Interpreting the Book of Revelation

Contents

Consistency of Interpretation in Revelation

Revelation is a Literal Vision with an Allegorical Meaning

The Order of Events in the Book of Revelation

The importance of correctly interpreting the Scriptures cannot be under-estimated. To be able to come to truth on what the Scriptures teach about the end times, we must carefully follow God’s commands on how to interpret the book of Revelation.

In fact, this is the crucial point why there are so many differences of opinion concerning what the Scriptures teach. Many, many people are desirous of God. Therefore, the Bible plays a significant role in religion today. But, why is it that there are so many different views on what the Bible means? Why do some teach that man must keep sacraments to be saved while others do not teach this? Why do some believe man must exercise his own free will to be saved while others recognize that man is totally unable and God must elect him to salvation? Why do still others believe that God must speak to man through dreams, visions, and tongues while others hold that these gifts were completed with the canonization of the Scriptures? Finally, why do some teach that there will be a future millennium (primarily for national Israel), while others teach that the millennium is now?

It is only by the right interpretation of the Scriptures can we come to truth. It is only by the anointing of the Holy Spirit that we are taught truth (1 John 2:20,27). It is only by the instruction of the Holy Spirit in illuminating God’s truth of the Scriptures to our hearts that we will learn God’s Holy truth. The Helper, the Holy Spirit, was sent for the purpose of instructing us i God’s truth. It is only by submitting to the Holy Spirit’s method of being taught the Scriptures that we will flee from error. The commands in 1 Cor 2:6-16 that we must by the Holy Spirit combine that which is spiritual with spiritual that we come to truth. It is by the diligent comparing of God’s Word with itself that we are able to define what God means by His Word.

The Word of God is not a plain and simple book. It is voluminous. It is mysterious and laced with parables, types and figures. It is only when we love God and by His Holy Spirit, that as disciples, we will carefully study His Word to understand God’s definitions to His terms and phrases. Woe unto to us if we resort to man’s wisdom to learn what God’s word teaches us. Woe unto us if instead of spending time in the word of God comparing Scripture with Scripture, we spend all our time in various ‘helps’ concerning Greek and Hebrew that are based on secular historical word meanings rather than letting God’s Word be its own dictionary for its words.

Finally, we must humbly realize that God explains everything to His own as we study the Bible. We find in Matthew 13 when the disciples questioned Jesus about why He spoke in parables that He responded that the deeper meanings of His Word were not intended for the unsaved masses. It is not our own abilities that help us to come to truth as to what the Scriptures teach. It is only that because God has saved us by His grace and gave us His Holy Spirit that we are able to be disciples and begin to understand His Word.

Consistency of Interpretation in Revelation

Let us move on to consider specifically the mode of interpreting the book Revelation. There are many different views on how to interpret this portion of Scripture. Essentially the question becomes this: should the Revelation be understood allegorically or literally or a combination of the two.

Many hold to the grammatical-historical method of interpretation to such a degree that they try to literalize Revelation as much as possible unless they are absolutely forced not to take it literally. That is, they believe that the book of Revelation must be interpreted literally unless a literal interpretation would contradict Scripture elsewhere or result in an absurdity. Most of the dispensational (pre-millennial) adherents would hold to the above mode of Biblical interpretation for the Revelation.

The immediate problem, however, with this line of interpretation is that it results is a very subjective approach as to exactly which portions of Revelation are literal and which portions are allegorical. Realizing that some passages cannot be taken literally, they acknowledge that allegorizing is necessary. But, whenever possible, they literalize everything else. For example, these type of interpreters will acknowledge that the two beast depicted in Revelation 13 are not literal beasts. There is not an actual beast that has 10 horns seven heads and 10 diadems and that ascends out of the literal sea. Similarly, there is not another beast who has two horns like a lamb and speaking like a dragon that arises out of the literal sea. In these cases, the literalist is forced to allegorize these passages concerning the beasts. However, where the contradiction comes in is that in the very same chapter, they often interpret parts of it literally. For example, when Rev 13:7 states that the first beast made war with the saints and overcome them, they normally interpret this as literally. That is, they believe that there will be a literal and physical war against Christians (or in some interpreter’s minds, Israel). Although they interpret the beast allegorically as being a representation of the physical end-time kingdom of antichrist, they ‘literalize’ Rev 13:7 as a literal war. However, when Scripture is compared to Scripture, we find that war on the saints should be understood allegorically as spiritual warfare on the saints, not as literal warfare. The Bible has many references to the fact that we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities casting down everything argument (see Eph 6, 2 Cor 10-11, 1 Tim 2;4, etc). We have been enlisted as soldiers to fight a spiritual battle not an earthly one. Therefore, Rev 13 should be understood in a consistently allegorical approach in that the beast is a manifestation of Satan’s spiritual kingdom and that the war on the saints involves an intense battle for the truth.

