Introduction & Preparation - Bible Study Resource Center



The Book of Revelation

An Introduction

Revelation

Michael Fronczak

564 Schaeffer Drive

Coldwater, Michigan 49036



mikefronczak@

Copyright © 2005, 2007, 2018, 2020

Book of Revelation

Introduction & Preparation

Malachi 3:16-18 16Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. 17And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. 18Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

The Book of Revelation is the culmination of Bible prophecy - the point at which all the prophecies of the ages converge and find their ultimate fulfillment. Revelation discloses the future of the Jew, Gentile, and the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Within its pages are specific details concerning the Savior's return, the establishment of His Millennial Kingdom and, finally, the eternal state of both the saved and the lost.

The Book of Revelation is the final work of the New Testament and the Revelation of Jesus Christ which details world history from the time of John (the Early Church Age) to eternity. It constitutes God's last special revelation to mankind this side of heaven. Simply stated, Bible prophecy and Revelation are history written in advance. They form God's description of future facts and events. Such prophecy is completely trustworthy because God is Omniscient, He knows all things, whether they be actual or merely possible, and He knows them perfectly from all eternity. Acts 15:18 states: Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world. Thus, the Almighty is able to fully and accurately describe the future in advance of its actual occurrence.

Current international events reflect exactly the conditions and happenings predicted throughout the Bible for the last days of this age. Yet, comparatively little prophetic teaching and preaching are currently taking place. This is probably because this field of endeavor involves a great amount of research and study (see II Timothy 2:15). Millions more prefer not to have prophecy explained to them because they would rather live by the world's standards and dictates. As individuals who are seeking satisfaction and rewards in this life, they are obviously not anxiously anticipating Christ's return.

As we walk through the Book of Revelation together, remember that this special message has been given to reveal God's truth, not conceal it; and to clarify God's eternal purpose, not mystify it. I will not present an elaborate outline or engage in the use of heavy theological terminology. My goal is a simple verse-by-verse analysis. I trust that, as a result, each reader will gain a clear understanding of the blessed truths that the Book of Revelation contains.

All Scripture is God breathed and therefore profitable. Every book in the Bible is important, but the book of Revelation, as the last book of the Bible, provides us with the consummation and climax of God’s revelation. It is the terminus for all the great truths found in the rest of Scripture, many of which have their beginning in Genesis. It is God’s final word to man. This in itself makes this book tremendously significant. But the most important element of the book is that it is a special revelation of Jesus Christ Himself anticipating the glory of His second coming and His final victory over the forces of darkness and evil so prominent in the world today. Introduced in verse one, He is the major theme of the Book.



The book of Revelation is of the genre of mystical Jewish writings, called Torat ha Sod. As such, it cannot be properly interpreted without an understanding of the concepts and terminology involved in this form of study and writing. Unfortunately, due to 1900 years of gentile "control" of the texts of the "New Testament," (this too being a biased name for books of the early Messianic writers), along with a non-Jewish understanding of God, Messiah and the Bible in general, the methodology of understanding such writings as Revelation had been lost.

In the book of Daniel, it is prophesied that in the end times, knowledge would increase. This "knowledge" is called da'at, and has to do with Torah-based spiritual understanding given by God. The recent return of Jews and gentiles to Torah-based faith in Yeshua the Messiah (as we have seen in the past 30 years or so), has been accompanied by a renewal of a Hebrew understanding of the texts of the Bible, including those in what is called the "New Testament." The result is that important truths, hidden away for close to two millennia, are being revealed by God in these days leading up to the return of the Messiah, Yeshua.

This book of Revelation Study draws from some extra-Biblical Jewish writings. Materials for this Revelation study include the Talmud, Midrash Rabbah, as well as the Zohar, Bahir, Sefer Yetzirah, and other ancient writings. We will also reference the books of Enoch and Jasher, as well as the writings of Maimonides and Nachmanides. Modern rabbinic commentaries will also be presented, as well as insight from books by prominent Jewish teachers such as Norman Lamm, Aryeh Kaplan, Gershom Scholem, Yehuda Liebes, Z'ev ben Shimon Halevi, and others.[1]

Introduction from The Jewish New Testament Commentary:

THE REVELATION

OF YESHUA THE MESSIAH TO YOCHANAN (JOHN)

    The book of Revelation, the last book in the New Testament, polarizes readers. Some see in it the key to the universe, or at least the key to the future. Others find it completely opaque or dismiss it as nonsense. Some regard its highly picturesque language as absolutely literal, others as entirely symbolic, and still others as sometimes one and sometimes the other, or even both at once. There are four major approaches to its interpretation:

(1)     Futurist. The book of Revelation is an explicit forecast of a future yet to unfold.

(2)     Preterist. The prophecies of Revelation were fulfilled in the first century. (3)     Historical or Presentist. The prophecies of Revelation are being fulfilled now, during the period between Yeshua’s resurrection and his second coming.

(4)     Idealist. The book of Revelation does not refer to history at all but is a timeless allegory of the conflict between good and evil.

To add to the confusion, some commentators combine two or more of these approaches at once.

Given no more information than this, it should be obvious that Revelation is the most difficult book in the Bible on which to comment. Dealing with the historical assertions and theological opinions found in the other 26 books of the New Testament is hard enough; but when the subject matter touches on the future, it’s everyone for himself! Making sense of such a book is a great challenge, and I am not the first to whom it has given pause—John Calvin wrote an extensive commentary on the whole Bible, Old Testament and New, except for Revelation. On the other hand, there are those so eager to read their own pre-formed opinions into Revelation that they ignore what it actually says; or they engage in what Arnold Fruchtenbaum, a Hebrew Christian scholar, calls (in his commentary on Revelation, Footsteps of the Messiah) “newspaper exegesis,” that is, seeing in every current event a sensational fulfillment of some biblical prophecy.

I myself do not hold strong views about the book of Revelation. I do not have a distinctly preferred pair of spectacles through which I see it. If readers perceive that my remarks shift from one perspective to another, and if they find this disturbing, I apologize in advance—I can’t give more than I’ve got. Fortunately, much of what I have to say about this book does not depend on which of the above four viewpoints is correct.

In KJV the book is called “The Revelation of Saint John the Divine,” but the text calls it the revelation which God gave to Yeshua the Messiah, … communicated … by sending his angel to his servant Yochanan. Hence the Jewish New Testament properly calls it “The Revelation of Yeshua the Messiah to Yochanan.” The Greek word for “revelation” is “apokalupsis” (“unveiling”), which gives the book its other popular title, “The Apocalypse,” and raises the question of how this book relates to a category of Jewish writing called “apocalyptic literature.”

George Eldon Ladd calls Jewish apocalyptic “tracts for hard times.” Biblical imagery and symbolic language are used to express the idea that this world offers no hope for improvement; but history will end with a cosmic catastrophe, at which time the apparently victorious wicked will be punished and the downtrodden righteous rewarded. Such books as The Assumption of Moses, 1 Enoch, 4 Ezra and The Apocalypse of Baruch are examples. Moreover, Isaiah 26–29, Zechariah 12–14, and Daniel 7–12 offer a biblical pattern for these later, extra-biblical books.

The book of Revelation is sometimes said to be merely another example of Jewish apocalyptic, but there are these differences:

(1)     Most of the Jewish apocalypses were written pseudonymously, in the names of heroes long dead. Revelation’s author uses his own name, reflecting the fact that in New Testament times God had restored prophecy (Ac 11:27&N), and Yochanan was a prophet (v. 3).

