during the reigns of Nero and Domitian. The principal argument for the former date is Revelation 17:9-14. If this refers to the emperors of Rome, then Nero was the fifth, and the writing would date shortly after his reign. The later date is attested by a number of ancient authors such as Irenaeus and Eusebius, who state categorically that the book was written in the time of Domitian. In Nero’s reign the church was still very young and vigorous. By the time of Domitian there is much more possibility of development and of degeneration. Most scholars today are agreed that the later date is to be preferred.”
The author tells us that his name was John, and he describes himself as God’s ‘servant’, Revelation 1:1, as one of the ‘prophets’, Revelation 22:9, and as ‘your brother’, Revelation 1:9. Tradition has affirmed this John to be identical with John the apostle, and further, that he was the author of the Fourth Gospel and of the three Johannine Epistles. The view that the author was John the apostle goes back to Justin Martyr, AD 140, and is supported by Irenaeus and many others.
When it comes to the Book of Revelation, there’s no doubt that it’s probably one of the most spoken about, and in many people’s minds, one of the most intriguing books of the Bible and yet at the same time it’s one of the most misused and most abused books in the Scriptures.
Over the years many people have come to the Book of Revelation with ideas that God never intended for Revelation to convey and as a result of this, the book has become a launching pad for these types of ideas.
Many people have used Revelation to ‘prove’ such things as past wars or future events, some say they have even found such things in Revelation as submarines and aircraft! But that isn’t what God intended the Book of Revelation to be about.
There’s also no doubt that the Book of Revelation has been abused over the years, in the sense that it has become a rich ground for many false prophecies. Sometimes those prophecies are things that people look back on in human history and say, ‘see, the Book of Revelation prophesied that!’
And of course, we get the other extreme where some claim that those prophecies are events that supposedly will occur in the future. For example, one advertisement suggested, if you would like to find out about Armageddon, as well as Nostradamus and his prophecies concerning the years 2009-2012, look in the Book of Revelation.
These types of things have nothing to do with the purpose for which the Book of Revelation was written in the first century, and they surely aren’t an application for us today either, but there are lessons to be learned.
We must keep in mind that God gave the Book of Revelation to first-century Christians who were suffering greatly. He intended it to be an encouragement to them so that they would ‘keep on keeping on’ and never give up. He wanted them to know that if they would do that, then in the end they would be victorious.
Placing the Book of Revelation in its proper category within the New Testament helps us understand its purpose. For example, the books of Matthew through John were written to tell us about the life of Christ, Who He is, how He lived, and how He died for each one of us.
The Book of Acts tells us church history. Once we learn about Jesus, Acts then tells us how to become a member of the body of Christ, a follower of Christ. Romans through Jude, tell us how on a daily basis, to live for Jesus, as well as what God expects of us once we have become Christians, members of the body of Christ.
Revelation, the grand ending to the New Testament, tells us how to die faithfully as children of God. Within it, we learn about Jesus, and we learn how to live as a Christian and we learn how to die faithfully as a member of the Lord’s body.
There are four main ways of looking at the book.
1. The preterist view.
This takes the book to describe past events. It sees all the visions as arising out of conditions in the first century in the Roman Empire. The seer was appalled by the evil that was going on and used poetic style and imagery to protest against it and to record his conviction that God will bring an end to all of this.
This is a point of view endorsed mostly by liberal scholars. It is a way to deny the book as being a prophecy, Revelation 1:3, and does not consider what is revealed in Revelation 21, and Revelation 22, about what is still to come.
2. The historical view.
This regards the book as setting forth in one grand sweep a panoramic view of history from the first century to the second coming of Christ. Such views were held mostly by most of the reformers, who identified papal Rome with the beast.
But this view has a lot to be said against it, as they cannot agree on what the visions refer to and it seems that they consider that history confines itself in western Europe. This is wrong as the expansion of Christianity in earlier days happened in the East.
3. The futurist view.
This maintains that from Revelation 4, onwards, revelation deals with events at the end-time. What is described in the book then, according to this view, concerns what will happen in connection with the Lord’s second coming.
This view takes seriously the predictive elements, Revelation 1:19 / Revelation 4:1. But this would remove the book entirely from its setting, even if there is a bit of truth considering the future events described in Revelation 21 and Revelation 22. It is difficult to see what meaning it would have for the people to whom the book was intended.
4. The idealistic or poetic view.
This insists that the main thrust of the book is concerned with inspiring persecuted and suffering Christians to endure to the end. The language and the things described are a poetic fashion to view the triumph of God. The difficulty is that the seer does claim to be prophesying of later days.
None of these views are completely satisfying and probably that a true view would combine elements from some of them. We should take the text as it is, respecting the context and the settings but without denying parts of it which might be difficult to believe. At the end of the day, the Christian should not doubt the power of God and the ways he used to give us his message.
The Revelation was recorded by John, Revelation 1:1, while in exile in Patmos, Revelation 1:9, to prepare the saints in Asia for the enormous persecutions they would soon have to face. It was written at a time when the faith of Christians was put to the ultimate test, as they were forced to deny their faith in the Lord and worship Caesar or face torture and death.
It informed them that although some would die physically, the cause for which they died would ultimately emerge victoriously, and the kingdom of God would indeed endure.
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