The Interpretation of Revelation
3. The interpretation of Revelation.Goldsworthy clarifies the principles of interpretation that pertain when we come to obscure passages in Revelation.
In some ways interpreting Revelation is like a jig-saw, we must first find the corner pieces, an obvious example is the Lamb and the rider on the white horse in chapter 19 who is the exalted Christ, then there are other symbols which are defined in the book such as the lampstands and the dragon. From these we go on to more obscure symbols but which are clearly based on parts of the OT such as the seven trumpets and bowls which are modelled on the plagues on the Egyptians and the beast out of the earth which is based on Daniel's visions. It is clear then that it is possible to make a framework from the less obscure within which we can fit the more obscure. It is unlikely that we can complete the whole jig-saw but if the framework is correct we should at least grasp a portion of the whole picture. This commentary assumes that the keys to its interpretation lie in the OT and NT scripture, but that a NT interpretation is required. It assumes that it is symbolic unless clearly meant to be literal. It assumes that the book's author is God and that it is written to the church throughout the ages from the writing of the letter to the second coming. The content primarily concerns the fate of the church and of her enemies. The symbology allows it to be interpreted in the light of the current historical situation throughout church history without being specific to a particular event, although there are specific events recorded such as the birth of Christ and the second coming. Many of the events recorded in the book are parallel with other events in the book. The book can viewed from the point of view of events in the past, current events and future events, all are meaningful. 3.1. The four schools of interpretation:There are four schools of interpretation. i. The preterist: that it describes in veiled language events of John's own time, and until the end of the Roman empire or at least the conversion of Constantine. This has the disadvantage in that it is only meaningful then but to us it is not as relevant. The beast is seen as only the Roman empire and Babylon is Rome, however there are clear references to the Rome of John's time and it is helpful to know the circumstances of Johns time in interpreting the book. In Rev 1: 11 John is told "Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea." hence in some ways it is similar to Paul's letters to the Romans, Corinthians, Colossians, Ephesians and Thessalonians. In both John's and Paul's letters God has chosen these to be preserved for His church throughout the centuries. Just as the letter to the Corinthians addresses specific problems they had then it also deals with these problems for future centuries. In the same way Revelation deals with the problems faced by the seven churches in Asia, but it also has a great deal to say to future generations. Because John uses symbolic imagery Revelation is not tied down to only the Roman empire but may also be used to described successive persecuting tyrannies down through the centuries. The next three methods of interpretation deal with the value of Revelation to future generations in different ways. ii. The historicist: that it is a chart of the whole of history from Christ's first coming to his second, and beyond. In this method people will try to make sections of Revelation fit in with specific historical events. The beast is seen as the current manifestation of the beast such as the papacy in the time of the reformation. This position is untenable because there will be a wide variation of interpretations through the ages. But because the principles are valid to all generations, as the idealist would suggest, each generation should be able to identify the characters portrayed by Revelation. Therefore the historicists view should not be disparaged, it has provided comfort in times of persecution throughout church history. The most important of the historical interpretation from the 12th century to reformation times makes the papacy the beast and Rome or the Roman church is Babylon. However to make Revelation a chart of the whole of human history and therefore to use it to predict when the end will come is wrong and is not how John intended Revelation to be read, but to use it to strengthen God's people undergoing particular trials is a valid use. iii. The idealist: that between messages for the first century and prophecies of the far future it deals chiefly with principles that are always valid in Christian experience. The beast is the Roman empire of John's day but also a succession of ungodly empires leading to the last empire from which the antichrist will come. Because Christians have been persecuted throughout the generations, each generation should be able to identify who their beast is. iv. The futurist: that it is largely a prophecy of events still to come, especially just prior to the return of Christ. This is the normal interpretation of someone reading the book for the first time because its imagery looks so fantastic. It means that the book will be especially relevant for those in the last generation. The beast is seen as the antichrist who emerges from a revived Roman empire. It is clear that the second coming features prominently throughout the book and therefore there is truth in the futurist view, but this view tends to overlook