PROJECT 4:4

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PROJECT 44

• REVELATION
• THE END OF THE BEGINNING

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INTRODUCTION TO REVELATION

• The name of the book (which is singular) comes
  from the Latin word revelare which means to
  draw a cover off of
• The Roman Catholic Bible names the book
  Apocalypse, which is taken from a Greek term
  which is a compound word that means a revealing
• Hence, the very name of the book carries the idea
  that some matters are going to be made known or
  revealed
• Chapter 11--The Revelation of Jesus Christ,
  which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants,
  the things which must soon take place and He
  sent and communicated it by His angel to His
  bond-servant John

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Four Principle Theories of Interpretation

• PRETERIST
• (from a Latin word meaning past). This
  interpretation carries the idea that everything
  addressed in the book happened in the first
  century, and that nothing of the following 1900
  years is addressed.

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Four Principle Theories of Interpretation

• HISTORICAL
• (from an English word meaning history).
  According to this way of interpreting the book,
  Revelation covers the era from the beginning of
  the church until the end of time. Most advocates
  of this view see the vast majority of the scenes
  of Revelation taking place in the first century
  and again at the end of time, with only limited
  scenes of anything in between.

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Four Principle Theories of Interpretation

• A variant of this view is the RECAPITULATION
  THEORY, which give a more balanced spread of the
  scenes across historynot necessarily continuous
  history, but cyclical. This view gives special
  significance to some of the symbols used in the
  book.

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Four Principle Theories of Interpretation

• FUTURIST
• According to this view, virtually all the events
  of the book are yet to occur. Great significance
  is given to the number seven, starting with the
  letters to seven churches, symbolizing seven
  periods of church life that will happen in the
  seven years immediately prior to Christs return.

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Four Principle Theories of Interpretation

• SPIRITUALISTIC
• According to this interpretation, everything is
  the book is symbolic, describing the final
  victory of God over all His foes. Hence, the book
  is portraying principles, not history. It
  represents the unfolding of ideas, not events.

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A Suggestion For How To Read The Book

• It might be easier to read and to understand if
  one approached it as though they were watching a
  movie. More emphasis should be given to the
  action, or movement, taking place than to the
  actual symbols themselves. This would help one to
  see the direction of events God is revealing.
  If we can conclude that the book is a picture of
  the ultimate victory of God over evil, then
  seeing this movement will help us appreciate the
  battles which must be fought along the way.
• Note Revelation 69 with 204

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Revelation Scene by Scene

• Chapters 1 3
• Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia
• Chapters 4 5
• Scene of Worship
• Chapters 6 11
• Opening of Seven Seals of the Little Book
• Chapters 12 14
• A Life and Death Struggle of a Woman, a Child, a
  Dragon, and Two Beasts
• Chapters 15 16
• Seven Plagues
• Chapters 17 19
• The Fall of Babylon
• Chapters 20 22
• Victory and What It Means

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Authorship

• Revelation has almost universally be attributed
  to the apostle John. Few serious scholars
  question his authorship. He inserts his name into
  the book in 11,4,9 228.
• John was evidently exiled to Patmos during the
  tenure of Domitian (81-96 A.D.) Domitians
  successor, Nerva (who was Caesar for less than
  one year) permitted Johns release and return to
  Ephesus in 96 A. D. Apparently John lived in
  Ephesus for almost two years, dying of natural
  causes (old age) in 98 A. D., during the reign of
  Trajan.

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Subject or Purpose

• Two key verses
• Revelation 11 The Revelation of Jesus Christ,
  which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants,
  the things which must soon take place and He
  sent and communicated it by His angel to His
  bond-servant John
• Revelation 226 And he said to me, "These words
  are faithful and true" and the Lord, the God of
  the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to
  show to His bond-servants the things which must
  soon take place.
• Since these are matters which must soon take
  place, whatever the purpose of the book, it must
  be something that will meet a need present in
  that day.
• Revelation 13 Blessed is he who reads and those
  who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the
  things which are written in it for the time is
  near.
• Obviously John is urging the reading of this
  letter to the seven churches of Asia. The thought
  that the time is near places a sense of urgency
  in getting this message out.

