Perspectives on Prophecy: The Book of Revelation Revealed
February 11, 2007
For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated by the Book of Revelation, the final book of the Bible. The book contains fantastic imagery and descriptions of the last days of our planet and our race. It seems to offer a wealth of clues regarding the future, if only one is studious, intelligent, and careful enough to find and interpret them. Here there be dragons, and fearful horsemen, and devastating battles, plagues, and good and evil, and celestical beings and signs. But for many years, no matter how careful or heroic my efforts, the meaning of the words on the pages of the Book of Revelation were kept from me. I suspect that your experience parallels mine to this point. In the paragraphs that follow I will relate to you my studies, hopes, disappointments, and discoveries related to Revelation. The book is very relevant to each of us, and it can and should make a great difference in how we view ourselves, our world, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
As a teenager, I encountered a fabulous book, The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsay, published by Zondervan Books. This book dug deep into Biblical prophecy from both the Old and New Testaments, and went on to explain many prophecies in light of current events in ways that made perfect sense. It was fascinating, precise, and exactly what I was looking for. I opened the book and eagerly read every page, every line, every word, intently taking note of world events as I wondered if the Rapture would occur before I even got to college, or even before I finished the book!. I was amazed at how precise and fitting some of the prophecies were, and how obvious their fulfillment would be to those of us who knew and recognized what was about to happen. The Soviet Union and China, along with Iran and Iraq, the European Union, and most of all, Israel, each had their place in the unfolding of the once-mysterious pages of Revelation.
One of the significant prophecies on which Hal Lindsay focused was the timing of the Rapture relative to the re-founding of the State of Israel in 1948. According to Lindsay's interpretation, the generation that witnessed the reorganization of Israel would not pass away before the Rapture occurred. As a Biblical generation is confidently established at 40 years, this meant that the Rapture would occur by 1988. So, it was indeed possible that I would be finished with college before our world ended or was renewed, and it seemed that I would quite possibly be married and have a family by that time.
Years passed. I graduated from college, had several jobs, and was married in 1986. But 1988 came and went without the Rapture. And a number of other prophecies that Hal Lindsay had so clearly explained in his book failed to happen as anticipated, or the world conditons changed so much that the once-obvious fulfillment of prophecy became less likely. Yes, prophecy is and always has been a tricky business. But make no mistake about it, I was disappointed with what happened. Or, rather, with what failed to happen. So I went back to the drawing board. I have read the Bible through in its entirety some 15-20 times in my life, so I have arrived on Revelation's doorstep quite a few times. But whereas my former arrivals were accompanied by eager anticipation of what secrets might unfold before me, I later came to dread that mysterious, disappointing, and unkind book. The name "Revelation" seemed more than a misnomer, as the Seven Seals, Seven Trumpets, Four Horsemen, Babylon, a Dragon chasing a woman and child, wars, plagues, and world destruction intermingled with all manner of heavenly creatures speaking in riddles. I doubted that any comprehensible meaning lay hidden or otherwise in that dreadful book.
So, one day after many months of reading through the other 65 books of the Bible I arrived once again on Revelation's doorstep. I hesitated, sighed, and knocked quietly before embarking on what promised to be an increasingly difficult, and probably time-wasting read. Remarkably, my timid knock was answered (Revelation 3:20).
To understand Revelation, I thought more carefully about its author, the Apostle John. In addition to the Book of Revelation, John also wrote the Gospel of John and 3 additional letters in the New Testament. Jesus had thousands of followers when he was teaching in Palestine. But before the number of His followers came to number in the thousands, it was only 12. Jesus chose twelve individuals, later known as His Apostles, to be his closest followers. Of the 12 Apostles, Peter, James, and John were the first chosen (Luke chapter 5) and by various evidence in the Gospels (e.g., Luke 9:28ff) they were also the closest to Jesus throughout His ministry. It was John (and Peter) who followed Jesus to the High Priest's house after Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane (John 18:15-16). It was John (and Peter) who were the first of the Apostles to see the empty tomb on the first Easter (John 20:2 ff). But of these three, John had the best-developed understanding of who Jesus was and is, because he was really the closest of the three, and because he lived long enough to realize the depth of what Jesus was really about as he replayed in his mind all of his close encounters with God's Son, the Word made flesh. It was John who stood with Mary before Jesus as He was dying on the cross, when Jesus asked him to take care of His mother Mary (John 19:26-27). Imagine the years together that John and Mary had, able to discuss all of the details of Jesus' birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection! For additional information about John, see All About Jesus Christ
Given these considerations of who John was, and his other insightful writings, I pondered what madness could have driven him to write such mysterious and bizarre things in Revelation. John's other writings, notably the stories in his Gospel that give some of the most telling details of who Christ was (is) as a person (the story of Nicodemus in John 3, of the adulterous woman in John 8, the woman at the well in John 4, among others), gave me great confidence in him, and served to form a bond between me and this writer of 2000 years ago who knew Jesus so well. On the basis of this bond I was able to identify with John, and I asked myself not about the meanings of his words and imagery, but what it was that John saw and heard that caused him to write such a mysterious and controversial book that has stirred the imaginations of so many throughout the last 2000 years. Whether these images and words came in a dream, or in some trance, or were the product of deep thought, I do not know or care.