spiritual truth that is of value today. However note that John is told not to seal up the book (Rev 22:10) because the time is near, although Daniel was told to seal up the vision until the end times (Dan 12:4), this means that the book is about to start its fulfilment. The book of Revelation was written initially to the seven churches in Asia, and hence the preterist view. However the book will reach it final fulfilment when the last antichrist appears and Christ returns this is the futurist view. Ladd divides the futurist views into two kinds, the moderate and the extreme view known as dispensationalism. The latter makes a sharp distinction between Israel and the church, the letters to the seven churches deal with seven ages of church history, chapter 7 onwards concerns Israel because the church has been raptured by this point so that it does not suffer in the great tribulation which occurs during the last 3 and a half years of history. This view is widely held in America, the best exponent of this view is Walvoord. The futurist will argue that the preterist interpretation is wrong because Revelation concerns the end times, but during the time of the Roman empire the preterist interpretation was the end time. A similar comment could be made of the historicist interpretation during the Reformation. The idealist interpretation is probably the most relevant today, to meet today's needs during hard times when Christians are under pressure and it certainly does not discount a future fulfilment either. I would strongly question the idea that Revelation only has a future fulfilment. The problem for anyone trying to interpret the book is that on reading the text one can find support for all these views which is why there is such a wide variety of interpretations and indeed disagreements. In a sense they are all correct, the futurist sees the beast as the future antichrist, the historicist sees the beast of history, the preterist sees the beast in Roman times and the idealist sees a succession of beasts leading up to the antichrist. The futurist writes from the point of view of a church not undergoing persecution now but expects it in the future particularly from the antichrist. The historicist writes from the point of view of current persecution or recent persecution as historical events and finds these in Revelation. The idealist looks to past periods of persecution and sees general principles within Revelation that can explain these. The preterist writes about how Revelation explains the persecution under the Roman empire. They are all correct, but they all see truth from a different perspective. This commentary is written mainly from a futurist and idealist viewpoint because this interpretation will be most useful to the church in this generation in the West. While the church in the West is not undergoing persecution, war is still being waged against it in the form of false doctrine and the seduction of worldly values. John himself could without contradiction be preterist, historicist, futurist and idealist. Mounce points out that 'John himself could without contradiction be preterist, historicist, futurist and idealist. He wrote out of his own immediate situation, his prophecies would have historical fulfilment, he anticipated a future consummation, and he revealed principles which operated beneath the course of history. The interpretive problem grows out of the fact that the End did not arrive on schedule.' If the author of the Revelation is the author of the fourth gospel, then he certainly expected to be alive when Christ returned, John 21:21-24. If we read John's first letter, 2:18 indicates that he considered himself to be living in the last hour. Revelation has a blessing to us now: Rev 1:3 tells us that there is a blessing for the one who reads the words of this prophecy and takes to heart its message because the time is near (see also 22:10). From this we are assured that the contents are relevant now, just as our Lord's second coming is relevant now, just as much as it was 1,900 years ago. To the writers of the NT the time of the Lord's coming is always near, Phil 4:5, Jam 5:8, 1 Pet 4:7. Jesus warns us to be ready for His return because He is coming at an hour we do not expect (Mat 24:44). Therefore Revelation warns us to be ready now because the events it depicts can occur at any time. Therefore any interpretation that puts the events either in the distant past or future is misleading because its purpose is to prepare our hearts now for what is coming soon. Just as there is a blessing for those who take to heart the message of this book at the start of Revelation, so at the end (22:7) there is a blessing on those who keep the words of the prophecy of Revelation together with a reminder that Jesus is coming soon. Part of the message of Revelation is to prepare His people for His second coming and the events preceding it. Immediate fulfilment as well as a distant fulfilment of prophecy. Ladd talks at some length about the two fold nature of prophecy which has an immediate fulfilment as well as a distant fulfilment, an example of this being the Olivet discourse which concerned the historical judgement of Jerusalem at the hands of the Romans in AD 70 (Luke 21:20 ff.) and the eschatological appearance of the antichrist (Mat 24:15 ff.). In the same way Revelation had its immediate fulfilment with the series of Roman persecutions on the Christians until Constantine in AD 313 as well as the appearance of the