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An Overview of the Book

• It is made up of four series of seven
  revelations with a break between number six and
  seven in the last three.
• 1.) Seven Churches and the letters they received
• 2.) Seven Seals
• 3.) Seven Trumpets
• 4.) Seven bowls of wrath
• It ends with a powerful scene of victory of the
  lamb over all evil

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The Pattern

• (1.) The first six seals (chapter 6)
• (2.) The interlude (chapter 6)
• (3.) The seventh seal (chapter 81)
• (1.) The first six trumpets (82 921)
• (2.) The interlude (101 1114)
• (3.) The seventh trumpet (1115 18)
• (1.) The first six bowls of wrath (151 1612)
• (2.) The interlude (1613 16)
• (3.) The seventh bowl of wrath (1617 21)

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Keys to Understanding Revelation

• Rome and the First Century
• For many years, Rome had expanded it borders by
  great military might and numerous impressive
  victories. At the time of the birth of Christ,
  Rome ruled the world, a position it held for more
  than six centuries. As it expanded its borders,
  it encapsulated many diverse nations. Rome
  allowed its tributaries much latitude as far as
  being self governing (at least, to a degree), but
  did exact heavy tolls through oppressive
  taxation. Because of its approach to those it
  captured, differing nations and civilizations
  were able to maintain their own nationalistic
  identity. That created its problem for Roman
  rulers. These conquered nations never fell in
  love with Rome, and Rome struggled to maintain
  their loyality.

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Caesar Worship

• One of the chief ways Rome sought to bring the
  various nations together was through religion.
  They built the Pantheon to house all the major
  gods of the conquered nations, along with their
  gods. Over time they began to elevate fallen
  Caesars to the level of deity, giving them a
  place with the gods of all the nations. While
  this was not taken seriously in the early days of
  the empire, by the end of the first century
  emperor cult worship had become obligatory on all
  peoples.

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Emperor Nero

• Nero was a madman. He began a persecution of
  Christians in and around Rome in the last year of
  his emperorship (68 A. D.) This was the first
  known official state persecution of the church.
  Recognized for his insanity, this persecution did
  not last long (thank goodness!!). Yet after it
  ended, Christians still did not receive the level
  of acceptance they had prior to Nero.

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Emperor Domitian

• It was Domitian who pressed the divine empirical
  rights of the Caesars, naming himself dominus et
  deus (Latin for Lord and God), demanding that
  all subject of the entire kingdom worship him. He
  sold this to the senate on the grounds that if
  one worshipped him, he/she would be loyal to the
  empire. Conversely, one who did not worship him
  was considered to be guilty of treason, bringing
  on himself the penalty of death.
• Not hard to see the conflict this will create
  with Christians, is it?
• (Oddly, Jews were exempted from this decree, due
  to their long recognized monotheism, but
  Christians were held accountable to it.)

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Persecution

• Rome seems to have turned all its fury onto
  Christians, subjecting them to economic
  sanctions, personal ridicule, arrest, torture,
  and death. It was a hard time to profess faith in
  Christ! Many who began this faith journey were
  strongly tempted to give it up. Hence, there was
  a compelling need for encouragement to those
  called upon to suffer for their faith.

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Apocalyptic Literature

• If already under intense scrutiny, to write a
  straight up message would be self defeating.
  Truth, and encouragement, needed to be
  communicated, but needed to be given in a way
  that would not further jeopardize its recipients.
  Hence, the Spirit chose to use a style of writing
  known at the time to communicate this message.
• Apocalyptic literature, unique to the Hebrews,
  surfaced some three hundred years before the
  Revelation. It was designed to portray God as
  being in control and bringing about His ultimate
  purpose through men.

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Characteristics of Apocalyptic Literature

• It portrays dark times in history.
• It personifies good and evil
• It prophecies the outcome of its struggle
• It delivers its message through visions
• It employs common symbols (used through
  apocalyptic literature)
• It masks it author (Revelation differs here from
  other apocalyptic writings)
• It typically presents its message as sealed to
  present day readers but for future generations to
  discover (another differenceRevelation 2210)

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Common Symbols

• Numbers
• 2something strong
• 3the divine number
• 4the earth/world
• 6imperfection
• 7perfection
• 10completeness
• 12organized religion
• Colors
• whitepurity
• redblood
• blackdeath

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Final Thoughts

• We dont need to shy away from a study of
  Revelation. So many have found it too difficult
  to understand, and hence have not spent much time
  reading it. Remember what chapter 1 and verse 3
  says!!
• Studying the book can help us avoid the pitfalls
  of fanciful prophecies and theories. A basis
  understand alone will help us see that the
  mention of a bear (132) does not equate to
  Russia, nor does a dragon (123) mean modern day
  China.

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Final Thoughts (cont)

• Speculative theories that are drawn entirely from
  Revelation are universally untrue! To separate
  this book from its historical context would allow
  one to prove ANYTHING!
• The fact that we might not be able to understand
  the entire book does not mean we cannot
  understand any of the book. It does not even mean
  we cannot get the primary meaning from it!

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Final Thoughts (cont)

• This book give great hope to all who are
  struggling with evil. God will be victorious over
  Satan, and all who stand with Him will be saved.