One of the great tragedies in the church in our day is how Revelation has been so narrowly and incorrectly interpreted with an obsessive focus on the future end time, with the result that we have missed the fact that it contains many profound truths and encouragements concerning Christian life and discipleship. The prophetic visions of Revelation can easily disguise the point that it was written as a letter to the churches, and a letter which is pastoral in nature. The goal of Revelation is to bring encouragement to believers of all ages that God is working out His purposes even in the midst of tragedy, suffering, and apparent Satanic domination. It is the Bible’s battle cry of victory, for in it, more than anywhere else in the NT, is revealed the final victory of God over all the forces of evil. As such, it is an encouragement to God’s people to persevere in the assurance that their final reward is certain and to worship and glorify God despite trials and despite temptations to march to the world’s drumbeat.
It is difficult to understand Revelation without understanding the OT. John identifies himself as a prophet (1:3) in the line of the OT prophets, speaking the word of the Lord in both judgment and promise. Scholars estimate that as many as 278 out of 404 verses in Revelation contain references to the OT and that over five hundred allusions to OT texts are made in total (compared with less than two hundred in all of Paul’s letters). These are allusions (though quite recognizable) rather than direct quotations. For instance, what John sees in 1:12-18 is the same as what Daniel saw in his vision of the Son of man and what Isaiah spoke of in his prophecy concerning the Servant of the Lord whose mouth is like a sharpened sword (for references see below). These allusions show the unity of the OT and NT and in particular demonstrate that the promise of the Messiah and His suffering, salvation, and victory are the same from the beginning to the end of the Bible and of human history. A quick look at just some of the OT allusions in the first chapter will illustrate our point. In 1:5 John alludes to Ps. 89:27; in 1:6 to Exod. 19:6; in 1:7 to Zech. 12:10; in 1:13-15 to Dan. 7:13-14 and 10:5-6; in 1:15 to Ezek. 1:24; and in 1:16 to Isa. 49:2.
OT prophecy called the people to a renewal of commitment to God and His law and to turn away from the pagan practices tempting them to compromise. When Revelation is thus understood as both prophetic and pastoral in nature, it becomes immediately relevant to each of us as we walk through its pages in our daily pilgrimage through the desert place of the world, where God is protecting us until He delivers us into the Promised Land of the final new creation. Much of the book becomes a commentary on Paul’s teaching on spiritual warfare in Eph. 6:10-17. Every day we are to put on the armor of God and stand against the schemes of the evil one until the day when, having done all, we will stand forever in the Lord’s presence. Most of all, we can be encouraged by the promise John’s great vision holds out that this story will end in the triumph of God and the Lamb and that we will find our place reigning with them and worshiping them for all eternity.
Revelation is the record of a prophetic vision given to a man called John in exile on the island of Patmos. The author identifies himself as John, a servant of God who bears witness to Jesus Christ and who is exiled for his faith (1:1, 9). He was either the apostle John or another man of the same name. He was well known to all the churches of Asia and carried sufficient authority that he could write a letter of this nature to these churches and expect it to be heeded. He was a leader of enough prominence that he had been exiled by the authorities, who must have considered him a threat. The way in which he uses the OT and its Hebrew text demonstrates that he was originally a Jew from Palestine rather than a native Greek-speaker. Nevertheless, John also knew his Greek OT quite well and used it adeptly. It is highly unlikely that another John, originally a Jew from Palestine but otherwise unknown to us, lived and worked among the churches of Asia and carried such a level of authority. Thus, the apostle John was likely the author of this book. Added to this is the fact that many of the themes we particularly associate with John’s Gospel and letters — Jesus as the Word, the Lamb and the Shepherd, manna, living water, life and light, conquering, keeping the word and the commands of God, and others — also appear in Revelation. Revelation was preserved and circulated in the early church, was considered authoritative, and was believed from the earliest times to have been written by the apostle John. Particularly significant is the testimony of Irenaeus. Though he wrote about 180, Irenaeus was a disciple of Polycarp, who was martyred in 156, having been a Christian for eighty-six years, and who personally knew John. We can presume with confidence that this letter is indeed a record of a vision given to the beloved disciple, now an old man, at the very close of the New Testament period.
John wrote to churches that had experienced an occasional localized persecution (2:3, 13; 3:8-9), which does not fit with the severe persecution under Nero in A.D. 64-65. The church at Ephesus, founded around 52, had been around long enough to have lost its first love (2:4). The Laodicean church is called rich (3:17), but Laodicea was devastated by an earthquake in 60-61 and would have taken many years to recover. Early Christian writers, including Irenaeus, held that John received his vision during the reign of Domitian (81-96), and it was during that reign that a cult of emperor worship was established at Ephesus and some form of persecution broke out against the church. Our study will show that the Christians to whom John was writing were being forced to participate in this imperial cult (see on 2:9, 13-14; 13:15). From about 100, the usual basis for charges against Christians was their refusal to worship the emperor. Judaism enjoyed certain freedoms under Roman law, including the right to worship in synagogues and some degree of exemption from the imperial cult. However, as Christians became identified as a separate group from Jews, such privileges would not have been extended to them. It seems from Revelation that some Jewish Christians were tempted to flee persecution by returning to the synagogue and that Gentile Christians were tempted to avoid persecution by giving in to the demands of emperor worship. In Asia Minor, where the churches addressed in Revelation were located, the demands of emperor worship were particularly strong from about 90 onward. People were even required to participate in sacrifices as ritual processions passed their homes. The impetus for this cult seems to have come more from local and provincial officials seeking to ingratiate themselves with Rome than from the emperor himself. Their attempts to make themselves look good depended on their ability to force the local population to support the cult enthusiastically, and detractors had to be punished. In Revelation Rome, along with other kingdoms, is identified with Babylon, yet Jews never referred to Rome as Babylon until after the destruction of the temple in 70, comparing that destruction with the similar destruction carried out by the Babylonians many centuries before. The evidence, therefore, seems to indicate that Revelation was written sometime shortly after 90, when John the apostle would have been an old man.
Revelation combines aspects of three different kinds of writing — apocalyptic, prophecy, and epistle. The word “apocalyptic” comes from the Greek word for “revelation” and can refer to literature concerned with detailing events of the end times. Many apocalyptic books were written before, during, and after the time of the NT, most coming from Jewish circles rather than from Christians. Some scholars dismiss Revelation as just another of these wild and fanciful portrayals of the last days.
Though there are many definitions of apocalyptic, it is best to understand apocalyptic as an intensification of prophecy. Too much distinction has typically been drawn between apocalyptic and prophetic kinds of works. Indeed, some OT books combined the two to one degree or another. “Apocalyptic” should not be seen as greatly different from “prophecy,” but the former contains a heightening and more intense clustering of literary and thematic traits found in the latter. What is sometimes heightened in apocalyptic literature is the origin of the revelation (that is, visions of God’s throne, descriptions of His glorious appearance, angels around the throne, descriptions of the heavenly temple in which the throne is located, etc.). That this is above all the case in Revelation is borne out by the further description of this book as a “prophecy” in 1:3, as well as in 22:6-7, 10, where verbatim parallels with 1:1, 3 are found (which is indicated further by observing reference to “prophets” in 22:6; see further on 1:1). In addition, “apocalypse” in 1:1 is a direct allusion to Daniel 2, where the word refers to the prophetic revelation communicated from God to the prophet Daniel (see on 1:1). In this sense, Revelation is best seen as fitting into the genre of OT prophetic-apocalyptic works, especially those of Ezekiel, Daniel, and Zechariah. Accordingly, throughout the book there are repeated visions of God’s heavenly throne room and His appearance there.