(2)     Jewish apocalypses are pseudo-predictive—the author writes from a viewpoint in the past and “predicts” history that has already taken place. But Yochanan stands in his own time and looks forward to God’s future consummation of his redemptive purpose.

(3)     The Jewish apocalypses are entirely pessimistic about the past and present. Revelation’s author looks to the past work of Yeshua as the ground for present hope.

Moreover, the book of Revelation is highly distinctive in the way it uses the Tanakh. There are very few direct quotations, but no less than five hundred allusions to the Tanakh, especially the books of Exodus, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah and Daniel. In fact, they are so numerous and frequent that I have not attempted to note very many of them either in the text of the JNT or in this commentary; the interested reader should consult other commentaries on Revelation. But the overall effect of so many Tanakh references and allusions is to anchor every part of the book in the God-inspired words of Israel’s Prophets.

Yochanan. Tradition takes him to be the emissary Yochanan, the same as the author of the Gospel and the three letters bearing this name. To this it is objected that the style of Greek used in Revelation is far rougher and more Hebraic than that of the other four books, which all resemble each other. One possibility is that the fisherman from the Galil, for whom Greek was a second or third language, wrote the visions of Revelation himself, as commanded (v. 11), and did not permit alterations (22:18–19); whereas for the Gospel and his letters he had a native Greek-speaker to help edit and translate. Another possibility is that this was a different Yochanan, known to history as an elder in the congregation at Ephesus (although Yochanan the emissary also is identified with Ephesus; see 2:1). [2]

Three Levels of Bible Interpretation

1. Primary Interpretation

These would be like Sunday School Stories. These are very basic and a starting place for bible knowledge. They would include stories like David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17), Daniel and the Lions Den, Sampson and Delilah, Noah and the Ark, Creation, etc.

2. Practical Application

These would be Intermediate and adult lessons which are designed to teach practical application for the Word in our daily lives. How to live a Godly life in this present world. Most Sermons are practical application, and most Christians stop at this point.

You can’t study the third until you have an understanding of the first two.

3. Prophetic Implication

Includes things like the “Blessed Hope”, The Rapture, The Millennial Reign, prophecies of the resurrection, and implied prophecies.

Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

Proverbs 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but it is the honor of kings to search out a matter.

Isiah 28:9-10 9Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. 10For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

Rev 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Amos 8:11-12 11Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: 12And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.

Titus 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

Title of the Book

Our Bibles carry the title of the book as “The Revelation of John,” or “The Revelation to John” which means it is a revelation given to the apostle John, but the proper name is found in the first words of 1:1, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.” Revelation is from the Greek word apokalupsis meaning “a disclosure, an unveiling.” The name “revelation” (note that it is singular) is derived from its use in 1:1, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.”

“Of Jesus Christ” is a genitive construction which can mean “about Jesus Christ” or “from Jesus Christ.” This is what some grammarians call a “plenary genitive,” i.e., a genitive doing double duty since both aspects are true.

(1) It is the revelation that comes from Christ (cf. the second clause in 1:1, “which God gave Him to show to His bondservants,” and 22:16 make this point clear). Jesus Christ, being God Himself, gave this revelation to His servant.

(2) But Jesus Christ is also the center of the book. The book is supremely the revelation about the Savior who has overcome and will return to defeat all evil (1:7, 13 [Note that each message to the seven churches begins with some aspect of the vision of Christ in 1:13-16]; 5:5-14).

Let’s note one more thing about the title. While this book contains several visions and unveilings, it is one book and one total revelation centered around one person and His literal return to earth—the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not the Book of Revelations (pl). The noun Revelation in verse one is singular and is so in the Greek text.

The word “revelation,” used as the title of the book, is from the late Latin revelatio, which means disclosure of that which was previously hidden or unknown. The Greek word apokalupsis, from which the English word “apocalypse”, is derived.

Unveiling used 18 times in the NT: Lk 2:32; Rom 2:5; 8:19; 16:25; 1 Cor 1:7; 14:6; 14:26; 2 Cor 12:1; 12:7; Gal 1:2; 2:2; Eph 1:17; 1 Pet 1:7; 1:13; 4:13; Rev 1:1.

The Revelation of what? The Revelation of Jesus Christ, how He really is today, not just the past or “future events.”

Statistics: 66th and last book of the Bible; 22 chapters; 404 verses; 12,000 words; 9 questions; 53 verses of history; 10 verses of fulfilled prophecy and 341 verses of unfulfilled prophecy, 357 quotes from the Old Testament. There are over 800 allusions to the Old Testament.

Author: The apostle John (Rev. 1:1). He was the son of Zebedee and Salome and the younger brother of James. John, the beloved disciple, the man named by Jesus as a “son of thunder.” Apparently, he was the only one of the twelve apostles still alive in a.d. 90-96. Five times the book is autographed by John (Rev 1:1; 1:4; 1:9; 21:2; 22:8). John outlived all the other apostles, in fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy in John 21:20-24.

John’s other books:

Gospel Epistles Revelation

Believe Be sure Be ready (Jn 20:31) (1 Jn 5:13) (Rev 22:20)

Life received Life revealed Life rewarded

Salvation Sanctification Redemption

The Prophet The Priest The King

John was in the inner circle:

Mount of Transfiguration Matt 17

Raising of Jairus’ daughter Matt 9:18

Olivet Discourse Matt 24

Gethsemane Matt 26:37

Date and place: Written on the Island of Patmos, about 95 A.D. (Rev. 1:9). This was during the reign of Titus Flavius Domitian. John was in exile on the island of Patmos from A.D. 86 to 96.

An early church father, Irenaeus, states that John first settled in Ephesus, that he was later arrested and banished to the Isle of Patmos in the Aegean Sea to work in the mines, and that this occurred during the reign of the Roman emperor, Domitian. This supports the author’s own claim to have written from Patmos because of his witness for Christ (1:9).

Domitian reigned in Rome from A.D. 81-96. Since Irenaeus tells us that John wrote from Patmos during the reign of Domitian, and since this is confirmed by other early church writers, such as Clement of Alexander and Eusebius, most conservative scholars believe the book was written between A.D. 81-96. This would make it the last book of the New Testament, just shortly after John’s gospel and his epistles (1, 2, and 3 John).

Promise: Revelation is the only book with a Promise to the reader!

(Rev. 1:3) Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Bible studies should start with the Book of Revelation; all students know that the answers are always in the back of the book.

Theme: The theme on the Book is given at the beginning of book.

(Rev 1:1) The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass;

These "things" were to take place from John's day to and including the eternal events of the new heaven and new earth. The events are consecutive in order with parenthetical passages inserted between the main events, which explain certain things that are to happen along with the main events but are not the same as these main events.

Divisions: The book has three clearly defined divisions (Rev. 1:19), the contents of which follow each other in the following order:

1. "The things which thou hast seen" i.e., the vision of Christ in the midst of the candlesticks (Rev. 1:12-20), which, together with the introduction to the whole book forms chapter 1.

2. "The things which are" the seven letters to the seven churches in Asia Minor, or present Turkey, to whom the whole book is addressed (Rev. 2:1-3:22). These messages to the churches apply to the whole church age and until the rapture of the church just before the future tribulation and coming of the Antichrist, who will be here for the last seven years of this age (Daniel 9:27; 2 Thes. 2:7-12; Rev. 6:1-19:21).

