This is an excerpt from Has American Christianity Failed.
We will, then, consider five rules for reading the Revelation, with the hopes that this book will deliver to us the joy of our salvation, and that we would all, when our last hour comes, join the crowd around the throne of Jesus singing His praises.
Rule #1: Remember Who Is Being Revealed: Jesus
The first words are the most important: “The revelation of Jesus Christ…” (Revelation 1:1). It is Jesus being revealed. When Jesus ascended into heaven He was “taken from [the] sight” of the disciples,. We still cannot see Him. The devil takes advantage of this to tempt us. “Jesus has left you. He has abandoned you. He has forgotten you.” Especially in times of trouble or persecution it is easy to think that the Lord has left us as orphans.
This was the case when John wrote the Revelation. John was the bishop in Ephesus, the overseer of all the churches in the region. The Roman Emperor was persecuting the Christians. Persecution always started with the bishops and pastors. John, then, was in exile, living in a cave on the little island of Patmos. The Christians were suffering, forced to worship the Caesar or be fined, beaten, or even killed. How easy would it be for the Christians to think that Jesus had forgotten them.
So the Holy Spirit pulls back the veil and gives John a glimpse of heaven, of the throne room of God, and there is Jesus. Still alive. Still in charge. Still loving and serving His church. This is what the Revelation is revealing: Jesus our Savior.
Rule #2, Remember Who the Revelation is For: The Church of All Time
If the Revelation is an unfolding of the events immediately preceding the Last Day it becomes a useless book for the last two-thousand years of church history. But John says that this revelation “…which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place” (Revelation 1:1). The things revealed were not long distant future events. The church was getting a picture of the spiritual reality of their days. John sees the spiritual contours of the troubles on earth, and He sees the blessed reality of heaven. This vision of heaven is to correct and comfort the church of all time. The audience of the Revelation is not simply the people on the cusp of the apocalypse. It is for Christians in every place and time who are tempted to think that God is far off.
Any interpretation of the Revelation which excludes any part or era of the church is wrong. The entire New Testament era is the “last days” (Hebrews 1:2), and the second coming of Jesus is always, for the church, right around the corner.
Rule #3, Scripture Interprets Scripture
This a rule for reading all of the Bible. It is especially important when reading the Revelation. Over half of the verses in Revelation allude to some Old Testament text. It is especially important for us to know the other parts of the Bible when studying the Revelation. The Revelation uses pictures to communicate, and these pictures are mostly drawn from the other parts of the Bible.
The understanding that Scripture interprets Scripture has further application. Some passages of the Bible are clearer than others. In some places the Bible speaks directly to a certain doctrine. We use the clear passages to interpret the less clear passages, which mostly means we use the rest of the Scripture to understand the Revelation.
Rule #4: Put Together What You Hear and What You See
When reading Revelation, it is important to pay attention to what John hears and what John sees. Often times John will hear the angel preaching, and then he will see what was being preached about. The seeing and the hearing are quite different, but they are describing the same thing. A few examples will be helpful.
In Revelation 4 John is brought into the throne room of God and sees the heavenly worship. In chapter five John sees a scroll in the right hand of God. While the text doesn’t tell us what is written on the scroll we know it is important that the scroll be opened. In fact, when no one is found worthy to open the scroll John begins to weep. “And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it” (Revelation 5:3–4). This, it turns out, is the book of life, and the reading of this book is our salvation.
One of the Elders around the throne comforts John with this news, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals” (Revelation 5:5). John hears the report that the Lion of Judah is worthy to open the seals. Then John looks, and this is what he sees: “And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain” (Revelation 5:6). John hears the sermon of a lion, and then he sees the completely contrary vision of the lamb. But look, this Loin and Lamb are the same. They are both Jesus. He is the Lion of Judah who overcame death and destroyed the devil. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Comparing what is heard with what is seen gives us a fuller understanding of the visions.
Another example is in chapter seven. This is a favorite passage of comfort, with the saints coming out of the great tribulation, their filthy robes made white in the blood of the Lamb. John hears, first, the preaching, “And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad,” and so forth, with 12,000 sealed from each of the tribes (Revelation 7:4–5). This is a very orderly assembly with the precise number of people drawn up in formation.
Then John sees this assembly, “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” (Revelation 7:9–10). The 144,000 is the innumerable multitude, the saints of the Lord brought from death to life in Jesus name. Again, the thing that is heard and the thing that is seen are described as opposites of each other, but they are, in fact, descriptions of the same thing, in this case, the church.
Putting together what is heard with what is seen will help piece together the seemingly disparate visions of the Revelation.
Rule #5: Notice the Movement from Earth to Heaven
“Revelation” is a translation of the Greek word apocalypse. Apocalypse means to unveil, and that is what the visions of the Revelation do. Unseen spiritual realities are unveiled. The curtain is pulled back so we might see the spiritual activity on earth and in heaven.
John gets a glimpse of the troubles of this earth, the work of the devil that is driving the persecution of the church and the troubles of the Christians. John sees the beast, the false prophet, the whore, the dragon, all the spiritual forces of wickedness gathered together to assault the church. He sees behind the troubles to the demonic forces pulling the strings. What a mess! We see these realities in his visions, and are ready to despair.
But then the angel carries John into heaven to see how things are there, to see if Jesus is still on the throne. The angel takes John (and us) to see the unseen heavenly realities. In heaven we see the Lamb, the Slain One, the Crucified and Raised Friend of Sinners, and He is on the throne. The saints and angels are still gathered around singing His praises. All is well.
Then we are back down to earth to see more of the trouble, the seals are being opened, the trumpets are being blown, bowls of wrath are being poured out, there is darkness and disease, rivers of blood and piles of corpses, and just when we’ve had enough the angels comes again to bring us back to heaven, to get another glimpse of the throne. There sits Jesus, our Jesus, and all is well.
Notice, when you read the Revelation, how the visions move back and forth between earth and heaven. There are visions of earthly trouble and heavenly comfort. The purpose of this back and forth is to assure us, in the midst of all of our troubles, that Jesus is still seated at the Father’s right hand. This is our hope and confidence in the midst of affliction, Jesus our Savior sits on the throne. In the Revelation the brightness of heaven shines through the gloom of this earthly life. We get a glimpse of heaven, and Jesus is there. We get a glimpse of eternity, and Jesus is there. We get a glimpse of the Judgment Throne, and Jesus is there. We get a glimpse of the resurrection, of the eternal state, and Jesus is there. We get a glimpse of life beyond trouble, beyond death, beyond the grave, and Jesus is there, and we are with Him. We will “see His face” (Revelation 22:4).
This Revelation of Jesus, then, is comforting a foretaste of the Revelation of Jesus and the glory and kindness that await His people. Jesus is coming soon, and this is our great hope and prayer. “Come, Lord Jesus.” Amen.