antichrist in the distant future. Therefore the correct interpretation is a blend of both the preterist and futurist views and including any tribulation that the church experiences between these two periods. The symbolism of Revelation is designed to prevent us from predicting the future. While much of it can be interpreted to describe events at the end of the age, this follows a succession of events that leads to the climax of history. It is a fact of history that throughout the gospel age there have been political and religious empires that have persecuted the church, the book of Revelation is written to those saints as well as those in the reign of the antichrist. The idea that the church will not be on earth when the antichrist is revealed is not to be found within Revelation and this idea does a great disservice to believers today. This commentary uses a combination of approaches, much of the book incorporates the circumstances of John's time which must form the basis of any interpretation, because it was written for the seven churches in Asia. It describes what is going to happen soon, in the near future, but it also looks into the distant future, it describes the end times as well so a combination of preterist, futurist and idealist are used. The approach used will depend on the text. To the preterist the beast is the Roman Empire and its emperor, but to the idealist a succession of tyrannical empires throughout history who persecute the saints, but to the futurist these all find their greatest fulfilment in the kingdom of the antichrist, there is truth in all these views. The fact that the book does leave sufficient ambiguity for all these views to be true is probably deliberate so that each generation can benefit from the book. Its symbolism also means that Revelation cannot be used to predict the future, which is always veiled from man (cf. seven thunders 10:3-4). Its purpose is to prepare us for the future, especially for the consummation of all things when Christ is revealed. 3.2. The Millennium:The interpretation one chooses is likely to be coloured by one's theology on the millennium: a. Premillennialism: Christ's return in power and glory will deprive Satan of all his power, raise the Christian dead, and set up the kingdom of the saints on earth. After a thousand years, Satan will re-emerge from his imprisonment, attempt once more to destroy the saints, fail, and be destroyed himself. Then will come the resurrection of the rest of the dead, the judgement of the great white throne, the final destruction of the wicked, and the making of a new heaven and earth. The appearing of the Antichrist, the tribulation, the rapture are usually held to have taken place before Christ's coming in victory, and that comes before (pre-) the millennium: hence the name of this interpretation. b. Amillennialism: There is no literal millennium, the 1,000 years is symbolic. It stands for the whole time between the life of Jesus on earth and his second coming. There is however a biblical millennium, see Amillennialism today, William E Cox. c. Postmillennialism: Christ returns after (post) the millennium. The millennium is the triumph of the gospel in this present age, sometimes a literal 1,000 years. 3.3. The Rapture.There are also three views on the rapture: a. pre-tribulation rapture: This is a relatively modern view, it has spread primarily due to its inclusion in the Scofield bible and has been popularised by the writings of Hal Lindsay. Christ will come and take his church out of the world by the rapture. This will be followed by the great tribulation. Following this Christ will come again in great power and glory with his saints and angels. There is then a second and third coming, one for and one with the Church. This is clearly unbiblical but widely believed in the west because it means that Christians will not go through the great tribulation, however, many martyrs might disagree with this viewpoint. b. post-tribulation rapture: This is the usual traditional interpretation. The Church will go through the great tribulation and when Christ comes again will meet him in the air. c. mid-tribulation rapture: This is similar to the pre-tribulation rapture, the church will go through half the great tribulation before being raptured. In the bible the rapture plainly coincides with the second coming, see 1 Thess 4:13-17 also 1 Cor 15:52 and He will come after a period of great distress, and after the heavenly bodies are shaken, Mat 24:30-31, (cf. Mark 13:14-26). In Revelation the rapture is described in Rev 11:12, in which the two witnesses, who represent the witnessing church, went up to heaven in a cloud. Clouds are usually associated with the second coming in the bible, see Mat 26:64, Mark 13:26, Mark 14:62, Rev 1:7, 14:14, Ezek 30:3, 1 Thess 4:17, Dan 7:13, Joel 2:2, Zep 1:15.
3.4. Persecution:One's interpretation is also likely to be determined according to whether you personally and your church locally is going through persecution, if so then it is unlikely that you will take the futurist or preterist viewpoint. In the prologue to Revelation it says that this book is to show his servants what must soon take place (v1), soon covers the entire gospel age as in 'I am coming soon'. Also 'blessed is he who hears and takes to heart what is written because the time is near' (v3). This prologue gives the impression that the content is relevant to all generations of Christians from the time it was written to the second coming.