3. "The things which shall be hereafter" i.e., events after the rapture of the church (Rev. 4:1-22:5). These include the scenes in heaven (Rev. 4-5), the seven seals and their parenthetical statements (Rev. 14:1-19:21), the Millennium (Rev. 20), and the new heaven and new earth (Rev. 21:1-22:5), and events of the conclusion (Rev. 22:6-21). If the things of Rev. 4:1 on must be after the things of the churches, then they will not be fulfilled along with the things of the churches. This means that every event of Rev. 4-22 must be fulfilled after the rapture of the church. It also means that no historical or present event could possibly be a fulfillment of any event of Rev. 4-22.

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Focus: The Holy Spirit ministering through the Word will make it a special book and study. The Book of Revelation is a “lens” that puts the entire Bible into focus. The lens is focused on the person of Jesus Christ, and his destiny is imminent. This is a book of victory: We are overcomers! We are the ultimate winners in the game of life!

Old Testament: One of the reasons this book strikes us as strange is because of our lack of understanding concerning the Old Testament. The Book of Revelation has 404 verses, and in those verses there are 800 allusions to the Old Testament. The more we know about the Bible, and the Old Testament in particular, the more comfortable we will be with the idioms found in the Book of Revelation.

Relevance: In about 1880 Dr. Scofield said, “Doubtless, much which is designedly obscure to us will be clear to those for whom it was written as the time approaches.” It is relevant: only the Biblically illiterate are unable to see that we are, indeed, in the “last days.”

Methods

The Holy Spirit shall teach you all things.

(Jn 16:13) Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.

God wants all to understand prophecy: The first book written in the New Testament was 1 Thessalonians, a letter that is filled with end time events, or prophecy. Paul taught many details of prophecy to new Christians. He had only been in Thessalonica for about three weeks (Acts 17:2). He taught them about the Second Coming, the Rapture, the Antichrist, the wrath to come, and other future events. He was run out of town and went to Berea where he taught the Bereans about the same prophetic events.

You don’t have to believe your Bible teacher, just do your own homework!

(Acts 17:11) These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

Peter said “… no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation” (2 Pet. 1:20). In other words, you cannot lift out just one verse here or there or even consider only the Book of Revelation and expect to interpret accurately the whole of prophecy. It is essential to recognize that the Book of Revelation happens to be the last book of the Bible. When you are studying arithmetic in school, you begin with “two plus two equals four.” You do not start the little ones in first grade with atomic physics or with higher mathematics. Since this book is the last book of the Bible, the only requirement is to have a working knowledge of the sixty-five books, which go before. Then you will find that this book makes a great deal of sense and is quite logical.

Role of Types, Metaphors, and Idioms

(Hos 12:10) I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.

God uses expressions to get ideas across; not just words, but “models.”

These are types, “foreshadowings,” and analogies.

Types:

Gen 22 Abraham & Isaac

Gen 6 Flood & The Ark

Dan 3 Nebuchadnezzar’s Image

Ruth Redemption of the land, etc.

Joshua Model of the book of Revelation; Joshua = Jesus;

Metaphors:

Tabernacle

Burning Bush; whose voice was there – The voice of Jesus! John 8:58

Idioms:

“Friend of God” - prophetic insights (Abraham, Gen 17 and 18; Disciples, Jn 15:13-15).

“Beloved” - apocalyptic writings (Daniel, John). (Deeper revelations)

Signified by God = in “code” (1:1) “to give a sign or signal.” 4591 Greek = semaino from sema (a mark, of uncertain derivation); [Sememe = a basic unit of meaning]. It has two meanings:

1) to give a sign, to signify, indicate.

2) to make known.

...every code is explained in Scripture...every book required....

The word is translated “sign” (15:1), “wonder” (12:1, 3) and “miracle” (19:20). This same word is used by John for the miracles of Christ. It’s a “spiritual code” understood only by those who know Christ personally.

Christians to Understand: Christians are to understand prophecy and the bible, the lost or unbelieving will not be able to understand it.

(2 Cor. 4:3-4) 3But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Why “Prophecy”?

Prophecy = God’s entire plan in perspective. I believe we are plunging into a period of time about which the Bible says more than any other period of time in history—including the time that Jesus walked on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and climbed the mountains of Judea.

There are 1,845 references to Christ’s rule on the earth in the Old Testament.

A total of 17 OT books give prominence to the event.

Of 216 chapters in the New Testament, there are 318 references to the Second Coming.

It is mentioned in 23 of the 27 books (excepting three that are single-chapter letters to private individuals, and Galatians).

For every prophecy relating to His first coming, there are eight treating His Second Coming. Still, most people assume that the future is but a linear extrapolation of the present; life will just go on. But the Bible says otherwise.

Revelation is a fulfillment of our prayer we all pray: “Thy kingdom come....”

Revelation is the continuation and climax of Acts, covering the period from Acts (30 years of the Church) to Jesus’ Second Coming (2000 years of the Church).

Redemption is the key issue in the Book of Revelation (not salvation).

Two great acts of God, milestones: Redemption is greater than the Creation:

1) More space in Scripture:

Creation: Two chapters in Genesis, few Psalms, few chapters in Job, Isaiah...

Redemption: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus...Joshua, Ruth, the Prophets, Gospels...Epistles...Revelation!

2) What was the cost: Redemption more expensive: Redemption cost God His Son!

Redemption = restoration of that which was lost to the original owner (Lk 21:28; Rom 8:23; Gal 3:13; Eph 1:14; Dan 8:26; Dan 12:4, 9).

Carl F.H. Henry

“The final chapter of human history is solely God’s decision, and even now He is everywhere active in grace or judgment. Never in all history have men spoken so much of end-times yet been so shrouded in ignorance of God’s impending doomsday.”

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Double Reference Fulfillment (Near and Far)

Bible prophecy may have both a near and a far fulfillment. “Two events widely separated as to the time of their fulfillment, may be brought into the scope of one prophecy. This was done because the prophet had a message for his own day as well as for a future time.” In addition, the fulfillment of the near often became the assurance of the fulfillment of the far. For instance:

1) The Abrahamic promises had their ultimate goal in the coming of Messiah through whom all the families of the earth could be blessed, but the promise and birth of Isaac under the most adverse conditions would help Abraham to believe that in his seed all the families of the earth should be blessed.

2) Daniel 8:9-11 and 23-27 provides another example. The little horn of these two passages were prophecies of Antiochus Epiphanes of Greece who, in 175 B.C., plundered the temple in Jerusalem and desecrated it by offering a pig on the altar, but many believe that this passage ultimately anticipates the character and actions of the last day ruler of the Revived Roman Empire or the antichrist.

Traditional Views

Preterist: Then only, that Revelation simply describes events confined to the apostle John’s day. “Preterist” means “past action”

Historicist: History only, That Revelation is a mysterious book as a prophetic survey of church history.

Idealist: Allegorical, This group of interpreters understands Revelation as being primarily “symbolic.” They believe that through symbols Revelation presents timeless truths that were relevant to the original readers and are relevant to readers today.