John thus sees himself in the line of the OT prophets, albeit those prophets who, like Daniel, Ezekiel, and Zechariah, have a specific interest in the end times. The interests of these prophets was both in forth-telling exhortations to apply to people in the present and in foretelling the future. As noted above, Revelation as an apocalyptic-prophetic work focuses more on the source of revelation than does prophetic literature. The origin of revelation is the throne room of God in the heavenly temple. This is a feature that forms a part of prophetic genre (e.g., Isaiah 6, Ezekiel 1–2), but in Revelation it becomes the dominating focus in order to underscore the divine, heavenly source of the revelation sent to the seven churches. There is also emphasis on this heavenly perspective so that the churches will be reminded that real spiritual struggles are going on behind the scenes of what appear to be insignificant earthly appearances or events. Indeed, the reason for addressing churches through their representative angels is to remind them that they have already begun to participate in a heavenly dimension and that their real and eternal home is in that dimension of the new heavens and earth (see on 4:4; 21:1–22:5), inaugurated through Christ’s death and resurrection (see on 3:14). Such a reminder should motivate them not to place their ultimate security in the old world, as do unbelieving, idolatrous “earth-dwellers” (see on 6:17 for discussion). The focus on the heavenly perspective also makes the churches aware that their victory over the threat of idolatrous compromise comes ultimately from the heavenly sphere, where the Lamb and God sitting on the throne are centrifugal forces exerting their power on earth through the Spirit. The “lamps” of the Spirit give power to the ecclesiastical “lampstands” to shine their light of witness throughout the earth (see on 1:4, 12-13; 4:5; 5:6). One of the ways the church is to remember this heavenly perspective is by modeling its worship on the heavenly liturgy communicated in the apocalyptic vision (see on 4:4).
The apocalyptic-prophetic nature of Revelation can be defined as God’s revelatory interpretation (through visions and auditions) of His mysterious counsel about past, present, and future redemptive-eschatological history, and how the nature and operation of heaven relates to this. This revelation irrupts from the hidden, outer heavenly dimension into the earthly and is given to a prophet (John), who is to write it down in order that it be communicated to the churches. The heavenly revelation usually runs counter to the assessment of history and values from the human, earthly perspective and therefore demands that people change and realign their views with the heavenly view. In this respect, people in the churches are exhorted to submit to the demands of the book’s message, or else face judgment. John’s readers live in a worldly culture which makes sin seem normal and righteousness appear strange (with acknowledgment to David Wells for this definition of “worldliness”). In particular, John writes because he perceives there is a real danger that the churches will conform to what are considered the “normal” values of the world-system rather than to God’s transcendent truth. In the light of the overall above discussion, the pressure of imminent persecution, which already had commenced on a small scale, was the probable specific occasion which caused the readers/hearers to entertain thoughts of compromise.
The focus of the revelation John received from God is how the church is to conduct itself in the midst of an ungodly world. The heavenly revelation gives an entirely different perspective from that offered by the world. Believers are faced with the choice of lining their lives and conduct up with one perspective or the other, and their eternal destiny depends on that choice. As our study progresses, we will see that the events of the book deal with the real-life situation of the church in every age, not just that of the end-time future. Believers are always facing the threat of compromise in one form or another. They must submit to the message as John has brought it, or face God’s judgment. How sad it is when the study of Revelation in today’s church regards it merely as futurology rather than setting in place a redemptive-historical mindset or worldview for the church! In fact, from the very beginning (1:3), Revelation describes itself as a prophecy. And, as in the OT and as noted earlier, prophecy in Revelation involves both forth-telling exhortations for the present and foretelling of the future.
Not only this, but Revelation is also written as an epistle, a letter to the seven churches, in which instruction on godly living is given to the believers who received it. It begins and ends as a typical letter would. Like the other NT letters, Revelation addresses the situation and problems of the believers who receive it. John appeals to them, on the basis of all they have in Christ and all they will yet inherit not to forsake the faith by compromising with the world. Not only the specific addresses of chs. 1–3 but also the visions of chs. 4–21 convey truth and direction from God as to the nature of the battle raging in the heavenlies and how believers are to respond to this battle, not at some undetermined date in the future but in their lives here and now, and to do so not simply by an intellectual belief that events will unfold in a particular way but by concrete moral choices on the basis of the issues God faces them with in the present.
Over the course of church history, there have been four main schools of thought on how to interpret Revelation:
The Preterist View. The word “preterist” refers to the past. This view holds that Revelation is a prophecy of the fall of Jerusalem in 70 and that everything in the book has already been fulfilled — and hence is “past.” But we have seen, it is unlikely that Revelation was even written until some years later than the fall of Jerusalem. On the preterist view, “Babylon” represents rebellious Israel, which persecutes the church. “Babylon,” however, is never used in ancient Jewish or Christian literature to refer to unbelieving or disobedient Israel, but rather to Rome. The prophecies of Daniel 2 and 7, alluded to throughout Revelation, speak of an end-time judgment of the pagan nations (as does Rev. 1:7), not of Israel. Daniel also says that the end-time judgment is to be universal, not just involving one nation. Finally, the book becomes irrelevant for anyone who lives after those first days of the church. Why would God include it in the Bible at all? A variation of this view is that “Babylon” refers to the Roman Empire and that the prophecies in the book were completely fulfilled when that empire was destroyed in the fifth century. This deals with some of the objections yet leaves the question as to how the universal end-times judgment of all nations pictured in Revelation could possibly fit with the gradual decay and eventual collapse of destruction of the Roman Empire. Further, the book would have become less relevant to believers following that event.
The Historicist View. The historicist view suggests that the seals, trumpets, and bowls paint a picture of the successive ages of the church. It sees the symbolism of Revelation as referring to a series of specific historical events (always in the history of the western or European church), such as the collapse of the Roman Empire, the corruption of the papacy, the Reformation, and various events since. Christ’s return is always seen as imminent by the person interpreting the book. The problem is that each historicist interpreter views the book differently, so as to make it fit the realities of his or her own age, which is always seen as the final one before the Lord’s return. This view illustrates the danger of trying to make the symbols of Revelation refer to specific historical events, without any justification from the book itself for such an interpretation. Nowhere does Revelation indicate, for example, that the order of seals, trumpets, and bowls represent the chronological order of western church history. Finally, this view appears to have no relevance for Christians outside the western church, nor would it have had much relevance for those to whom it was originally written. As we proceed, we will see that the seals, trumpets, and bowls portray not a chronological sequence of events but the same set of events unfolded from different perspectives.