Why are Christians persecuted? Essentially because they acknowledge a higher authority than the emperor, namely Jesus and therefore will not worship the emperor. Revelation was written in a time of persecution, see section on Authorship and Date below. John also show us that the persecution arises because Satan knows that his time is short and so that he can hurt the Son by hurting his saints. Jesus spoke about the other reasons for persecution: the saints do not belong to the world, they have been chosen out of the world which is why the world hates them; if they belong to the world the world would love them (John 15:19). The world hates the saints but they must bear in mind that the world first hated Jesus (John 15:18, 20). The reason for the world hating them is that they does not know God (John 15:21). Persecution is essentially following in the footsteps of Jesus who died a death on the cross. When the saints are persecuted Jesus is also persecuted as when Paul persecuted Christians (Acts 9:4-50). That Revelation was written to churches that were going to undergo persecution can be seen from the following verses that pertain to persecution within Revelation:
Of great importance to John are those who give their testimony of Jesus, the book of Revelation is written for the encouragement of those who hold to the testimony of Jesus who is the faithful witness.
3.5. Theology of Israel and of the Church.Ones theology on Israel and the state of Israel will also help shape ones interpretation of the book. Some see Israel as having significant role in the later days, Israel will largely become converted and the 144,000 are therefore Jewish missionaries rather than the universal elect of God, both OT and NT. Others believe that there is no separate role for Israel other than as a part of the NT church. Of course the church will be enriched by Jewish people recognising Christ as the Messiah, but they are not some sort of elite, they enter through the same door as the rest of the church. Paul discusses this in Rom 11 where it is clear that a Jew coming to Christ is like coming from death to life. Jesus in his Olivet discourse suggests that he will not come again until the Jews recognise Him as the messiah (Mat 23:39). In Eph 2:11-22 Paul argues how the Gentiles and Jews are united into one body through the blood of Christ and are consequently, 'no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household' (v19). In Eph 3:6 Paul declares the mystery 'that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.' In the last days many Jews will come to Christ, the church will become complete, both Jews and Gentiles, the dividing wall of hostility will be broken down and the church will become one as Jesus prayed in Gethsemane (John 17:20-23, cf. Eph 3:6), then He will come again when His ancient people, the Jews, recognise Him (Mat 23:39). Remember that Jesus was both circumcised and baptised while on earth, though he underwent the Jewish act of circumcision as a baby, as a man he chose to undergo the Christian initiation act as well. In doing so he gives the Jews an example to follow. Galatians was largely written to correct misunderstandings about the law and circumcision. So Paul takes the argument back to Abraham and shows that when he believed God he was justified. Therefore those who believe are children of Abraham whether they are Jews or Gentiles (Gal 3:5-14). In Gal 3:28-29 their is neither Jew nor Greek ... for they are all one in Christ. If a person whether Jew or Gentile belongs to Christ he is Abraham's seed and an heir according to the promise (Gal 3:29). Given this NT background it would be surprising to find the Jews and Gentiles treated as separate entities in Revelation, for example, in the 144,000 or the two witnesses. The Lord has one body on this earth, which is the church in which both Jews and Gentiles share the same promises (Eph 3:6), and therefore the church figures significantly in the book of Revelation. It is written to God's servants to show them what will happen soon (Rev 1:1 see also 22:16, 22:21), servants is a general term for the church and occurs throughout Revelation, other general terms for the church used are saints and brothers. Initially it was written to the seven churches in Asia who are representative of the whole church, the number seven standing for completeness or wholeness, it should be noted that for two of the churches the Jews were antagonistic towards them (Smyrna and Philadelphia). The church is represented by the twenty four elders who in turn represent both the old and new testament elect, the number twenty four comprising the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles who are representative of the old and new testament elect. These also occur in the description of the New Jerusalem with its twelve foundations upon which are the names of the twelve apostles and its twelve gates upon which are written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. The city was 12,000 stadia in length width and height and its wall were 144 cubits thick. A comparison of this census with the description of the New Jerusalem should make it evident that the census is one of the complete old and new testament elect. There is the census of the 144,000 sealed Israelites whose firstborn is from the tribe of Judah, these are also the redeemed of the Lord and his servants, the priestly tribe is included but the idolatrous tribes are excluded. Next comes a description of the redeemed from every nation, tribe, people and language. The church in its witness and prophetic role is featured as the two witnesses. The church is also found in the sign of a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head, she initially represents the old testament elect as the twelve tribes, compare her with Joseph's dream, and after giving birth to a male child (the Christ) she is the new testament elect. John's theology sees the elect as both OT and NT saints or as both Jewish and Gentile Christians, that is all the elect throughout time. |
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