Futurist: Prophetic; The Book of Revelation claims this view: (1:3; 22:7, 10 18-19; note also 10:11).

|Interpretations of the Book of Revelation |

|Interpretive |Basic Thesis |Major Advocates |Evaluation |

|Method | | | |

|Preterist |All the events of Revelation |This view was developed by the |The book is reduced to little |

| |were fulfilled during the |Jesuits and is still held by many|more than a relic of antiquity,|

| |days of either Nero or |in the Roman Church and by some |with no message for later |

| |Domitian. The book is |Protestants. |generations. |

| |concerned only with events of| | |

| |the first century. | | |

|Historical |Revelation is a panorama of |This position was espoused by |The multiplicity of |

|(Postmillennialism—the belief |church history, from the |Martin Luther, John Wycliffe, and|interpretation of metaphors and|

|that Christ will return at the|initiation of the apostolic |most of the Reformers, except the|symbols quickly becomes |

|end of the millennial age.) |era to the consummation of |Anabaptists. |intolerably subjective. |

| |the age. | | |

|Idealist |The Apocalypse is not to be |This concept was spawned in the |As this method shows, pagan |

|(Amillennialism—the belief |construed as a representation|Alexandrian school of philosophy |philosophy and Christian |

|that there is no literal |of actual events, whether |and theology by Origen and is |theology do not mix. The early |

|millennial reign of Christ on |past or future. The book is |maintained by a host of liberal, |fathers of the church are |

|earth.) |only a symbol or metaphor to |and some conservative, Bible |overwhelming in their support |

| |depict the great struggle |students today. |of Revelation as representing |

| |between good and evil. | |actual history in some sense. |

|Futuristic |Beginning with chapter 4, the|This view has wide acceptance |The futuristic perspective is |

|(Premillennialism—the belief |events described belong to |among evangelicals around the |in perfect harmony with the |

|that Christ will return to |the future age and constitute|world. Anabaptists of the |message of the entire Bible. |

|usher in the millennial age. |a marvelous prophecy of God’s|Reformation era were futurists. |Far fewer interpretive enigmas |

| |program for the consummation |Numerous church fathers from the |are engendered by this |

| |of the age. |initial Christian centuries also |approach. |

| | |were advocates of this view. | |

The Sevens in Revelation

The prominence of the number seven (occurring fifty-two times) alerts the interpreter to the symbolism of numbers in the Apocalypse.

Seven Churches 1:4, 11, 20

Seven Lamp stands 1:12, 13, 20; 2:1

Seven Spirits 1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6

Seven Stars 1:16, 20; 2:1; 3:1

Seven Lamps 4; 5

Seven “Title-pairs” 2; 3

Seven Promises to the Over comer 2;3

Seven Seals 5:1,6

Seven Horns 5:6

Seven Eyes 5:6

Seven Angels 8:2,6; 15:1,6,7,8; 16:1; 17:1; 21:9

Seven Trumpets 8:2, 6

Seven Thunders 10:3, 4

Seven Thousand 11:13

Seven Heads 12:3; 13:1; 17:3, 7, 9

Seven Crowns 12:3

Seven Plagues 15:1, 6, 8; 21:9

Seven Bowls 15:7; 17:1; 21:9

Seven Mountains 17:9

Seven Kings 17:10,11

(some sevens are more subtle)

Seven Features 1

Seven Divisions in each Letter 2, 3

Seven Personages 12, 13 (Volume 2)

(Woman, Man-Child, Red Dragon,

False Prophet,7-headed Beast,

Michael, Lamb)

Seven Beatitudes 1:3, 14:3, 16:15, 19:9, 20:6, 22:7, 22:14

Seven Years of Judgments 11:3; 12:6, 14; 13:5

Seven “I Am’s” of Christ 1:8, 11, 17, 18; 21:6; 22:13, 16

Seven Doxologies in heaven 4:9-11; 5:8-13; 7:9-12; 11:16-18; 14:2,3; 15:2-4;

19:1-6

Seven New Things 20, 21

...and many, many more. (Seven times as many?)

Structure & Design Elements

Basic Divisions (found in Rev 1:19):

Chapter1 The things which thou hast seen.

Chapters 2-3 The things which are.

Chapters 4-22 The things which shall be after these things.

Four times John says he was “...in the Spirit...”

Where:

Chapter 1:10 on the day of the Lord Patmos

Chapter 4:2 straightway I was... A throne in heaven

Chapter 17:3 carried me away... in the wilderness

Chapter 21:10 carried me away... to a mountain

“Thunders, voices, lightnings, and an earthquake”

Chapter 4:5 Throne

Chapter 8:5 Seals

Chapter 11:19 Trumpets

Chapter 16:18 Bowls

Climactic Escalation (shows design)

1:6 (2) Glory, dominion

4:11(3) Glory, honor, power

5:13(5) Blessing, honor, glory, power

7:12(7) Blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, might

Songs

1. 4:8 Holy, holy, holy

2. 4:11; 5:8-10 worthy art thou

3. 5:11-13 unto Him that sitteth

4. 7:9,10 Salvation to our God; 11,12 Amen; Blessing...

5. 11:15 Kingdoms of the world; 16-18 We give thee thanks

6. 15:2-4 great & marvelous...

7. 19:1-8 4 hallelujahs

The Three Tenses of Redemption

Past Present Future

God (Rev 1:4);

Which Was (Col 1:15-17; Jn 8:58)

Which is (Heb 7:25)

Which Is to Come (Rev 1:7)

Jesus Christ (Rev 1:5)

The Faithful Witness (Jn 14:1-3; Jn 8:14)

First Begotten of the Dead (Col 1:18-20)

Prince of the Kings of the Earth (Mt 25:31,32; 1 Cor 15:24,25)

Unto Him That (Rev 1:5)

Loved Us (Gal 2:20; Jn 3:16)

Washed Us from our Sins in His Own Blood ( Heb 7:25; 9:14)

Made Us Kings/Priests (1 Pet 2:9; Lk 19:17; Rev 2:26,26; 5:10; 20:4; 22:5)

Write (Rev 1:19)

1. The Things Which Thou Hast Seen (Rev 1:12-18)

2. The Things Which Are (Rev 2 & 3)

3. The Things Which ShallBe Hereafter (Rev 4-22)

Things Out of Place Now - Will be put in place in the Book of Revelation

Israel => Land

Church => Heaven

Lamb => Own throne

Satan => Bound

Four Women

Wife of YHWH (Israel) Woman of Rev 12

Virgin Bride (Church) Bride of Christ

Harlot Mystery Babylon (Rides Scarlet Beast)

Jezebel Immorality Church of Thyatira (Rev 2:20)

Quotes:

“About the time of the End, a body of men will be raised up who will turn their attention to the prophecies, and insist on their literal interpretation in the midst of much clamor and opposition.” Sir Isaac Newton (AD 1643-1727)

William Tyndale was one of the most spiritual lamps who showed the way to the Reformation. He said concerning Bible interpretation, “Thou shalt understand, therefore, that the Scripture hath but one sense, which is the literal sense. And that literal sense is the root and ground of all, and the anchor that never faileth, whereunto if thou cleave, thou canst never err or go out of the way. And if thou leave the literal sense, thou canst not but to go out of the way” William Tyndale (1494-1536)

Golden Rule of Biblical interpretation:

Dr. David L. Cooper, Hebrew Scholar

“When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense; therefore, take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual literal meaning unless the facts of the immediate context, studied in the light of related passages and axiomatic and fundamental truths, indicate clearly otherwise”

There are about 375 prophetic references in the Old Testament to the first coming of Jesus. Every one of these references happened just as prophesied. There are over 2,000 prophecies of his second coming and each should be fulfilled just as the first coming.

Church was born on Pentecost and will end at the Rapture.

Importance of Prophecy

Prophecy emphasizes the “imminent” return of Christ – that He could return at any moment. This is one of the most spiritually motivating forces in church history.

1. It has challenged believers to holy living, in an unholy age;

2. It has given Christians a greater challenge to evangelize;

3. It has caused the church to be more missionary minded as the church has realized it must fulfill the great commission before Christ returns.