It was with a desire to understand John more deeply that I began my next reading of Revelation. And with this desire an element of clarity burst forth in the very first verse of Chapter 1. "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 by His angel to His bond-servant John." "The Revelation of Jesus Christ" makes clear that the words and/or vision are from or about Jesus. Since John knew Jesus better than any of the other disciples, it is likely that John recognized Jesus' personal touch in this revelation.
In verse 1:10 John states that he was "in the Spirit" when he heard behind him a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet. Have you ever heard a trumpet blare? Imagine hearing one right behind you, unexpectedly. The sound of a trumpet is very authoritative, so imagine the voice ringing with authority, as you turn around to see who or what is speaking! As John turned (1:12) he saw seven golden lampstands, in the middle of which was one "like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to his feet, and girded across His breast with a golden girdle." I placed myself squarely in John's mind, such that I, not John, was now face to face with someone who looks impressive and sounds impressive. Should I cower in fear? Rejoice in the strength of my protector? Or just bow, knowing that both fear and rejoicing are irrelevant at this moment, because this person has power and purpose far beyond my comprehension?
Verse 14 continues, as John describes "His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire; and His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been caused to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters." Picture this, if you will, a Being about which everything is striking or stunning. His voice like a trumpet, and like the sound of many waters, eyes like fire, even His feet are like glowing bronze! As this Being speaks, wouldn't you listen, speechless and stunned, especially as He speaks directly to you? John writes, "And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as a dead man. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One, and I was dead, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades." (Rev. 1: 17-18).
The first instructions given to John were to write down messages from this Being, and relay these messages to the seven churches in Asia, at Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. These words are in fact what I would term "typical" prophecy, in that they relay God's message (often firmly) to His people. In the Old Testament, "His people" always meant the people of Israel. But this is New Testament, when "His people" refers to those who follow Christ.
But this message to God's people is for another study, so I will now skip ahead to Chapter 4. Here I found myself in front of a throne standing in heaven, and the throne was occupied... by none other than the One whose voice was like a trumpet, and sounded like the rushing of many waters. John describes the One on the throne as "like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance." (Rev. 4:2). The sensory input so far is overpowering, as colors and sounds and awesome wonder pressed in upon my brain! Around this throne were another 24 thrones, occupied by elders in white garments with golden crowns. Clearly these elders are great men, but they are subordinate to the One who first spoke to me. From the center throne John states that there proceeded "dashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; and before the throne there was, as it were, a sea of glass like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. And the first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God, the Almighty who was and who is and who is to come."
I imagined these creatures, not by likening them to mythical beasts about which I have read, nor by likening them to statues that I've seen in museums, but by imagining what John saw that caused him to describe them in this manner. What kind of creature is "full of eyes in front and behind"? What kind of creature has six wings? John could not put a name to them, for he saw these things for the very first time as he was taken, in the Spirit, to heaven. When you haven't a name for something that you see, you have no choice but to describe it with words.
Chapter 5 introduces the Seven Seals. John saw a book in God's hand, sealed with seven seals. In verse 4 John began to weep, because "no one was found worthy to open the book, or to look into it." I found this both puzzling and amazing. Considering all of the magnificent creatures and beings of which John has already noted, no one was worthy to open the book. Then John began to weep, because the book could not be opened. What sense of anxiety and urgency caused John to weep? I'm accustomed to books that simply gather dust when they are unopened, with the words inside patiently waiting for some fortunate individual to come by some day, or some month, or some year. The book with the Seven Seals is clearly different. What kind of book is so obviously and urgently in need of being read? Why must the audience be so gravely in need of this information? In 5:6ff the Lamb of God steps up to open the book, as the elders and four marvelous creatures sing His praises. That John was able to take all of this in is remarkable. Or perhaps what is written in Revelation is only a fragment of what he saw and heard? One must wonder about these things. So, I saw as John saw, or at least I saw what he was able to record, and I was amazed, and the glory of Jesus, the Son of God, was clear. I wondered if, in the midst of this sensory overload, John thought back to the Last Supper, when he "had leaned back on His breast at the supper, and said, "Lord, who is the one who betrays You?" How might it feel to realize that your closest friend, with whom you had walked many a dusty mile and eaten many poor and hasty meals, stood before you next to God Almighty, surrounded by subordinates any of whom were superior to the most powerful and impressive individuals that you had encountered in your 80-odd years?