The Futurist View. The futurist view holds that the entire book, apart from the letters to the churches in chs. 1–3, prophesies events surrounding the return of Christ at the end of history. This view takes two forms. Dispensational futurism (or classic dispensationalism) interprets the visions very literally and chronologically as referring to events of history. Generally the order of the visions in chs. 4–21 is seen as representing the actual historical order of events to happen in the yet-future latter days. Israel is restored to its own land immediately prior to 4:1. Then events unfold in the following order: the church is raptured into heaven, there is a seven-year tribulation, the reign of the antichrist begins, the nations gather together to make war against Jerusalem, Christ returns and defeats the nations, Christ rules during the millennium, Satan gathers together unbelievers at the end of the millennium to fight against Christ, and Christ defeats the devil and begins His eternal reign in heaven. But there is no mention in Revelation of the geographical restoration of Israel to its land, nor of any rapture of the church. Interpreters holding this view are constantly changing their interpretation of historical events to make what is happening currently fit into the pattern. In the twentieth century alone, for instance, numerous individuals, from Hitler to Saddam Hussein, with various popes and other politicians (as has been the case from the medieval period up to the present), have been identified as the antichrist, and then quietly discarded when they pass from the scene. The same is true with specific historical events or institutions (the Second World War, the European Common Market, the Gulf War, Y2K, Saddam Hussein’s supposed rebuilding of Babylon). In short, the Bible is interpreted by modern events first, instead of by itself. This view makes Revelation of relevance or value only to Christians living in the last days. As it also generally promotes the view that the church will be raptured out of the world before any of these events happen, it is irrelevant even to these believers, in which case there seems little reason why God would have given John the vision in the first place. Remember, this book was written to the “seven churches,” which represents the church universal throughout the ages (see on 1:4). Progressive dispensationalism holds similarly to the above unfolding of events but maintains a looser approach (e.g., the “latter days” began during the church age, and many of the visions are interpreted symbolically and not literally). Modified futurism takes various forms, some affirming that the church is true Israel and that there will be no “pretribulation rapture.” Rather, Christians will pass through the final period of trial. Most if not all events recorded in chs. 4–22 refer to a final period of tribulation and to succeeding events (though some hold that 4:1–8:1 covers the period from Christ’s resurrection up to the end of history). This still leaves other difficulties of interpretation, including the fact that the book would have had less relevance for Christians of most ages than for those believers living later in the purported future fulfillment of Revelation’s visions.
The Redemptive-Historical Idealist View. The idealist view sees the entire book as a symbolic presentation of the battle between good and evil. The seals, bowls, and trumpets speak over and over again to the events of human history in every age and give believers of all ages an exhortation to remain faithful in the face of suffering (hence “redemptive-historical”). We believe this view is substantially correct but must be modified in light of the fact that parts of Revelation do definitely refer to future end-time events concerning the return of Christ, His final defeat of the enemy, and the establishment of His heavenly kingdom. Many of the events prophesied speak equally to the life of the church in all generations, excluding those particular events dealing with the very end of history and the return of Christ. Preterists and historicists are to some extent correct in understanding that various parts of John’s vision find a measure of fulfillment in actual historical events. The fact is, however, that their meaning is not linked exclusively to those particular events, for Revelation finds fulfillment in countless events throughout the church age.
As such, the message of the letter is of relevance and value to all believers of all ages, which is why the vision was given to John. We might call this an eclectic redemptive-historical idealist view, since, while the focus is on a symbolic presentation of the battle between good and evil and on specific repeated historical events during the church age, aspects of the preterist, historicist, and futurist views are incorporated (hence “eclectic”). As we unfold the outline of the book, the reasons we adopt this view will hopefully become apparent.
One of the great arguments over the interpretation of Revelation is whether it is to be taken symbolically or literally. Those taking a futurist view too often tend to a literal interpretation, in which the various people or events portrayed are so different and even shocking they could not possibly refer to anything known thus far in human history. But is such an interpretation justified? One of the keys to a correct interpretation of Revelation lies in its very first verse, which introduces and sets the tone for the entire book.
The Greek verb sēmainō is used in Rev. 1:1 to indicate the manner of God’s revelation to John: “the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must shortly take place; and He sent and communicated it (sēmainō) by His angel to His bond-servant John.” Various English translations render this Greek word as “communicated” (NASB), “made known” (RSV, NIV, JB, ESV, NEB), “signified” (KJV, ASV, Douay, NASB mg. reading), and “made clear” (NETB).
The word sēmainō elsewhere in the NT and in Hellenistic Greek can have any of these meanings. “Made clear” is unusual, but the notion of “symbolize, signify, communicate by symbols,” is not untypical. For instance, in classical Greek the word could have the idea of giving signals, as in “giving the signal” for a military attack to begin. In this respect, it is significant to recall that the related noun is sēmeion, which means “sign” and which the NT uses for Jesus’ miracles as “signs” or “symbols” of His divine power (e.g., healing the lame man in Mark 2 was symbolic of Jesus’ ability to forgive sin; feeding the multitudes in John 6 was symbolic of His ability to give and nourish spiritual life).
The word in Rev. 1:1 could mean merely “make known” or “communicate,” and thus refer to a general idea of communication, not a symbolic mode of communication, as it often does in the ancient world. The fact, however, that Rev. 1:1 is an allusion to Dan. 2:28-29, 45 confirms that here the word does mean “symbolize.”
John speaks here of four critical elements:
The source of John’s statement is to be found in Dan. 2:28-30, 45 (the account of Daniel’s interpretation of the king’s dream concerning the statue), the only other place in the Bible where these same four elements occur, the first three in vv. 28 and 29 and the fourth in v. 45 at the conclusion of the dream’s interpretation:
We need to summarize the context of Daniel 2, since John likely had in mind that wider context. In Dan. 2:45 in the LXX (= OG), sēmainō is used to describe the symbolic vision which King Nebuchadnezzar had: “the Great God has symbolized to the king what will come to pass in the latter days” (“symbolized” is a rendering of an Aramaic verb which has the default meaning “know” and in the causative form “make known”). This refers to a dream-vision that the king had. He saw a huge statue composed of four sections of different metals: gold, silver, bronze, and iron. The statue is smashed by a rock which grows and fills the earth. Daniel tells the king that this vision was symbolic. The statue was to be divided into four metallic sections symbolizing four kingdoms (Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome). The stone that smashed the statue represented God’s kingdom, which would defeat the evil kingdoms of the world and dominate the world. The interpretation of the dream shows that the dream is not to be taken literally in terms of a statue and its various parts, but rather that the statue signifies or symbolizes something else (i.e., the four sections of the statue symbolize four world kingdoms). In Rev. 1:1, John deliberately uses the language of “signify” from Dan. 2:45 in part to portray that what God has been showing him is likewise symbolic. Most of the things that are about to unfold are not to be taken literally (lions, lambs, beasts, women, etc.), but each refers symbolically to another reality or set of realities.