4. It acquaints us with the most important subject of the ages, God’s plan for man.

5. Studying Bible prophecy convinces us that there really is a God.

6. Study of prophecy prepares the Christian to avoid the deceptions of the many false prophets that are arising in our day.

7. The study of prophecy tends to purify the believer.

8. The study of prophecy proves the Bible is authentic and from an extraterrestrial source.

9. Prophecy is history written in advance.

33% of the bible is prophetic

50% is human history

17% is instruction on how to live and treat others in the present

1 Pet 1:12 and 2 Pet 1:20-21

Much that is now obscure will become clear to those for whom it was written, as the time approaches.

1 Pet 1:10-12 10Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: 11Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. 12Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

1 Pet 1:20-21 20Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 21Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

.

One of the earliest Christian writings we have is the Didache, a treatise probably penned around A.D. 100. It shows us how the apostolic church understood the future and the context in which Revelation was understood. The writer of the Didache says:

Watch for your life’s sake. Let not your lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed; but be ye ready, for ye know not the hour in which our Lord cometh. When lawlessness increaseth, they shall hate and betray and persecute one another, and then shall appear the “world deceiver” as Son of God, and shall do signs and wonders, and the earth will be delivered into his hands, and he shall do iniquitous things which have never yet come to pass since the beginning. Then shall the creation of men come into the fire of trial, and many shall be made to stumble and shall perish, but they that endure in their faith shall be saved from under the curse itself. And then shall appear the signs of the truth, (a) first, the sign of an opening in heaven, the outspreading of the heaven; (b) then the sign of the sound of the trumpet; and (c) third, the resurrection of the dead, yet not of all, but as it is said: the Lord shall come and all His saints with Him. Then shall the world see the Lord coming upon the clouds of heaven (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. VII, p. 382).

Purpose of this study is to stimulate you to do your homework, to get into and study the Bible. The Holy Spirit’s mission is to get you to grow and become closer to God.

PROFILE: JOHN

Being loved is the most powerful motivation in the world! Our ability to love is often shaped by our experience of love. We usually love others as we have been loved.

Some of the greatest statements about God’s loving nature were written by a man who experienced God’s love in a unique way. John, Jesus’ disciple, expressed his relationship to the Son of God by calling himself “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 21:20). Although Jesus’ love is clearly communicated in all the Gospels, in John’s Gospel it is a central theme. Because his own experience of Jesus’ love was so strong and personal, John was sensitive to those words and actions of Jesus that illustrated how the One who is love loved others.

Jesus knew John fully and loved him fully. He gave John and his brother James the nickname “Sons of Thunder,” perhaps from an occasion when the brothers asked Jesus for permission to “call fire down from heaven” (Luke 9:54) on a village that had refused to welcome Jesus and the disciples. In John’s Gospel and letters, we see the great God of love, while the thunder of God’s justice bursts from the pages of Revelation.

Jesus confronts each of us as he confronted John. We cannot know the depth of Jesus’ love unless we are willing to face the fact that he knows us completely. Otherwise we are fooled into believing he must love the people we pretend to be, not the sinners we actually are. John and all the disciples convince us that God is able and willing to accept us as we are. Being aware of God’s love is a great motivator for change. His love is not given in exchange for our efforts; his love frees us to really live. Have you accepted that love?

Strengths and accomplishments:

• Before following Jesus, one of John the Baptist’s disciples

• One of the 12 disciples and, with Peter and James, one of the inner three, closest to Jesus

• Wrote five New Testament books: The Gospel of John; 1, 2, and 3 John; and Revelation

Weaknesses and mistakes:

• Along with James, shared a tendency to outbursts of selfishness and anger

• Asked for a special position in Jesus’ kingdom

Lessons from his life:

• Those who realize how much they are loved are able to love much

• When God changes a life, he does not take away personality characteristics, but puts them to effective use in his service

Vital statistics:

• Occupations: Fisherman, disciple

• Relatives: Father: Zebedee. Mother: Salome. Brother: James

Torah Class; Seed of Abraham Ministries, Tom Bradford

Torah Class is an independent, non-denominational organization of gentile Christians and Messianic Jews who have banded together to teach the Torah and the Old Testament (Tanakh) from a Hebraic Heritage perspective, and then to apply that understanding to the works of Messiah in the New Testament and ultimately to our lives and personal relationship with the Lord.

Week 1, Introduction – Tom Bradford

John, the writer of the Book of Revelation, sets out to tell his readers something vital about the paradox of the days and years ahead: they will be the best of times, and they will be the worst of times. Some fellow named Dickens seems to have borrowed that theme several centuries later. The question we must attempt to answer (one of many we will explore) is this: was John thinking in terms of what was immediately ahead, possibly during his lifetime? Or what was far ahead…..well into an indefinite future? The answer determines if Revelation will affect us, or if its predictions already occurred in the past.

I will confess that up until only a few months ago I did not think I would ever teach the Book of Revelation. It was for the simple reason that so many commentaries had already been produced about it that I couldn’t imagine what I could possibly offer that could add to what has already been said. However, so many people approached me and asked me if I would reconsider that I thought I’d at least explore the idea a bit deeper. After some additional research I determined that perhaps I could approach this admittedly challenging, yet fascinating, book from a different angle than has typically been done. And that angle is to better explore just where John got his ideas from, why he used the language and symbols he chose, and then once determining his sources going to those same sources (where possible) to help establish the context for John’s thinking with the result being a better understanding of what the book truly intends to tell us. I’ll talk more about that, later.

First let’s get some of the preliminaries and housekeeping out of the way; we’ll begin by identifying just who this John the Revelator is. The truth is there is no way to know for certain; all we have is a first name and no family name. Of course, that likely means that this man was so well known to those of his time that no family name was needed. The consensus of Bible scholars is that this is the same John that was one of the original 12 disciples that Yeshua chose and is the namesake of the Gospel of John as well as the 3 letters called first, second and third John. Perhaps the most conclusive piece of hard evidence to identify the writer of Revelation as John the Apostle comes from the early Church Father Irenaeus. Irenaeus was a disciple of Polycarp and Polycarp knew John personally as one of John’s students. Polycarp says that it was John the Apostle who wrote Revelation and Irenaeus recorded this information. Further, other early Church Fathers dating to the 2nd and early 3rd centuries such as Justin, Clement, Origen, Tertullian and Hippolytus all attest that it was John the Apostle who wrote Revelation. While this may not qualify as iron clad laboratory proof, it includes the testimony of an eye witness and is the strongest of circumstantial evidence. Therefore, I shall proceed with the understanding that the John of Revelation is John, the son of Zebedee, 1 of the original 12 Galilean disciplines of Christ.

While Christianity generally thinks of Paul as that Apostle who held the sole or even ultimate authority over the believing congregations of the Jewish Diaspora (those outside of the Holyland), and this because Paul saw himself (and is rightly described) as the Apostle to the gentiles, that was not entirely the case. Other named and unnamed evangelists of Christ as Savior (almost all Jewish so far as we know) had established their own congregations in Asia and/or were received by believing congregations as having authority. So too, then, was John well known to all the Messianic congregations of Asia and as we’ll see from the tone of his letters to the 7 congregations in chapters 2 and 3, he had authority and fully expected what he said to be taken seriously.