The above example is not alone. Literally scores of examples could be provided where some literal interpreters mishandle the usage of allegory in the revelation. Moreover, they often interpose literalism with allegory resulting in an almost endless combination of beliefs about what the Revelation is teaching.

The Usage of Current News Events

This brings us to another common error associated with interpreting the Book of Revelation. This error is the idea that current world events can be used to interpret the book of Revelation. That is, one can observe world events as they occur in the media and use these events to compare with the Revelation to attempt to come to truth on what a passage is teaching.

A couple of quick examples are in order. In Rev 9:16 in the discussion of the contents of the sixth trumpet of Revelation we find a reference to an army of 200 million horsemen bound at the River Euphrates in order to kill a third of mankind. Many have identified this army as the Chinese army. They observe world events and population statistics and say since the Chinese population and army is so big, that this must be a reference to China that is poised to kill a third of mankind (close to 2 billion people). The absurdity to this interpretation should be evident. Firstly, the interpretation of Scripture is now based on what the World Almanac teaches about populations and man’s idea of what a physical nation may do. Therefore, this method of interpretation abandons the Biblical command to compare Scripture with Scripture and settles for accepting what man’s mind devises. This is a private interpretation (2 Pet 1:19-21). That is, this interpretation is known to only a select group of people. It is only known by those, who live in the 20th century and who have witnessed the fact that China has gotten so large. It is private in that it does not rely on what the Bible reveals to mankind, but rather what man’s mind can devise. Additionally, the idea of killing a third of mankind by a 200 million-man army is understood literally. Therefore, once again we find a mixture of allegory and literalism in the Revelation.

Another item that has been interpreted by the using man’s media is that of the identification of the antichrist. Many over the years have though that Hitler, Mussolini or other world tyrants have been the antichrist only later to be proved wrong. Even not so many years ago, there were many who were saying that Gorbachev was the antichrist. They even bolstered their beliefs because he has a birthmark on his head, which was supposedly the mark of the beast. Once again, these ridiculous interpretations have been proved false.

Although some of these interpretations may seem humorous in hindsight, we must remember that at the time, there were very notable people and significant numbers of people who held to these type of interpretations. Even today, there remain several notable television and radio programs that teach similar interpretations of the Revelation. Many people have dedicated themselves to ministries that are almost completely based on the interpretation of the nightly news with the Bible. Instead of interpreting Scripture with Scripture, they have resorted in interpreting Scripture with man’s news media. Although, we can never be sure of their motives for this we can know this. From a fleshly standpoint, it is much more exciting reading the Revelation and comparing these cryptic figures to what we see in the news than it is to humbly search God’s word for the spiritual meaning behind the Revelation types and figures. Searching the Bible reveals to us that an important message of the Revelation is Judgment Day on sinners. Those who proactive sin and love the world are to be judged. The subject of sin, of course, will never excite the masses.

The Dirty Word of ‘Spiritualizing’

When I was a new Christian, the topic of the end times interested me. At my church, there was a special speaker who concerned himself mostly with studying and teaching the end-times. He was of a dispensational background and, of course, held to an extreme grammatical-historical interpretation of the Bible. On the other hand, I was at the point in my walk with the Lord when I began questioning the teaching I was hearing concerning the end-times. After the service, I respectfully approached this older gentleman to question him concerning some of the issues I was seeing in scripture, which seemed to contradict the dispensational teaching I was hearing.

Specifically, I questioned this distinguished theologian concerning the pre-tribulation viewpoint of Christ’s return. I based my concerns on 2 Thess 2 where the Scripture taught that the Day would not come until the man of sin was revealed and the falling away (apostasy) occurred. In response to these concerns, I was expecting to receive a scholarly exegesis on the real meaning of 2 Thess 2 and why I had been misinterpreting these verses. To my surprise though, this theologian did not address this passage. He simply brushed me aside with a surprising statement. He stated that the path I was on was a path that must result in ‘spiritualizing’ of Scripture.

Because of the fact that when I was a new Christian, I attended very fundamental, independent churches, the term ‘spiritualizing Scripture’ held very negative overtones. It was akin to saying that one who spiritualizes Scripture does not believe the Scriptures. So, when this distinguished theologian told me this, this sent me reeling. I was concerned that I too may be on a slippery slope of not believing the Bible.