The symbolic use of sēmainō in Daniel 2 defines the use in Rev. 1:1 as referring to symbolic communication and not mere general conveyance of information. Therefore, John’s choice of sēmainō (“signify”) over gnōrizō (“make known”) is not haphazard but intentional. This conclusion is based on the supposition that John uses OT references with significant degrees of awareness of OT context.
The nuance of “signify” or “symbolize” in Rev. 1:1b is also confirmed by its parallelism with “show” (deiknymi) in the first part of Rev. 1:1, since “show” throughout the book always introduces a divine communication by symbolic vision (4:1; 17:1; 21:9; 22:1, 6, 8). In fact, whatever generally synonymous word John could have chosen here instead of sēmainō (whether gnōrizō or other like terms) would still have the sense of “communicate by symbols,” because that is the mode of communication in Daniel 2 and the mode of revelation conveyed by deiknymi elsewhere in the book.
In this light, the dictum of the popular approach to Revelation — “interpret literally unless you are forced to interpret symbolically” — should be turned on its head. Instead, the programmatic statement about the book’s precise mode of communication in 1:1 is that the warp and woof of it is symbolic, so that the preceding dictum should be reversed to say “interpret symbolically unless you are forced to interpret literally.” Better put, the reader is to expect that the main means of divine revelation in this book is symbolic.
Therefore, most of the things that are about to unfold are not to be taken literally (lions, lambs, beasts, women, etc.), but each refers symbolically to another reality or set of realities. In the very first verse of the book, therefore, John sets out the principle that the visions to be unfolded in the book have a predominantly symbolic meaning, which may have various historical references, rather than referring in a literal manner to a particular person, thing, or event. Many of the visions are impossible to take literally, as we note below and elsewhere in the commentary (see, for instance, on 9:19). We understand Revelation, therefore (at least, outside the letters to the seven churches in chs. 2 and 3), as a series of revelatory visions which are to be interpreted symbolically. Unless there is strong evidence in the text to the contrary, the visions (whether, for instance, those of the beast, the false prophet, the seven kings, the ten horns, the army of two hundred million, the twenty-four elders, or the millennium) are for the most part to be taken non-literally. This does not mean that they have no meaning or historical reference, but that the meaning is to be found symbolically — and almost always within the context of OT references which run through the visions God gave to John (on which see further the next section). There is always a literal meaning underlying the symbolic meaning, though this literal meaning is often about spiritual realities and sometimes about physical realities, both of which have to do with some kind of historical reality.
This means that we must distinguish between the vision given to John, what that vision symbolizes, and to what or whom the vision may refer. For instance, the woman on the beast in ch. 17 symbolizes the ungodly world system (that is, its economic, cultural, and religious aspects combined together). This worldly system’s values are opposed to God’s values for His people. The mistake is to bypass the visionary and symbolic and go straight to a literal interpretation, according to which a literal woman on a beast, or something very much like that, is referred to. In that case, the text portrays something so strange and different from anything which has happened hitherto (as with the beast of ch. 13) that it must represent something yet to come. This kind of interpretation could turn Revelation into some kind of science fiction fantasy along the lines of an alien invasion film, which is bizarre, but unfortunately often set forth in popular portrayals. However, admittedly, few literal interpreters try to understand the woman on the beast in some crassly literal fashion. Nevertheless, some commentators take the falling of one-hundred-pound hail (Rev. 16:21) as literal, as well as attempting to interpret literally the fire coming from the mouth of the two faithful witnesses and devouring their enemies, so that their mouths become supernatural flame-throwers. The fact that John bases the plagues of chs. 8, 9, and 16 on the plagues of Exodus does not mean that these plagues are to be taken literally as equivalent to the Exodus plagues (in which case they are yet to come), but rather that they symbolize the judgment of God in various ways, the exact historical reference or references of which must be drawn out by examination of the context and the way in which they are alluded to. When this is seen, we no longer have to conclude that none of the events referred to have yet occurred and must refer to some future cataclysm. This opens up a far broader sphere of interpretation.
John does, however, occasionally explicitly identify something he has seen in a vision, such as when he says that the lampstands are to be identified with the churches (1:20). In that case, we are fairly confident that wherever lampstands occur, they must refer to the churches. But otherwise, we must search the context and the OT (see again below) for the symbolic meaning referred to, and then proceed cautiously to identify any historical reference or references. The impossibility of interpreting literally most of the things seen in the various visions is shown by the fact they are often expressed in a way impossible to understand in a literal manner. For instance, John speaks not only of the lampstands being the churches (see 1:20), but identifies the two lampstands and two olive trees with the two witnesses (11:3-4, on which see for how this correlates with the original identification of the lampstands with the churches). His visions speak of horses with the heads of lions, out of whose mouths come fire, smoke, and brimstone, and whose tails are like serpents with heads (9:17-18). He speaks of locusts which look like horses, have crowns on their heads yet have the faces of men, the hair of women, the teeth of lions, and breastplates of iron (9:7-9). He speaks of the lamb, standing though slain, with seven horns and seven eyes (5:6), and of the mysterious living creatures full of eyes, with six wings, and having the appearance of a lion, a calf, a man, and an eagle (4:6-8). None of these can be interpreted literally, outside of (as noted above) an understanding of Revelation as a strange work of science fiction.
Finally, there is the symbolic significance of numbers in Revelation. Three numbers — four, seven, and twelve, along with their multiples — feature repeatedly in the visions, and each is best interpreted in light of its OT significance. In view of the repeated and systematic use of these numbers, the Scriptural significance attached to them, and the overwhelmingly symbolic nature of the pictorial images in the book (as noted above), it is clear that the numbers in Revelation are also to be interpreted symbolically. The first number in the book is clearly symbolic, and it sets the pattern for the others to be likewise interpreted symbolically. In Rev. 1:4 reference is made to “the seven Spirits who are before His [God’s] throne.” Some commentators try to take this literally and say that there were seven angels or spirit beings around God’s throne. However, it is clear that the reference is to the Holy Spirit, since God has just been mentioned in the preceding wording (“Him who is and who was and who is to come”), and then Jesus is mentioned in the following verse (v. 5). Thus, the book is “from” God the Father, the Spirit, and Jesus. Why refer to the Spirit by the phrase “the seven Spirits”? It is to highlight the fact that the fullness of the Spirit is being emphasized, since “seven” in the OT and elsewhere in Revelation figuratively refers to completeness or fullness. The reason for this is that it is rooted in the seven days of creation. The OT uses seven often in this connection (for instance, Gen. 4:15, 24 and Ps. 79:12 refer to the sevenfold anger of God, expressing His full or complete anger which satisfies His justice). The tabernacle had seven lamps because Israel’s earthly temple and its furniture were the microcosmic copy of the archetypal heavenly temple of God, and the number symbolized the fact that God’s dwelling was intended to be extended throughout the earth.