Especially during the 1st century (the time when all the writers of the New Testament lived) virtually all of the known believing congregations were Jewish synagogues and (broadly speaking) whatever gentiles who came to Christ attended those synagogues and worshipped alongside the believing Jews. Please note that I am carefully avoiding using the word “churches” to label these Messianic congregations mainly led by Jews. That is because the mental picture we draw when we think of a church is of a group of gentile believers in Christ meeting in a building constructed or purchased for that purpose. In Greek (the earliest manuscripts of the New Testament that we possess are written in Greek) the word that our English Bibles translate as church is ekklesia; and ekklesia is a rather generic word meaning assembly; or in a religious context “congregation”. Church is an English word that came centuries later and was at one point substituted for the Greek ekklesia. Long after the Messianic movement had been taken over by gentiles and Jews were excluded, the facilities where Christians met became known by English speakers as “churches”, and the overall body of Christians was labeled “the church”. Thus, by replacing the word ekklesia with “church” in our Bibles an anachronism was created. That is, a concept that did not exist in the 1st century A.D. has been injected into that era by Bible translators who came much later. So, the notion of an exclusively gentile group of Christ believers called “the church” was written into New Testament history and the presence of Jewish believers and leadership evaporated. Therefore, only occasionally in our study of Revelation will I use the words “the church” or “churches” as those simply aren’t there in the Scriptures and it paints a less than accurate picture of what the New Testament expresses.

One of the great unsettled questions about the book of Revelation is when John might have written it. Some argue for a date before the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple by the Romans in 70 A.D. The argument is basically that John makes no mention of the destruction and therefore it must surely have not yet happened. Preterists argue for this early date for another reason that we’ll talk about in a few minutes. Another point that is used to favor a pre-destruction date is because persecution of Christians is discussed with John as a witness to it and victim of it. Nero is infamous for his persecution of Believers during 64 -65 A.D. so it is thought that this is the persecution that affected John. However, the same early Church Father Irenaeus who reported his teacher Polycarp (a disciple and friend of John) saying that John wrote Revelation also said that John had received his apocalyptic vision during the reign of Domitian who ruled from 81-96 A.D. Other early Christian writers confirmed what Irenaeus claimed. Also, it should be noted that Nero’s persecutions tended to be rather localized while Domitian’s were Empire-wide.

The cause of Domitian’s persecutions against Christians? He demanded that they practice Emperor Worship as was required of all Roman citizens, and many Believers refused. The time of Domitian’s persecutions coincided with the era when gentiles were wresting control of the Jewish Messianic movement away from Jews. Up through the time of the destruction of the Temple, gentiles who joined the Jewish-led Messianic movement were seen by Rome as having converted to a strange new sect of Judaism and thus had become Jews. Special privileges had been given to Jews under a series of Roman Emperors that had exempted them from Emperor Worship, provided they agreed to pray for the wellbeing of the Emperor. Since for a long time the gentile Believers were seen by Rome as part of the Jewish Messianic movement (and thus were deemed Jews), then they, too, had been exempted from Emperor Worship and so were not subject to prosecution. All that changed under Domitian because by that time gentiles dominated the Messianic movement and made it clear that despite their faith in a Jewish Messiah, they were definitely not Jews. Ironically, as gentiles they had no government exemption from Emperor Worship and were prosecuted when they refused, while their Jewish brothers continued unaffected as they retained their exemption. Such is the confusion that occurs during times of transition as new forces arise and new agendas collide bringing unintended consequences.

One other piece of evidence seems to put the time of the writing of Revelation well after the Temple destruction in 70 A.D. As a result of the Temple destruction Jews were mentally, emotionally and spiritually devastated. They were also afraid. So as Jewish historians, prophets, and leaders began contemplating and writing about their experiences and their future, they of course connected their catastrophe with what the Old Testament Prophets had to say, particularly those predictions of just such a destruction that mirrored that of the Babylonian exile (the Babylonian exile had never left the consciousness of Jews even 600 years after it happened any more than the massacres of Muslims by the Christian Crusaders have never left the consciousness of modern day Islam 1000 years after they occurred). So, because the Jews now feared the Roman government Jewish scribes began referring to Rome as Babylon to disguise their intent. That is, when they were prophesying against or criticizing Rome, they would not say Rome; they’d say Babylon. Therefore, since John evidently refers in several places to Rome by calling it Babylon, it makes it probable that he wrote his Apocalypse well after the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. when doing that became a standard practice. While I didn’t always think so, the evidence now forces me to conclude that John wrote Revelation around 90 A.D. as a very old man, about 2 decades after the Temple was destroyed.

It seems that John received his visions and wrote his Apocalypse while he was in exile on the Island of Patmos. Patmos is an island located about 35 miles off the west coast of present-day Turkey. It is well attested that this island was at least partly used by the Roman government as a prison island. John clearly states in chapter 1 that he been banished to this island because he was preaching the Word of God. We can take that to mean both the Gospel and the Holy Scriptures. We have no more information than that about where he was, and why he was there, when God sent these amazing visions to him. But it was common among Biblical Prophets that they received their oracles or visions from God while under duress. While some scholars, mainly agnostic and atheist Bible scholars doubt the truth of it history itself shows that it is entirely plausible that John

was exiled to Patmos because this would have happened during the time of Emperor

Domitian.

I’ll take just a moment to remind you that while John’s writings appear in the New Testament, no such thought, concept, or document as a New Testament existed in John’s day. So while John would certainly have been aware and no doubt had read some of Paul’s letters and probably knew of at least some of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), by no means were these writings seen as inspired of God let alone as Holy Scripture. These documents indeed carried authority but were not placed on the level of Holy Scripture by Believers. The Bible that John (and all writers of the New Testament) knew and accepted was the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible; what Christians call the Old Testament…..and nothing else. It would not be until the late 2nd century that even the thought of canonizing the writings of Paul, John, Peter, and the Gospel writers and making them into a Christian Bible was even brought up, and this by a layman; a wealthy shipping magnate named Marcion. Even though gentiles now outnumbered Jews as followers of Yeshua by dozens to one, and even though gentiles were now the leadership of the Christ movement with Jews being excluded, Marcion’s idea of a Christian Bible was still seen by the gentile leadership as heretical and he was promptly admonished for such an outrageous idea. It would not be until early in the 3rd century that the believing gentile leadership was ready to reconsider and debate Marcion’s proposition and the first Christian Bible was created. It contained most of the books we have in our modern New Testaments, but some like the Book of Hebrews were controversial and not accepted by all. Interestingly, Revelation was one of the first books adopted into the New Testament canon. The Old Testament was retained in its entirety.

I wanted to broach that subject with you for a couple of reasons. The first being that various eminent Bible scholars have taken very different views as to how to interpret Revelation. I’m going to go into some depth on this matter because it might surprise some of you (but probably not most of you) to know that many Bible scholars and modern evangelical denominations view Revelation as completely stand-alone, having no connection whatsoever to the Old Testament Prophets, or to anything presented in the Old Testament. In fact, while I haven’t catalogued them all, from an anecdotal standpoint my estimation is that the majority of modern-day Revelation commentaries take that view. Second there are several approaches so let’s examine the 4 main ones taken to interpret Revelation. G.K. Beale has done a wonderful job of briefly and cogently describing each of these views and I’ll borrow extensively from him.

First what is called the Preterist view; this word has the inherent meaning of things happening in the past. So, the Preterist position is that Revelation speaks not to the future but to things that happened in the past. Specifically, then, for them Revelation revolves around the destruction of the Temple. In other words, it is John either truly predicting the coming destruction of the Temple that happened in 70 A.D. or he wrote it after the destruction in a style that made it appear to be prophetic. Thus, Preterists insist that John wrote Revelation during the time of Nero in 64 or 65 A.D.