Many years later, I can now look back at that event with clarity. I now have learned that the theologian did not have an answer for my concerns with his doctrine. His response to 2 Thess 2 was a diversion to cast doubt on my system of thinking about the end-times. He directly attacked what he knew was the core of the difference of opinion concerning the end-times: that of the interpretation of Scripture. He used the dirty word of ‘spiritualizing Scripture’ to attack the doctrine he abhorred. But, was his correction of me valid? Is the spiritualizing of Scripture really as bad as it sounded. The answer of course is that it is the only Biblical way to interpret Scripture. For, if we do not spiritualize, we allow our own beliefs to affect what the Scripture teaches.

For many new Christians, the term ‘spiritualizing’ carries a very negative connotation. First, it implies that the straightforward literal portions of Scripture are not believed. For example, many spiritualize the creation account in the Garden of Eden to be an allegory and not an actual historical event (although Jesus recognized it as a historical event). This negative connotation of spiritualizing is appropriate since those who deny the historicity of the Bible are in error. Therefore, the term ‘spiritualizing’ is often transferred from those who do not believe in the historicity of the Bible to those who while believing the complete historicity of the Bible also recognize the deeper spiritual messages of the Bible. Therefore, the following is offered as an accurate and appropriate usage of spiritualizing the Bible:

Biblical Spiritualizing:

The Bible is completely, historically true
The Bible is the complete, verbally inspired Word of God
The Bible can be divided into three basic categories: historical narratives, declarative statements, and allegorical declarations
The Bible is a spiritual book and can only be understood as God gives the ability
The meaning of Scripture can only be fully understood by comparing Scripture with Scripture

These issues were discussed in the previous chapter and will not be revisited here except to state that true spiritualizing of the Bible recognizes that the Bible is God’s Word and he has given us great depths of truths that must only be understood by allowing His Word to interpret itself. If we do not spiritualize the Bible, then we must result with the chaos of not knowing when a passage is allegorical and when it is literal. We would result with the tendency to interpret Scripture by other means that are devised by man.

Revelation is a Literal Vision with an Allegorical Meaning

How then should we approach the interpretation of the book of Revelation? We have seen that there are many very odd portraits through the writing. There are beasts, trumpets, horns, odd-looking animals, natural disasters, etc. How should we approach these apparently odd stories?

To answer this, we must remember that the Revelation was given to John as a vision. He literally saw all these things exactly as recorded in the Scriptures. From that sense, all of Revelation is literally true. That is, John actually saw a multi-headed beast arising out of the sea. He actually saw a lamb as if had been slain. He saw elders casting down their crowns. He saw a dragon being thrown into an abyss for a thousand years. As allowed by God, John recorded what He saw in this vision.

However, this literal vision must be ‘spiritualized’ in order to get the rich spiritual meaning of what the end-times is all about. This lamb that was slain holds no spiritual value for us unless we understand that this lamb is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. The same is true for many, many other portraits in the book of Revelation.

Therefore, to come to truth on revelation, we must diligently search the Scriptures to determine how God chooses to define His words. We must look at words such as lamb, trumpet, dragon, seven, robe, harlot, plague, moon, feet, kill, 1000, smoke, blood and the like to determine what God wants us to learn about them. We can not speculate as to their meaning. We cannot even rely upon our favorite theologians to tell us what they mean unless they have thoroughly based their conclusions on the word of God.

As we search out parallel passages in the Bible for the meaning of God’s terms, if we find that a certain word is always used in a literal sense, we should recognize that it is likely that the term in Revelation is used that way as well. However, if we find that often it is used in a symbolic sense, then we are led down the path that it is likewise used allegorically i Revelation.

An obvious example of proper interpretation is that of the lamb in Revelation 5. We see a lamb as if slain. Now, as we study the Word of God, we find that the Lamb of God is Jesus Christ. This conclusion is confirmed because Jesus as the Lamb was also slain (see Rev 5). This is a simple example of interpreting Revelation to come to truth. There are many more complicated examples that take much time, discipleship, humility and love of God to come to truth on. In Part 2 of this work, Revelation 20 will be carefully examined using the Biblical method of Bible interpretation. We will diligently search out what 1000 years refers to. Is this a literal time period or allegorical? We will discover who the dragon is. We will look at the Abyss and what that refers to. We will look at what it means to be bound.

A Note on Numbers

Many recognizing the allegorical nature of Revelation, correctly conclude that much of the book needs to be taken spiritually. However, often they stop short and conclude that the numbers used in Revelation do not. They quickly assume that all the numbers used are just good and simple numbers to be taken in their literal sense. Their caution may be the result of abuses in the interpretation of numbers in the past. Some theologians have believed in deeper meaning in numbers so much that they have resorted to very unusual methods of mathematical calculations in looking for deeper meanings. A current move at the time of this writing is that some scholars are running the Bible through computers to try to discover esoteric codes that may be embedded in the Bible.

