Reading Revelation
Few books generate more speculation than Revelation. Throughout church history, Christians have divided over how best to interpret this final book of the canon. In fact, G. K. Chesterton once quipped, “And though St. John the Evangelist saw many strange monsters in his vision, he saw no creature so wild as one of his own commentators.”1
A quick glance at the various treatments on Revelation validates Chesterton’s remarks. Different views of the millennium, the tribulation, the beast, the seven seals, and the great harlot are just tips of the iceberg. As a result, the speculative nature of the book has turned off many younger Christians from studying it. That is to say, while previous generations may have “obsessed” over Revelation to a fault, this generation has made the equal and opposite error of neglecting it altogether.
This neglect is problematic for several reasons. First and foremost, it’s problematic because John wrote this book to provide comfort and hope for suffering Christians. By neglecting the book, Christians miss out on so many great promises of God.
To counteract this trend, I’m starting a series on the book of Revelation. I do not plan to go verse-by-verse through the entire book. Rather, I plan to hit several of the key issues and themes along the way. If you follow along, you can expect 12-15 posts in this series.
Before diving in, some comments are in order. First, one must approach this book with a certain level of humility. Christians have landed at different places on this book for 2000 years now, which means interpretation isn’t always easy. Therefore, as long as people agree on the big issues (e.g., Christ is coming back, he will judge the living and the dead, and he will establish his eternal kingdom), then different interpretations on Revelation should never divide the church.
Second, before doing a study through the book, it’s best to take a step back and ask how we should go about reading it. After all, Christians have adopted four different interpretive approaches throughout the centuries. In the remaining space, I will do my best to introduce each of the four main approaches, although I recognize nuanced positions exist within each category. If I don’t represent your view just right, I pray you will be gracious towards me, and know that I can only provide short summaries here.
Preterist
The preterist view argues that Revelation was mostly fulfilled in the first century–specifically during the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. Preterists, therefore, argue that the many references to Babylon are allusions to a rebellious Israel. Because the book prophesies about events that “must soon take place” (Rev. 22:6), preterists argue that John wrote Revelation in the 60s–during Nero’s reign. Preterist Kenneth Gentry writes, “Revelation’s main focus of attention (though not its only point) is this: God will soon judge the first-century Jews for rejecting and crucifying his Son, their Messiah.”2
One key approach preterists take is to read Josephus’ work on Jerusalem’s destruction back into Revelation. Here’s Kenneth Gentry again:
In 6:15-16 many “hid in caves” and “called to the mountains and the rocks, ‘Fall on us.'” Josephus frequently mentions that the Jews actually sought refuge underground during the A.D. 67-70 war: “And on this day the Romans slew all the multitude that appeared openly; but on the following days they searched the hiding places, and fell upon those that were underground, and in the caverns” (Wars 3.7.36; see also 3.2.3; 3.7.35; 5.3.1; 6.7.3; 7.2.1).3
As you can probably tell, preterists understand Revelation to be highly symbolic. Babylon is Israel. The six seals represent the Jewish war. The beast is the Roman Empire (or Nero). The millennium isn’t a literal thousand year period, and so forth.
Historicist
The historicist argues that Revelation is a prophecy about the successive ages of church history. In other words, the different parts of the book prophesy about the different eras of history. Historicists, therefore, have read the collapse of the Roman Empire, the corruption of the papacy, the Reformation, the Great Awakening, and the World Wars into different portions of Revelation.4 Moreover, the seven churches in Revelation 2-3 represent seven different eras of church history. According to the historicists, we are now in the “Laodicean” age.
While this view was popular in generations past, almost no one holds this position today due to a lack interpretive agreements.
Idealist
Idealists believe Revelation describes broad general patterns that are repeated throughout history. They do not believe Revelation gives concrete details about specific events. Rather it portrays the spiritual and timeless nature of good verses evil. Idealists also don’t believe Revelation presents history in a linear fashion. Rather, Revelation contains several parallel visions, each telling the same story but from slightly different perspectives. Thus, the seals, trumpets, and bowls are parallel descriptions of God’s judgment on the world and calamities the church faces throughout history.
Like the preterist, the idealist interprets much of Revelation symbolically due to its apocalyptic nature. For example, the numbers 4, 7, 10, and 12, along with their multiples appear frequently throughout the book and should never be taken literally. Since seven is the number of completion, the “seven spirits of God,” should not be understood as seven different spirits, but one Spirit–the Holy Spirit. While Revelation was written to the “seven churches,” the number seven suggests it was written for the “complete” church in all places at all times.
For an example of an idealist’s reading, consider the following quote: “Babylon represents the worldly city or center of wickedness that allures, tempts, and draws people away from God. . . In the first century, Babylon was Rome. . . . Today, perhaps it is Las Vegas or even a university campus. Babylon can be found everywhere through the history of the world.”5
According to the idealists, Revelation’s basic message is that while God’s people face suffering, and while it may look like evil has the upper hand, God is sovereign and is ultimately victorious over Satan. Because the book speaks in general categories and not about specific events in the past or future, it’s universally applicable for Christians in every age.
Futurist
The futurist believes that all of Revelation 4-22 takes place in the future. Dispensationalists argue that the church is raptured before Revelation 4, while other futurists believe the church endures the tribulations described in Revelation. Either way, much of Revelation records what happens during the seven(ish) year tribulation before Christ’s second coming and his millennial reign on earth.
During this tribulation period, the antichrist reigns and nations wage war against Jerusalem. Afterwards, Christ returns to defeat his enemies before establishing his millennial reign. During this one thousand year period, Satan is bound in a pit. While no unbeliever enters the millennium, believers have unbelieving children who rise up in rebellion against Christ and his people. At the end of the thousand years, Satan is released. He then gathers together all the unbelievers who are alive during the millennial period, and wages war against Christ. Christ defeats them, judges all unbelievers, and then establishes his eternal reign in heaven.
Unlike the other positions, futurists tend to take a more literal approach. For example, the two witnesses of Revelation 11 really are two distinct people. The millennium really is a 1000(ish) year reign of Christ on the earth. Furthermore, futurists believe Revelation describes events in a chronological order. That is to say, events from Revelation 19 precede the events of Revelation 20.
The Best Approach for Reading Revelation?
Again, one must approach Revelation with a spirit of humility as prominent Christian scholars hold differing views. Be that as it may, I believe a nuanced idealism is the best approach to take when interpreting the book. I say nuanced because portions of Revelation seem to demand a future fulfillment in agreement with the futurist position–especially chapters 20-22.
In the next post, I’m going to take a look at the genre(s) of Revelation and provide further justification for the idealist view.