Preterists believe that all references to Babylon do not actually refer to Babylon or Rome, but rather refer to Israel. Thus, Israel is painted in a very bad light as a nation and a people who are thoroughly rejected by God and are already judged for destruction. Thus, Israel becomes the great persecutor of the Church; not Rome or Babylon. Preterists inherently believe that God is through with Israel; that God has completely and forever divorced His people Israel; and that He has replaced Israel with the Church (meaning the gentile Church). So Preterists are automatically Replacement Theology adherents and the emergence of the modern State of Israel is an unwelcome event.

I do not intend to attack any of these viewpoints. On the other hand, I will say that the Preterist view is doctrine driven as opposed to Scripture driven. In fact, the Preterist view doesn’t even align very well with recorded history.

Second is called the Historicist view. This view says that all the talk in Revelation about seal, trumpet and bowl judgments form a symbolic picture of various ages and stages of church development. Further, since this is a prevalent view in the Western Church (but far less so in the Eastern, Slavic, Coptic, or other branches of the Church) then it is common for Historicists to attach any specific Bible related historical event to some event within the Western Church. As examples: the corruption and power plays within the papacy of the Catholic Church that has occurred from time to time over the centuries and the Reformation begun by Martin Luther. Thus, the signs and symbols of Revelation relate only to events that somehow involve the Western Church. Therefore, over the centuries as each generation of Historicists sees events unfolding around them they connect them to signs and symbols in Revelation and find a reason to predict the imminent return of Christ in their day.

This view’s major flaw, of course, is that it has always been wrong in predicting the end of the world and the imminent coming of Yeshua. Today some scholars who criticize this viewpoint of interpretation mock it as “newspaper exegesis”. That is, people pick up the newspaper, see some terrible happening (today those happenings usually involve Muslims and the Middle East) and attach those happenings to something John said in Revelation. In other words, these current events are seen as prophecy being fulfilled. Although this view goes back centuries before WWI, if one is interested one can go back to Christian writings leading up to, during, and shortly following WWI that show how a large portion of Western Christians believed that the horrific events of those war-torn years were Revelation prophecy being fulfilled and that both the end of the world and the return of Christ should be expected at any moment. Many Christians committed suicide, stopped having babies, sold everything they had and went into isolation, separated themselves from their communities and unbelieving members of their families and more in what they viewed as the proper preparation for Christ’s return and based it on symbols and signs found in Revelation that seemed to align with current events.

A third view of interpretation is the Futurist view. Futurists say that everything John had to say was for a time in the distant future to him (except, perhaps, for the letters to the 7 Churches of Asia). The Futurist view says John’s visions should be taken fully literally AND chronologically. In other words, in the order that we find John presenting his visions in Revelation, along with the content within them, it will be the same order that these things will occur in history…..but at a time that was future to him and at least some of it still future to us. For example: according to the chronological order of John’s visions Israel will come back as a nation and then following that the Church will experience the Rapture, then there will be a tribulation period lasting 7 years, afterwards the Anti-Christ will reveal himself and begin to rule, and then finally the nations of the world will gang-up to attack and destroy Israel. Next Christ returns to fight those nations and destroy them, the Millennium begins with Yeshua ruling, later Satan foments a rebellion that God puts down, and then later still we enter the eternal realm as time comes to an end.

Regarding the Futurist view, as Beale says so correctly: “In short, (for them) the Bible is interpreted by modern events first, instead of by itself”. Therefore, in the Futurist view, signs and symbols in Revelation will become real and literal objects and events, and since what John says only has relevance to the future end times, then it pertains only to Christians living in the end times. Christians living at any other time in history have no connection to the Book of Revelation.

There is a modified type of Futurist view that still claims that the Church is the true Israel but that there will be no pre-tribulation rapture. Rather Believers will remain on earth to suffer the 7-year tribulation. And there are a few other iterations of Futurism that change a few details, but we won’t go there today.

The fourth predominant view is called the Redemptive-Historical Idealist view, or Idealist for short. In this view Revelation is not literal at all. It but depicts a symbolic battle between the forces of good and evil. Thus, all is symbolism and allegory. The seals, bowls and trumpets are merely emblematic of various generations of human history. The letters to the 7 churches apply to all churches worldwide at any time; or they each depict characteristics present in a certain era of church development. Modern higher critics tend to adopt this view because it avoids any supernatural or prophetic entanglements. Since so many higher critics are agnostics or atheists who don’t believe in the supernatural or the prophetic, then this view allows them to circumvent the sticky subject of the involvement of a god or of divine predictions; something that their fellow academics find ignorant and primitive.

We are going to proceed without adopting or rejecting any one of these named viewpoints. For one reason, scholars are fond of lumping a number of attributes together, giving the collection a name, and then fighting hammer and tong to keep it intact and pure. Thus, a Bible student is required to accept one of these named views in-full or reject it in-full. I don’t accept that premise. Each has something to offer but none are a perfect representation of the truth. Further, the instant one of these named views of how to interpret Revelation is adopted prior to study, then we find ourselves with a predetermined outcome. While there is no doubt that I will indeed be presenting our study of Revelation from a certain worldview, my hope is to do my best to remain intellectually honest while being spiritually sensitive and accepting Revelation as the inspired Word of God that it is. And even when we conclude (probably at least a year from now) there will still be mystery and unanswered questions. It is our job to discover how to understand it as best we can with the information, we have up to this point in human history, and then to apply it to our lives as well as our expectations without trying to fit it into a manmade pattern that is necessarily at least somewhat arbitrary.

So here is the worldview that I spoke of that will be the platform from which I will teach Revelation. First and foremost, the Book of Revelation is divine truth. Second, it is real; the events depicted are actual; they have happened or will happen or both. Third, the Book of Revelation does not and cannot stand alone. It is fully dependent on the Old Testament, especially on the Prophets Ezekiel, Daniel, and Isaiah (other prophets as well but a little less so). Fourth, the miracles spoken of and the divine power behind those miracles is real, alive, and active. If there is a fifth element of my Revelation worldview it would be that we shall take Revelation literally. However, I must explain what I mean by that. Literally does NOT mean that we are obligated to take what are clearly Hebrew expressions, metaphors or symbols word for word. Literally means (for example) that when a miracle is encountered, it is an authentic miracle. When God gives a vision, it is an actual divine vision and not the dream machinations of an overwrought or unstable person, nor is it the person (in our case John) claiming a vision but in fact it is but his own thoughts and plans. When words and commands are ascribed as coming from God or his angelic servants, they are true and actual. But literal also demands that we understand what those words meant to John in that day, at that place, in his culture and his language. This is a difficult task, but we’ll endeavor to do that as best as we can.

Something that often gets overlooked when we study Revelation is this: we are getting this information fifth-handed. The opening verses explain bluntly that God gave this revelation to Yeshua. Then Yeshua passed it on to one or more angelic messengers. The angelic messengers, in concert with Christ, showed it to John in the form of visions. And John wrote it all down to give it to us, the fifth in the chain. God to Christ to angelic messengers to John to all Believers. So, it is truly a misnomer to call the Book of Revelation “The Apocalypse of John” as it is alternately known by. More truthfully this is Christ’s, or God’s Apocalypse; not John’s. And if we are to understand it best that is how we must view it. John’s only duty was to write down what he was told to write down, which, by the way, was completely typical of the Old Testament Prophets.

