The Book Of Revelation
There is much interest today in world events in the light of the Bible. Many are looking at the Book of Revelation hoping to find some light and hope for the future.
Thankfully, Revelation is the most wonderful book in the Bible when you have the key to unlock its riches. To many people it has not been understood because this exciting book is written partly in code. To understand the code, we must put ourselves back into the time it was written. The Apostle John was inspired by God to write this book in A.D. 96, when the pagan Roman Empire ruled over the middle east area, including Palestine. The Christians were being horribly persecuted because of their faith and suffered by torture and death.
To give faith and hope to these suffering Christians, John was given an insight into the future, showing how this persecuting power of Rome would rise and then fall. However, he could not actually name the cruel Roman Empire and tell of its destruction – otherwise the Romans would be crueller than ever when they heard that the Christians were foretelling that their mighty Roman Empire would eventually fall and be destroyed! Therefore, God provided that the Book of Revelation would be given figuratively, using names and terms that the Romans would not be able to understand because they would be taken from the Old Testament. The Christians would know their Old Testament Scriptures, but the pagan Roman Soldiers would not have a clue.
The word Revelation comes from a Greek word “apokalupsis” which means “an unveiling”. That is why the Revelation is sometimes called the “Apocalypse”, which means to unveil. Thus, we read “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass ….” This means that the events which would be unfolded to John would begin to happen immediately because it is stated “things which must shortly come to pass”.
The operation of the code (symbols) in Revelation is both simple and ingenious. By taking examples from the Old Testament and applying them to the Roman Empire meant that the Christians could identify the Roman Empire and interpret the appropriate message. This is the meaning of the words, “And He sent and signified it by His servant John:” The word “signified” here, in the original Greek, is semaino, meaning to signify” as in signs and symbols. This means that the reader who is familiar with the signs and symbols of the Old Testament scriptures will have the key to unlock the cipher of the Book of Revelation.
An example of the code in operation is found in Revelation 1: 12-20, so that the reader will grasp the key at the very beginning of the book. In his vision, John says “I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst …. One like unto the Son of man …. And in His right hand seven stars.” The Christian reader in John’s day would immediately recall that this was an Old Testament scene depicting the High Priest in Israel tending the seven-branched candlestick in the Temple, refueling it with olive oil, which was a type of the Holy Spirit.
Then comes the application of the key, “The seven candlesticks which you saw ARE the seven churches”, The High Priest of the Old Testament was a type of Jesus in the New Testament: just as the High Priest supplied the oil for the candlesticks in the Temple, so Jesus pours out the Holy Spirit on His church. In this way the Revelation shows that whenever John refers to The Old Covenant Temple worship, this will symbolize the Christian Church in the New Testament. If a copy of the Revelation fell into the hands a cruel Roman soldier, the references to the furniture in the Temple in Jerusalem would mean nothing to him as the Temple had been destroyed many years earlier.
Also, in Revelation 1:20, we read “The seven stars ARE the angels (messengers) of the seven churches….” Therefore, the stars are not literal stars but symbolize the messengers or” angels”. of the seven churches. This is important because the Revelation will frequently mention the “sun, moon and the stars”, and this will symbolize messengers or “rulers” of the realm referred to. If this were taken in a literal sense then we would see some heavenly bodies destroyed several times over! However, when we see its application to earthly rulers in their “heavens”, or higher authority, then its message will be clear.
There is no difficulty in understanding the Revelation when we keep in mind that its message is given in symbolic language to suffering Christians, comforting them with the assurance that the Pagan Roman Empire which was persecuting them would, itself, one day be destroyed. To try and understand this book without observing that fact is like going into a foreign land and trying to read a newspaper there without some assistance.
Everyone is encouraged to read Revelation. It is the only book in the Bible that promises blessing to those who persevere in its study. “Blessed is he who reads, and they that hear the words of this prophesy, and keep those things that are written therein: for the time is at hand” (Rev. 1:3).
There is the promise of blessing for the reader together with the hearer as well. Notice that there is also given the time factor for the fulfilling of the prophesies contained in the book – “for the time is at hand”. This means that the events foretold here will commence to come to pass immediately. Lately, I believe the events are nearing their culmination.