This particular mode of study seems outlandish and based on man’s might and capabilities. However, when we examine the usage of numbers in the Bible, we must be cautious to compare Scripture with Scripture to endeavor to determine if a number does nave a deeper meaning. For example, in Rev 5:6, we see the lamb as if it were slain having seven eyes which we are told are the seven spirits of God. Now, if we took that literally, we may be forced into saying that God is not a trinity after all. God would turn into a nine-person unity since God the Father, Jesus, and the seven spirits of God equals nine persons. This, of course, would contradict Scripture elsewhere. In this verse, we are on good ground if we understand the seven referring to the perfection or completeness of the Spirit of God. The number seven, in this case, is used allegorically to teach us a deeper meaning concerning the Holy Spirit of God. There are many other usages of the number seven in Scripture, which represents a completion or perfection of a matter. We see the seven days of creation/rest. We see the seven seals, trumpets, and bowls of judgment. We see the seven days of Unleavened Bread. All these and others confirm a deeper significance of the number seven.

In Revelation 1-3, we find discussion of 7 stars, 7 lampstands, and 7 churches of Asia. All these numbers are used allegorically since there were more than 7 messengers to the churches and there were clearly more than 7 churches is Asia. Rather, the number 7 is used to represent the entire church of which 7 current churches in Asia were illustrative of the praise and rebuke Christ has for all local churches down through time.

Throughout the Revelation, there is heavy usage of numbers. We find the following numbers prominently featured.

2: horns, lampstands, olive trees

4: horsemen

7: spirits, churches, seals, trumpets, bowls, stars

10: heads, horns

24: elders

42: months

666: mark of the beast

1000: years

1260: days

144,000: elect from tribes of Israel

From all these usages of numbers, we should stand in awe and fear about ‘literalizing’ all of them when it is apparent that many are clearly used in allegorical passages describing entities which are used in a clearly symbolic sense. We must satisfy ourselves with the Word of God. As we compare Scripture with Scripture, if we find that a number appears to only be used literally, we must satisfy ourselves with that. But, if we find that the number is often used in a particular allegorical sense, we must strongly consider that in our interpretation.

The notable number in a study on the millennium is the number 1000. As we shall see, the proper interpretation of this number is vital to understanding the passage.

The Order of Events in the Book of Revelation

Oftentimes, the reason that the millennium is held as a future event and not a current event is the location of Revelation 20 within the larger context of the entire book of Revelation. It is assumed that since Revelation 19 addresses the Second Coming of Christ, then the millennium of Revelation 20 must be a future event after the second coming of Christ.

However, this line of reasoning is flawed. Although it is possible that chapter 20 may chronologically follow chapter 19, other proof in Revelation does not require this to be. This is because there are other segments of Revelation that do not fall in chronological order. The classic example is Rev 12-14. Although Rev 6-11 could be viewed to be essentially chronological, chapters 12-14 clearly reflect back to an earlier historical era. We find in Rev 12 that there is a woman who is to give birth to a child. After the child is born, He is caught up to God and His throne. The context as well as other Biblical Scripture reveals that the child born clearly points to the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, even though Rev 6-11 seems to be falling into a chronological order concerning the events towards the Last Day, Rev 12-14 is a throw back to review a much larger view of history.

Rev 12-14 reviews the history of the church from the incarnation of Christ until the Last Da,y which is described in Chapter 14. We particularly note in Rev 14 the pronouncement concerning the fall of Babylon. The same pronouncement is made again in Rev 18: where there exists another portrait concerning the fall of Babylon. Interspersed between Rev 14 and Rev 18, we find another picture of final judgment in the bowl judgments (Rev 15-16). In chapters 17-18, a closer examination of the fall of Babylon is described.

The point to notice, however, is that the book of revelation does not necessarily follow in chronological order. Chapters 12-14 are clearly a look back over the entire history between the incarnation of Christ through Judgment day. Chapters 15 and 16 focus on the bowl judgments of the wrath of God (i.e., Judgment Day.) Chapters 17 and 18 focus on Babylon and the judgment on Babylon. Chapter 19 then is a detailed look at the Second Coming of Christ, which is a part of Judgment Day. Therefore, it can be seen that chapters 14-19 can all be differing views concerning the nature of Judgment Day and may concern overlapping or concurrent events.

Of course, the above discussion is not necessarily sufficient proof that Rev 20 concerning the millennium points back again to the period of time between the cross and Judgment Day (similar to chapters 12-14). This discussion is only offered to prove that Rev 20 does not have to come chronologically after the Second Coming of Christ. The context and exegesis of Rev 20 must stand on its own concerning what the meaning of the passage is. This is a very important point in the exegesis of Rev 20. If we jump to the unfounded conclusion that the millennium of Rev 20 must come after the second coming of Christ, then we are biased concerning what the meaning of the passage is.