The number four was also used in the OT and other Jewish literature to express completeness. The four rivers of Gen. 2:10-14 referred to the totality of creation. The tribes of Israel were divided into four groups in the wilderness, and each group was located at one of the four points of the compass. In Revelation, four is used with reference to the worldwide or universal scope of something, as in the earth’s four corners (see Rev. 7:1; 20:8) or the four winds (7:1). The allusion to Exod. 19:16ff. (“lightnings, sounds and thunders”), appears at four critical points in Revelation (4:5; 8:5; 11:19; 16:18) to express the universality of the final judgment.
The number twelve also represents completion, most notably in the fact the one nation Israel was composed of twelve tribes. Finally, ten can represent completeness, as in the ten commandments.
Revelation features seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls, which are so numbered in order to underscore the completeness of God’s worldwide judgment. The four corners of the earth are the particular targets of the first four trumpets and the first four bowls, expressing God’s judgment over His creation. Names used of God and Christ (“the One who lives for ever and ever,” “the Lord God Almighty,” “the One who sits on the throne,” “the Alpha and the Omega”) are repeated in Revelation in patterns of four and seven, expressing God’s complete rulership over the whole earth. The name “Christ” appears seven times, “Jesus” and “Spirit” fourteen times, and “Lamb” twenty-eight times. The “seven spirits” are mentioned four times, thus linking complete sovereignty and worldwide dominion. The number twelve is the number not only of Israel, as represented in the twelve tribes, but of the new Israel, as represented in the twelve apostles. Significantly, the number twelve occurs twelve times in the description of the new Jerusalem (21:9–22:5). Interestingly, “Babylon” appears six times, possibly to associate it with the number of the beast (666).
The symbolic use of numbers serves to express the sovereignty of God over all history. The repeated series of sevens (whether of letters, seals, trumpets, or bowls) form the structure of the book. Each sevenfold segment (even the letters) deals with the struggle of the forces of good and evil and concludes with the triumph of good and the victory of God. This underlines the sovereignty of God and His purposeful hand on all the events of human history. The overall figurative effect of this repeated complex patterning is that the reader is left with the impression of God’s all-encompassing will being like an elaborate spiderweb in which Satan and his forces are caught. Though they attempt to free themselves from divine sovereignty, they cannot escape ultimate defeat. The repetition of the numbers highlights the idea that nothing is haphazard or accidental. The analogy of a chess game is also appropriate. The sacrificial move of Christ at the cross puts the devil in checkmate (deals him a mortal wound); the devil continues to play the game of rebellion, but his defeat is assured. This is an important theme of John’s vision, which seeks to assure believers going through difficult circumstances that God is with them and will faithfully bring them through to final victory.
Given that Revelation is full of symbolism, why did God use such a possibly confusing way to speak His message? The answer is that John’s use of symbols is very similar to Jesus’ use of parables, which itself is rooted in the language and signs of the OT prophets. When asked by His disciples why He spoke in parables, Jesus turned to Isa. 6:9-10 and answered, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him shall more be given … but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘You will keep on hearing, but will not understand …’ ” (Matt. 13:11-14). The parables of Jesus served the same purpose as the language and signs of the OT prophets: He used them to get the attention of His believing listeners who had grown spiritually sleepy and might not have paid attention otherwise. But for unbelievers (including pseudo-believers), parables made no sense, and rejection of the parabolic message was simply a further evidence of the hardening of the heart which refuses to listen to God. In fact, one can say that when the prophets used parables in Israel, they were indicating that judgment was coming on the anesthetized majority, though a remnant would be shocked out of their spiritual malaise. How much more was this true of Jesus’ use of parables?
The symbols of John serve the same point as the words of the prophets and the parables of Jesus. In fact, the sevenfold admonition to the churches, “He who has an ear, let him hear” (2:7, etc.), is based on Isa. 6:9-10 and its use in Matt. 13:11ff., and especially Matt. 13:9, “He who has an ear, let him hear,” as well as a similar saying in Ezek. 3:27 (“He who hears, let him hear”). The repeated use of this phrase in the seven letters, along with its repetition in Rev. 13:9, shows that the symbolism of the visions functions in the same way as Jesus’ parables. By their powerful and often shocking imagery, they open the eyes of true believers while leaving hardened unbelievers in deeper darkness, though it is also true that some unbelievers are shocked into the faith for the first time through hearing the parabolic visions read. Many of the symbols reveal the Satanic power behind earthly institutions and practices with which they have become tempted to compromise. The symbols in Revelation immediately attract the attention of those who desire to follow Christ. We could almost say they have a kind of “shock value” because of their vividness and presentation of unusual and even extraordinary images. Unbelievers, however, will turn away in lack of comprehension in the same way they turned away from Jesus and His parables. It is interesting to note that the plagues in Exodus were signs understood by the Israelites as the judgment of God, yet only served to harden the Egyptians, who did not perceive their significance. It is no coincidence that these plagues form the heart of the trumpet and bowl visions. They harden the unbelievers while calling the believers to renewed faith. Jesus’ comment about those who heard but did not understand His words is thus behind the seemingly strange saying of Jesus to John at the conclusion of his vision: John is the one who, like those listening to the parables, “heard and saw these things” (Rev. 22:8). Jesus tells him that the words of this prophecy are to remain open to all who will hear in times to come, but the same two responses will be made: “Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong … and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness” (v. 11). Jesus is not endorsing continuing in sin but merely prophesying the nature of the response to God’s word.
If all this is true, it suggests further that the message of Revelation does not merely concern the unfolding of future events but uses present events, understood in a symbolic manner, to speak both a warning and an encouragement to believers to persevere in their commitment to Christ and to divorce themselves from any allegiance to the world system, which expresses the rule of the kingdom of darkness. The visions of chs. 4–21 are about the present, not just the future. We will illustrate this truth further in the commentary below.
Revelation has more allusions to the OT than all other books of the NT put together. It should be noted that these are allusions rather than direct quotations. Most, however, are either clear allusions, where the wording is almost identical to an OT text, or probable allusions, where the wording is not quite as close but the idea is still directly and uniquely traceable to a text in the OT.
Some larger OT passages seem to serve as a pattern for similarly substantial portions of Revelation. For instance, patterns from Daniel 2 and 7 are found repeatedly in Revelation 1, 4, and 5. Sections of Ezekiel influence Revelation 4 and 5, as well as other passages, including most of ch. 6 and part of ch. 18. The earlier trumpet and bowl plagues (Rev. 8:6-12; 16:1-14) follow the pattern of the Exodus plagues (Exodus 7–14). Revelation also develops certain OT themes in a general way, examples being end-time judgment and salvation, Daniel’s concept of the abomination of desolation, and the OT concept of earthquake as a sign of the end.