As Jesus opened the seals John witnessed a conquering white horseman, a destructive red horseman, a black horseman of famine, Death himself, martyrs, catastrophes and calamities, followed by angels who attempted to intercede for the very survival of life upon the Earth. Today, we understand destruction on a nuclear scale, and we understand the horrors of chemical and biological warfare, and we understand the scale of the Earth and some of the complexity of living creatures and their ecosystems. A careful reading of the opening of the Seven Seals is frightening to us. But imagine John's perspective, someone who knew little more about the world than what he had seen and heard of the Roman Empire and a few lands outside of its borders. He had to grasp the enormity of God's creation and its destruction in what may have been only a few minutes or hours.
During the next few chapters earthquakes and lightning and death and destruction are commonplace. Then the celestial objects come into play as well. In 8:10 we find that "a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch..." Can one say "thermonuclear weapons?" Or might it be something else? When "men died from the waters because they were made bitter", was it really radiation poisoning? We have seen simulated nuclear explosions on TV (or in one or two cases, actual nuclear explosions). It would only take one for John to describe it as a great star falling from heaven. Following along in the readings we find that John saw a third of the Sun, of the Moon, and of the stars "smitten". Stop. Think. What terror did John see that made him describe this frightening scene? I cannot conceive of what might cause such events. In 6:12ff John writes "the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind."
In later chapters you find a description of the Army of the East, a woman with child being hunted by a dragon, a great beast from the sea, and you have six bowls of wrath, and seven trumpet blasts (each of which precedes some marvelous or horrific event). Through all of this you find powerful angels, such as one in 10:1ff who comes out of heaven clothed with a cloud and armed with a bow, and one angel for each trumpet blast. I can go into further detail, but you can read it for yourself without me repeating most of the 22 chapters of Revelation here.
What has Revelation revealed to us through all of the lightning, smoke, earthquakes, and disasters, which served to shake everything and everyone into either death or submission? It has revealed the power and majesty of our Lord God, beginning in 1:8 as He declares that "I am the Alpha and the Omega, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." It continues as Jesus steps forward to open the book with seven seals that no one else could open, when we find the four living beings and the 24 elders praising Him, falling on their faces to worship Him. In 11:15, at the sound of the Seventh Trumpet, the 24 elders again fall on their faces, worshipping God, as the angel declares the beginning of Christ's rule over the kingdom of this world. Again in 19:2 we find a multitude of voices in Heaven saying, "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; because His judgments are true and righteous; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and He has avenged the blood of His bond-servants on her." Immediately following this declaration, the 4 living beings and 24 elders again fall down and worship God. Then a great voice, like "the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns."" Most of the last several chapters of Revelation are devoted to His majesty and His ultimate victory over all evil. Throughout the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament we see Jesus as teacher and redeemer, our spiritual king, the Son of God humbled in human form. Revelation is the completion of all that. John saw Jesus in all His glory, in stunning power and majesty, unshaken and unshakeable even though the entire Universe was ready to dissolve in chaos. He is the Victor, as great powers oppose Him and those who belong to Him. We can try to interpret the prophecies of the end times, but we must not let such attempts (and likely failures) mask the dominant message of Revelation: that Christ is the Victor, and He is the Lord of our lives. The book serves not so much as a window into the future times and events of this planet, but as the revelation of the glory and majesty of Christ.
I admonish you now, if you have not already done so, to read the entire book of Revelation. Experience the sensory overload of which John writes. Revel in the majesty of Jesus. Observe, and learn, as the 24 elders, 4 living beings, and others bow before Jesus and in His honor. The End may come tonight, or it may not come for another millenium. It doesn't matter, though, because the One who redeemed us has won and will finalize the victory. We cannot control whether we live or die, but we can live each day humbly before our majestic King, and we can incorporate knowledge of who we are in relationship to the King of the Universe in our daily thoughts and actions. Seeing what John saw, and knowing what he knew, should make a difference to us. Does it? It does for me.