Revelation, interestingly, has not one quote from the Old Testament. Paul’s letters, on the other hand, consist of nearly 50% Old Testament quotes. Why the significant discrepancy? First and foremost, we must remember that Paul was an intellectual who dedicated his early life to Torah study and attended perhaps the most prestigious religious school of his day: the Academy of Gamaliel, located in Jerusalem. John on the other hand came from a family of common fishermen in the Galilee. While John was fully literate, whatever religious education he received would have been from the local synagogue (very likely at Kaphar Nahum…. .Capernaum ….which was located on the Sea of Galilee). Naturally he also learned much from the 3 years (or maybe a little less) of his personal association with Yeshua. Paul had memorized much Scripture and clearly John had not.

Nonetheless, there are many allusions to the Old Testament Scriptures throughout the Book of Revelation. In fact, for those scholars who don’t discount the Old Testament completely in their assessments of Revelation, the consensus is that John has included about 500 allusions to the Old Testament that include allusions to the Torah, the Psalms, Samuel, Chronicles and other books; but primarily it is to the Prophets. These allusions are critical to understanding Revelation. John did not create Revelation in a vacuum. And the Lord did not give John visions that had no concrete context for John to be able to understand and connect with. In fact, with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, it has become clear that at least a few of his allusions are even to the writings of the Essenes. Peder Borgen, a renowned Bible Historian says this: “Since the Old Testament was the thought-world of Jesus, the disciples and the other first Christians, and since the Old Testament was woven into the very fabric of Jewish institutions and Jewish ways of life, it therefore determined the theological issues raised to a large extent, either negatively or positively”.

Unfortunately, relatively few Bible scholars acknowledge this fact, and even fewer Pastors seem to be aware of this reality. The interpretation of the New Testament in general depends on the reader knowing about what the Old Testament Prophets proclaim, what the Torah teaches, and the history of Israel that we find in the progress of the Old Testament beginning with Abraham. It might surprise you to know that while some of the lesser known early Church Fathers such as Andrew of Caesarea, Apringius of Beja, Athanasius and a few others commented on Revelation, the first scholarly book on John’s use of the Old Testament in writing Revelation didn’t even occur until Adolf Schlatter’s work in 1912, barely over 100 years ago! Only after another 7 decades passed did another book approaching the direct connections between the Tanakh and Revelation finally appear in 1984! This is how estranged the Christian world is from the Old Testament despite many who would try to deny it; and it is why most study and preaching on the New Testament is allegorical. Without the Old Testament, Revelation especially is very nearly only several chapters of frustrating gibberish that allows virtually open-ended interpretations by creative commentators.

But now a warning. Because Revelation relies heavily on the Old Testament Prophets, doing so by means of allusions rather than quotes, the task of understanding and interpreting becomes even larger. So that we’re all together, let me define the term allusion. An allusion is meant to call something to mind without expressing it directly. In my lessons on Acts and Romans I told you that it was the Jewish literary norm in the New Testament era for a writer to quote an Old Testament passage, and then comment about it. But what the writer actually intended was to use the brief Scripture quotation as merely a reference to the entire context of where that quotation appeared in the Bible. The quotation was meant to call to mind an entire section of Scripture; it was not intended that only those few quoted words were the point. Why do it that way? Because there was no other method of leading a reader to a certain section of Scripture without it. There were no chapter and verse numbers in that era; such a thing wouldn’t happen for nearly 1500 years! So today while I can write or speak about the Book of Ezekiel and say to you that the context is Ezekiel 37 verses 1 through 28, no such luxury of brevity was available to New Testament writers. Instead they would have to say: “And as the Prophet Ezekiel says, therefore prophesy; say to them that Adonai ELOHIM says, 'My people! I will open your graves and make you get up out of your graves, and I will bring you into the land of Isra'el. Then you will know that I am ADONAI when I have opened your graves and made you get up out of your graves, my people!” Then a hearer or reader would recognize what part of the Ezekiel scroll the writer was referring to and remember it or look up ALL of it and that would be the broader context around which the author was writing.

However, John does not use word-for-word Old Testament quotations likely for the reasons I told you about earlier: he was not a trained scholar; he was a fisherman. Although he clearly knew his Bible, he would use rather easily recognizable allusions to point his readers towards certain Old Testament books and passages rather than memorized quotes. I say easily recognizable because while the Old Testament is nearly banished from many branches of modern Christianity, it was the only Bible that existed in his day. And in Jewish society learning about the Hebrew Tanakh (Old Testament) began at a very early age for nearly every child.

What does this mean for us? It means that we are going to take a few extensive detours to look at the books and chapters that John alludes to. We’re going to especially spend time in Ezekiel, Daniel, and Isaiah because what they prophesied forms the background and context for what John was shown in his visions and for what he wrote down. Revelation is largely God showing John how the prophecies of the various Old Testament Prophets fit together. This also means that what we learn in Revelation may well not be exactly what you’ve heard more popular scholars and preachers and book writers claim is John’s meaning.

While my goal is not to create controversy, it might be unavoidable in some areas. I also want to mention that I hope that you who are about to study Revelation with us have also studied the Torah with us because John has a Torah mindset (even if it might be entirely subconscious because he was raised in it). Such a mindset is woven into Revelation. So, if you have not studied Torah you will be at a disadvantage. On the other hand, I am going to assume that many of you have not, and so will endeavor to briefly explain things that most Torah students already know.

I will conclude our introduction to Revelation with this thought: this book is the only book in the Bible that promises a divine blessing to any Believer who reads it and studies it. But if when reading you can’t understand it, does that bring you the promised blessing? Of course not. A mechanical reading of words without comprehension is of no earthly or heavenly value. Neither does a reading in which allegory rules and the entire premise for interpretation is faulty, bring cause for God to issue that blessing to the reader. The idea is that you DO understand…..correctly. That is to be my goal and hopefully yours. With the Lord’s guidance, we shall accomplish it.[3]

Chapter Introduction from Complete Jewish Study Bible

The book of Revelation has been the subject of considerable debate over the centuries. In Interpreting Revelation, Merrill Tenney outlines four dominant interpretive approaches: (1) The preterist approach understands the book to refer to the first century C.E. (2) The historicist approach sees the book as being fulfilled in the progression of history. (3) The symbolic approach holds that we should not seek to identify specific events as fulfilling the book, but rather as a symbolic representation of the battle of good and evil for all generations. (4) The futurist approach says the book is primarily about the future and the last tribulation period just before the return of Messiah Yeshua. Revelation is most likely a symbolic representation of the conditions that unfold historically until the second coming of the Messiah. Many scholars note the book’s symbolism regarding Pesach (Passover) and Sh’mot (Exodus). The most extensive interpretation referring to the fundamental role of these two events is found in the writings of Richard Bauckham (who presents a view that mainly defends the symbolic interpretation) and Daniel Juster (see Passover: The Key to the Book of Revelation).

Based on Pesach-Sh’mot as the foreshadowing pattern for the last days, Revelation reveals how the world will be when Yeshua returns. It will be like the times of Isra’el before the Israelites escaped from Egypt. It will be Pesach-Sh’mot on a worldwide scale. God’s people, the Jewish people and those from the nations, are protected and ultimately will attain a great victory, just as Isra’el did in Egypt. But it will be a greater and final victory. The book therefore has relevance to every generation, but it will be the most relevant to those alive in the years just before Yeshua’s return. Revelation was probably written toward the end of Yochanan’s life, during his exile to the island of Patmos (90–95 C.E.). Jude 1:11

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[1],Torah Resource Center

[2]Stern, D. H. (1996, c1992). Jewish New Testament Commentary : A companion volume to the Jewish New Testament (electronic ed.) (Jud 24-Re 1:1). Clarksville: Jewish New Testament Publications.

[3] Tom Bradford, , Seed of Abraham Ministries

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