By far the greater number of allusions are uses in Revelation of an idea or phrase referring to a person, place, or event from an OT text. These simple allusions may be condensed or expanded and are obviously applied to different historical situations, but almost always an essential focus of the OT text is carried over such that there is a clear continuity between the OT and Revelation. The following are some examples, grouped by the point common to both:
One final point to be made concerns the way in which John takes OT references and universalizes them. What in the OT is applied to Israel is given a much wider sense by John. For instance, God gave Israel the title “kingdom of priests” (Exod. 19:6), but John applies this to the church (Rev. 1:6; 5:10). Where Zech. 12:10 states that the tribes will mourn over the Messiah, the reference is to Israel, but John widens it to all the tribes of the earth (Rev. 1:7). The concept of the Exodus plagues is extended by John from the land of Egypt to the whole earth (Rev. 8:6-12; 16:1-14). The three-and-a-half years of Israel’s tribulation (Dan. 7:25; 12:7) are extended to the tribulation of the church as the true Israel throughout the world. This tribulation is instigated not by Daniel’s literal Babylon (Dan. 4:30), but by the end-time Babylon or world system (Rev. 17:1-6), which persecutes not just Daniel’s Israelite fellow believers but the church throughout the world (Rev. 17:5-8; 18:24). When Babylon falls, the “cities of the nations” (Rev. 16:19) also fall. The benefits of the end-time temple of Ezekiel are no longer reserved for Jews only, but are for all believing peoples. The leaves which are for the healing of Israel (Ezek. 47:12) are now for the healing of the nations (Rev. 22:2). The lampstands of the ark now represent the churches (1:12-13, 20), and the physical manna given to Israel becomes spiritual manna for all believers (2:17). Tyre as harlot (Ezek. 26:17–28:19) becomes the world system as represented by Babylon (Rev. 17:1–18:24). Physical Jerusalem becomes the “new Jerusalem,” which is equated with the entire new creation (21:2-27). The reason for such universalization is rooted in the NT understanding of the work of Christ and of how through Christ the promise given to Abraham has been extended to the nations. When these nations trust in Jesus, who is the true Israel, they identify with him and thus become part of true Israel, riding on the Israelite coattails of Jesus. John’s use of the OT should not, therefore, be seen as abuse of its true meaning. John simply understands the OT as prophetically pointing forward to the events of the NT and to Christ, and he does so in the same way that Jesus Himself and all the other NT writers did. The true people of God are now seen to be those who trust in the Savior promised in the OT, and believers from every nation, Jew and Gentile alike, constitute God’s new covenant people, the continuation of true Israel. It was likewise prophesied in the OT that such people would be those upon whom God would in the latter days pour out His Spirit and upon whose hearts He would write His law. History is united by the plan of a sovereign God. In this history, the latter part (the work of Christ) interprets what has gone before, yet cannot be understood properly without it.
The simple yet amazing fact is that God chose to convey these visions to John in the best way he could have understood them — by using the language of the Bible. Far from being a rejection of the OT, this is the strongest possible affirmation of its authority. Everything God has given in Christ can and must be understood against the backdrop of the OT revelation, which not only points to Christ but alone makes it possible for us to understand who He truly is. Jesus told His listeners that if they only listened to what Moses wrote, they would understand who He was. Their problem was not that Moses contradicted Christ but that they refused to believe what Moses said about Him (John 5:45-47). The same truth applies to interpreting Revelation. By far the most important key to understanding John’s vision is understanding the OT. As we study the book, we will find this conclusion verified over and over again. Most people take Revelation as a springboard for looking forward. However, without first looking back to the OT and seeing what it meant in John’s time, and then moving forward from there to the present, we will not properly understand what it has to say about the past, the present, or the future.
Before we come to a closer study of the book, it may be helpful to lay out some kind of broad understanding of how these sections relate to one another and how this may point us toward a sense of the overall meaning of John’s vision. There are two main schools of thought as to how the various sections relate to each other, the futurist position and the recapitulation position.
Chronologically Linear Futurist Position. The futurist position generally holds that the order of the visions, from 4:1 to 22:5 (i.e., excluding the letters of chs. 2–3), represents the chronological order in which the events described in the visions are to unfold. The seals are preparatory events preceding the trumpets and the bowls. The trumpets, visions (the “signs” in 12:1–14:20), and bowls are seen as the contents of the seventh seal, in that the seventh seal is said to have no content of its own. Some also argue that because the seventh trumpet appears to have no content of its own, the signs and bowls represent the content of the seventh trumpet. There are variations of this view (the most radical of which holds that the seals, trumpets, and bowls are all future though they recapitulate one another and all refer to the same time). Nevertheless, generally the futurist view sees the events of history unfolding in a chronological order corresponding closely, or at least roughly, to the visions as listed.
The following arguments are among those used to support the futurist position:
Recapitulation Position. This position holds that the various series of judgments are parallel descriptions of the same events. The pattern is identical within each series. Toward the end of each series, there is a description of judgment followed by a depiction of salvation (6:12-17 and 7:9-17; 11:18a and 11:18b; 14:14-20 and 15:2-4; 16:17–18:24 and 19:1-10; 20:7-15 and 21:1–22:5). The following arguments are advanced in support of this position:
Our conclusion, therefore, is that the recapitulation position best explains the structure of Revelation. The book consists of a series of parallel visions in which God expresses the same truths in different ways. How, then, are we to account for the fact that the contents of each series of seven are not absolutely identical, or that some are identical but expressed in a different order? The seals speak of four horses, while the trumpets and bowls speak of the Exodus plagues, but in different order.
We begin with the understanding that John is relating what he saw in a series of visions, and he is doing so in the order in which he saw them. The order in which he saw things is not necessarily the historical chronological order in which those things will happen. This is clear from the fact the text shows he is speaking of the same events in different visions, but sometimes either not relating them in exactly the same order, or telling of different visions (e.g., horses instead of plagues) to express the same reality. Part of the reason for this is that, in general, the plagues recur throughout history, rather than being one-time historical events, hence there is not an exact correspondence in every detail.
John’s phrase “after these things” or “after this” is used to introduce a number of visions throughout Revelation. Some futurists think that the phrase indicates that what is about to be narrated, following the “after this,” will chronologically follow what is portrayed in the preceding vision. But strictly speaking “after this” only narrates the chronological order of the visions themselves, that is, that one vision comes after another in the visionary sequence. The phrase does not indicate that the history within the visions comes after the history recorded in the previous vision. For a further explanation, see also under 10. below. This means that the scope of John’s sets of parallel visions deals with the course of history from the birth of the church at Pentecost until the return of the Lord. Understanding this gives us an absolutely critical key to understanding the meaning of Revelation as a whole.
Readers of Revelation often fail to see much connection between the letters to the churches and the series of visions which follow. It is clear, however, that various themes in the seven letters reappear in the visions:
The letters, describing the present state of the church, and the concluding section, describing the glorified church in heaven, are closely and deliberately linked by the theme of promise and fulfillment. Notice the parallels between the imperfect church of the present and the perfect church of the future:
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true apostles (21:14) |
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false Jews (2:9; 3:9) |
tribes of the true Israel (21:12) |
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Christians dwell where Satan’s throne is (2:13) |
Christians dwell where God’s throne is (22:1) |
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some in the church are dead (3:1) |
all in the perfected church are alive (21:27) |
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the church is an earthly lampstand (1:20; 2:5) |
God and the Lamb are the lamps (21:23-24; 22:5) |
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the church contains idolaters (2:14-15, 20-23) |
the perfected church has no idolatry or lying (21:8) |
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Christians are persecuted (2:8-10, 13) |
Christians reign as conquerors (21:6-7) |
Notice also how the promises made to those who overcome are completely fulfilled in the new creation:
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They will eat of the tree of life (2:7). |
The tree of life bears fruit in heaven for the believer (22:2). |
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They will be a pillar in the temple (3:12). |
God and the Lamb are the temple in heaven where the believer dwells (21:22). |
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They will be part of the heavenly Jerusalem (3:12). |
They are part of the heavenly Jerusalem (21:23-27). |
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They will have the name of their God (3:12). |
The name of God is on their foreheads (22:4). |
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Their names will be written in the book of life (3:5). |
Their names are written in the book of life (21:27). |
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They will be clothed in white (3:5). |
They are the bride adorned for her husband (21:2). |
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They will have a white stone and receive the morning star (2:17, 28). |
They are part of the city whose foundations are precious stones (21:11, 18-21), whose light is God and the Lamb (21:23; 22:5), and that lives with Jesus, the bright morning star (22:16). |
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They will rule the nations (2:26-27) and sit with Christ on His throne (3:21). |
They reign forever and ever (22:5). |
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They will be saved from the second death (2:11). |
They are saved from the second death (21:7-8). |
This close relationship between the letters and the rest of the visions is significant, because it shows that Revelation, like the other letters of the NT, is a pastoral letter written to believers. As in the other letters, grace is spoken over believers at the beginning and the end of the letter (1:4; 22:21). Like the other letters, Revelation deals with pastoral issues facing the churches and carries an appeal to believers to live for Christ. Like the other letters, it offers the hope to believers that, if they persevere in faithfulness to Christ, they will receive an eternal reward. This means that the content of the visions must have real and present relevance to all believers who read the book, no matter what age they live in. We understand that the letters of Revelation, though they deal (like all the other NT letters) with the situation of churches of long ago, still speak to us in each of the topics they deal with — perseverance, idolatry, courage to witness, moral purity, doctrinal orthodoxy, and so on. Why then do we suppose that the visions should deal only with events of the future, and so hold little or no present relevance for us? Far more likely is the proposition that, at least in large part, the visions also deal with the events which have affected believers since the very foundation of the church. As our study proceeds, we will support this conclusion by examination of the text, understanding, of course, that there are parts of Revelation which do deal specifically with the future and events surrounding the return of Christ.
As stated in an earlier section, 1:19 is a significant interpretative key in Revelation for a proper understanding of the futurist understanding of the book: “Write therefore the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall take place after these things.” The approach we will take in the commentary below is that a different understanding of 1:19 comes from wrestling with a variety of issues in the immediate context and throughout the book.
Those understanding Revelation from a futurist perspective (i.e., all the events spoken of in the visions are yet to come and will unfold in chronological order) view 1:19 in the following way: the “things which you have seen” refer, on this view, to the initial vision of the past described in the immediately preceding verses. The “things which are” concern the present situation in the seven churches dealt with in the letters, and the “things which shall take place after these things” concern the events of the future, specifically the events immediately prior to the return of Christ and that return.
This view has deficiencies which need to be addressed. To begin with, the command to write “the things which you have seen” does not seem to be merely a reference to past time, or to what John has seen in the preceding verses. It seems rather to pick up on 1:11, where the angelic voice tells John to write “what you see.” There is no reason to limit the scope of this to the first vision John has; it seems more naturally to refer to the contents of the entire book. But what of “the things which are” and the things which are yet to come? It could very well be that “the things which are” alludes entirely to events occurring during the present time of the seven churches. Since these seven represent the church universal, this phrase would thus refer to the “present” of the entire church age. In other words, these are as relevant for us today as are Paul’s instructions to any of the churches he wrote to.
Furthermore, the correct understanding of the last phrase in v. 19, “the things which shall take place after these things” is crucial. We will attempt to show that this last clause is not to be limited to events of the far-off future, but rather encompasses all the events of the period between the resurrection and the return of Christ. Critical to a proper understanding of this verse is the fact that God is communicating with John in the words He inspired Daniel to speak six centuries earlier. If God speaks prophetically in the OT, the fact that He fulfills these prophetic words in the NT should be no surprise to us. More surprising would be the thought that God communicated such significant visions to John without any reference to how He had spoken in earlier days to His servants the prophets. This verse, along with three others (1:1; 4:1; 22:6), is heavily influenced by the words spoken through Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar in the interpretation of his first dream (Dan. 2:28, 29, 45). In section 6. above, we noted how John’s statement in 1:1 (“The Revelation … which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants the things which must shortly take place”) is taken from Dan. 2:28, 29, 45, where God shows Daniel what must take place “in the latter days” or “after these things”:
If we compare Rev. 1:1 with the passages in Daniel, the thought is almost identical. The significant difference in what God speaks to John involves the replacement of “the latter days” or “after this” (years yet far off to Daniel) with “shortly” or “quickly,” thus implying that Daniel’s “latter days” (= “after this”) are on the brink of unfolding, in fact beginning to unfold. What was far off to Daniel is staring John in the face. In 1:3, John says that the time is “near,” using a word similar to that spoken by Jesus in Mark 1:15, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God at hand.” It is likely that “the kingdom of God is at hand” is parallel with and a further explanation of “the time is fulfilled.” If so, the idea of “near” is a close synonym of “fulfilled.” The Greek verb for “nearness” has the sense of “about to arrive” or “beginning to arrive.” It will not be happening far off in the future: it is beginning to happen now, and much more is around the corner.
In Luke 20:18 Jesus equates the “stone” of His ministry with the end-time rock of Daniel’s last-days kingdom. To Jesus, the prophetic words of Daniel are on the verge of fulfillment. And John is no different from Jesus in his understanding. Note the other parallels in Revelation 1 to Daniel. There are references to the kingdom (vv. 6 and 9), as in Dan. 7:14, which John sees being inaugurated in fulfillment. This kingdom belongs to a “Son of man” (1:13), just as in Dan. 7:13, and this Son of man is described in a heavenly vision (1:13-16), just as in Dan. 7:13-14. Jesus has begun in John’s own time to begin to fulfill Daniel 7’s Son of man prophecy. Out of this we draw the conclusion that Daniel 2 and Revelation 1 are describing the same reality, and that what is prophesied in Daniel is beginning to be fulfilled in Revelation. The events prophesied are actually occurring or beginning to occur. The death and resurrection of Christ have brought about the inauguration or beginning of the kingdom of God prophesied in Daniel. Such an understanding will have profound importance for our interpretation of Revelation as a whole.
Now we look at 1:19, in the light of both 1:1 and the passages in Daniel:
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“What will take place in the latter days/after this” (Dan. 2:28, 29, 45) |
“The things which must shortly [or quickly] take place” (Rev. 1:1) |
“The things which shall take place after these things” (Rev. 1:19) |
It is clear that Daniel’s phrases “in the latter days” (Dan. 2:28) and “after this” (in Theodotion’s translation, “after these things,” exactly as in Rev. 1:19) are identical in meaning. The phrase “after this” (in the Hebrew text) or “after these things” (Theodotion) refers in Dan. 2:29 to something lying far off in the future, to which the phrase “in the latter days” also refers. However, in Revelation they allude to something which is already beginning to happen: as we have already seen, Rev. 1:1 replaces “in the latter days” with “shortly,” and v. 3 adds the nuance “near,” meaning “at hand.” The phrase “after these things” in 1:19, therefore, is not a reference to events only of the future but to events that are already unfolding in these last days, since “after these things” is to be identified with the “latter days” in Dan. 2:28-29, which have been inaugurated by the death and resurrection of Christ. Thus, each of the three phrases in Rev. 1:19 may very well refer to the same reality of the entire church age. The interpretation of Rev. 1:19 is complex, and there are a variety of interpretations; for that reason no overall view of Revelation should be based primarily on it, whether futurist or any other.
The other place where the phrase “after these things” appears is at 4:1 which, significantly, is the introduction to the vision section of the book. The angelic voice tells John, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.” Again, this is an allusion to Dan. 2:29. If “these things” is synonymous with “the latter days,” as it is in Dan. 2:28-29, it refers to the events of the last days understood as being inaugurated by the cross and resurrection of Christ. This is clear from John’s understanding throughout Revelation 1 that the Daniel 2 and 7 prophecies have begun fulfillment in Christ’s first coming. Consequently, the visions unfolding in the rest of the book will tell us what is going to unfold throughout the time period of these last days — that is, throughout the entire history of the church between Christ’s resurrection and His return. We should expect, therefore, that the visions will speak to the life and history of the church in every age, including that in which the recipients of the book lived, even though there may be aspects which speak specifically to the time period immediately before Christ’s return. It is important to remind ourselves that such an understanding runs completely contrary to much popular literature on Revelation, which takes the entire visionary portion of the book to refer only to the future events immediately surrounding the return of Christ. The understanding we have adopted, we are persuaded, provides a more satisfactory view of Revelation in another way, for otherwise the vast majority of the book would not have as much relevance either for those to whom it was written (the churches under John’s apostolic authority) or to any believer who has ever lived since. This majority portion of the book would then refer primarily or only to one group of people living through the last tribulation and then later during the millennium. Though futurists protest that the book is still relevant in various ways for readers throughout the church age, we think our point still stands. As we proceed with our study, we will see our view supported by the text in a variety of other ways.
The final reference to Daniel occurs at 22:6, where the heavenly voice says to John, “The Lord … sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must shortly take place.” Thus the concluding verses of the book repeat the same words as occurred at the very beginning (1:1). The things which have been unfolded to John are the things that are about to unfold before his eyes and that have been unfolding ever since. It is interesting to note that the four main sections of the book, the introduction (1:1-18), the letters (1:19–3:22), the visions (4:1–22:5), and the conclusion (22:6-21) are all introduced by allusions to Daniel 2:28-29, 45, which themselves form the introduction and conclusion of Daniel’s interpretation of the king’s dream. This is hardly an accident. Thus the content of the dream in Daniel 2 provides a framework by which to interpret Revelation as a portrayal of the end-time battle between good and evil and of the establishment of God’s kingdom, all of which has begun with the death and resurrection of Christ and will be consummated at His final coming.
In the commentary below, we will attempt to outline from the text some of the major themes of Revelation. We would suggest that the following themes in Revelation express the heart of God in giving this series of visions to John:
Willingness to Suffer for Christ Is the Path to Ultimate Victory. Even as the cross turned out to seal Christ’s victory over Satan, so the present suffering of Christians seals their victory over the powers of darkness. Even while, like Christ, Christians suffering tribulation and hardship (1:9) also share in Christ’s kingly reign (1:6). In this present age, believers may suffer physical hardship, but their spirits will be kept safe (11:1-12). The church’s persecutors, on the other hand, will find themselves in the same position as Satan. Even as Satan’s apparent victory triggered his ultimate defeat, so the present evil actions of unbelievers (11:10) are only laying the basis for their final judgment (11:13, 18). One of the main goals of the book, therefore, is to exhort believers to remain faithful to Christ in spite of present sufferings and in spite of the temptation to engage in idolatry represented by compromise with the world-system, because this faithfulness will eventually be rewarded in the heavenly kingdom. Notice that after the portrayal of the heavenly kingdom in 21:1–22:5, the final words of the book revert to the command to remain faithful. The heavenly visions serve as motivators for Christians now suffering in adversity to hold to the glorious promises of God and not to fall away. And so in the same way, Christians today should still read Revelation and allow its portrayal of the divine majesty to motivate us to continued faithfulness. Christians are to live according to the values of this new world, not those of the world in which they live. Churches should be reminded that the scenes of heavenly worship are to be the model for our earthly worship every Lord’s Day — for remember, it was as John readied himself for worship on the Lord’s Day that he was given this vision.
The Sovereignty of God in Human History. In chs. 4 and 5 John is given a vision of the throne room of God. The word “throne” appears seventeen times in these two chapters (out of thirty-four times in the book as a whole), and signifies the sovereignty of God. In the vision, the Lamb is given a place of equal honor to God Himself, and so the chapters as a whole portray the victory of God and the Lamb. Because this vision serves as the introduction to all the subsequent visions in the book, its significance is to demonstrate the authority of God and of Christ over all that is about to unfold in the remainder of the book. The trials of the believers, the apparent triumph of the forces of the enemy, the eventual destruction of the latter, and the victory of the church are all under the sovereign control of God. It is therefore true to say that, according to Revelation, the hand of God is directly behind the tribulations of believers as well as those of unbelievers. Such trials are sent by God to refine His people. Not only that, but the OT passages which influence the visions of the seals, trumpets, and bowls also picture God as the cause of the woes which befall believers and unbelievers alike (see Zech. 6:1-8; Ezek. 14:21; Lev. 26:14-33 and their use in the seals in Rev. 6:2-8, or the sending of the Exodus plagues as formative for the trumpet and bowl plagues). The mystery as to how God would allow believers also to suffer is answered throughout the book: God’s strategy is to use the woes to refine their faith, while reserving unbelievers for ultimate punishment. As the heavenly vision leads into the picture in ch. 6 of the horsemen and the initial unleashing of the divine judgments, it is clear that the resurrected Lamb (6:1) is in control of what is happening. The cross has been transformed from tragedy into triumph, and so also will God transform the earthly woes of believers into heavenly and eternal victory. The people of God have no other destiny during the church age than that of the Lamb during His earthly ministry. This is why Rev. 14:4 says that they “follow the Lamb wherever He goes.”
The New Creation as Fulfillment of Biblical Prophecy. The main prophetic themes of both OT and NT culminate in the new covenant, the new temple, the new Israel, and the new Jerusalem, all of which are summed up in the concept of the new creation. These themes appear in 21:1–22:5 at the climax of the book. In both Revelation and other parts of the NT, these realities are seen to have already begun to be fulfilled in Christ — believers as the new creation, the church as the new Israel, and so on. These prophetic realities are then consummately fulfilled, especially as envisioned in 21:1–22:5.