Unveiling Revelation
Imagine middle school DeeDee walking around school with her lunch box (thanks, mom, for my daily Publix sub for lunch!) slung around her shoulder, big black zippered binder that was required for holding all the school things, plus a big purse (because why not), and a book being read “just for fun”. Do you have this image in your head yet? Sometimes that “just for fun” book was from the school library or was my Bible. BUT there was a time that it was one of the books from Left Behind: The Kids, a play off of the original Left Behind series written for adults.
I was fascinated with this idea, as I feel like a great majority of 1990s/2000s christians were. I admired how the left behind people- those who thought they were believers but later found out they weren’t because they weren’t taken in the rapture- quickly became really dedicated to following Jesus and fearlessly shared Him with everyone around them. As a young believer myself, I enjoyed the thought that when the end of the world came, I would disappear (be raptured) before any of the crazy scary stuff started happening.
Honestly, I still think this belief is the most comforting. Who wants to stick around and suffer longer? So while I like this idea of the end times the most, the more I have spent time studying Revelation and theology, I’m not so sure that Jerry B Jenkins and Tim LaHaye got it right.
Context
Let’s back up a bit and look at some context.
The Bible tells us the overarching narrative of creation. In the first book of the Bible, we see God created all things for His glory. Then we see the sad reality of humans choosing to follow and worship things other than God (aka sin). Obviously, this is not good. So, God, in all His glory and splendor, sends His Son (who is also 100 percent God) to live on earth as a human and die a sinner’s death so that the payment for sin would be paid.
And that is beautiful.
But that’s not the end. After three days, Jesus rose again. He spent the next 40 days with His disciples and followers- teaching them, loving on them, and showing them the way of righteousness. After those 40 days, Jesus ascended to heaven.
And that is beautiful.
But that’s not the end. In the many days and years since Jesus’s ascension, sometimes referred to as the age of the church, people have still been on earth, and we have still been sinning. We, as believers, now have the Holy Spirit living inside us, and we know, per the Great Commission, that we are called to go to the rest of the world sharing the Gospel.
We are living in the already, but not yet. Have you heard this term before? We have already been saved by the blood of Jesus, but we are not yet without temptation, sin, or the influence of evil. We are not yet living, reigning, and ruling with Jesus. So we know we still are not at the end of the narrative.
Many theologians have ideas on what the end of the story looks like. Several books of the Bible give us tidbits, too. One book often looked at is the book of Revelation, and it’s even the last book of the Bible.
The book of Revelation was written by the apostle John, as he is nearing the end of his life.
The revelation ofJesus Christ that God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, whatever he saw. (Revelation 1: 1-2 CSB)
We often hear the end times referred to as the apocalypse. I’m sure you’ve heard of or seen movies in this genre. But did you know that the Greek word apokalypsis means a revelation? So the book is written in a prophetic manner, as John writes out the revelations he was given.
Written somewhere between 60-90 AD, during the time that christians were being heavily persecuted throughout the Roman empire. It is thought that due to some of the cryptic language and heavy imagery soaked with Old Testament references, that the letter would have been able to circulate the Roman empire quicker and without as much oversight by Roman officials.
So how do we interpret Revelation?
Good question! Instead of me telling you how to interpret this book, I want to first explain the most common methods for interpreting the book of Revelation and define some words you may or may not be familiar with.
Preterist View
This view looks at the events mentioned and described in Revelation as events that would have taken place in the first century during the time of John’s first readers. This would mean that the prophecies have already been fulfilled, especially with the destruction of the Temple.
Some that hold this view (partial preterists) would make an exception for a few events, such as the second coming of Jesus, final judgement, and the creation of the new heavens and new earth, saying that these events are the only ones in the book of Revelation yet to have been fulfilled.
Futurist View
The futurist view is what it sounds like. Those holding this view would believe that all the events described in Revelation are future events. This would go along with the Left Behind book series idea and many others we see in current culture.
Within this view, there are more specific subgroup views, of course all with large hard to say names.
Dispensational futurists believe that the prophecy mentioned in Revelation 6-19 will be a literal fulfillment of a tribulation period, the rapture of the church, and a millennial period of blessing.
Historical premillennialists believe that the church will be present for the time of the final tribulation and will share in Christ’s future earthly rule during the literal millennium time.
Historicist View
This view is somewhat of a middle ground in my opinion. This belief includes the idea that the events in Revelation have taken place from the time of John recording his vision through to today, so the events that have taken place throughout all of history.
Idealist View
Different from the other three major views of Revelation, the idealist view looks at the events in Revelation through a lens of symbolism. Focused on the battle between good and evil (God and satan), those holding this view would believe that all but the coming fulfillment of Jesus’s second coming, satan’s final defeat, and new creation are purely symbolic and have no actual event fulfillment.
Now what?
Now that we have looked at the context and defined some terms, it’s time for me to tell you definitively the correct answer to how to interpret Revelations, right???
Sadly, no. I don’t know which view is the correct view of the events in Revelation. I don’t know if there will be a literal 1000 (millennial) year period or if all of the events prophesied about have previously taken place.
What I do know definitively is: God wins. Evil loses. God knows the end of the story of creation because He decided it. And at the end of the day it may be fun to contemplate the ends and outs of the correct interpretation of the book of Revelation, but it is not a theological issue that is worth arguing about or disowning brothers and sisters in Christ over.
One final thing I would like to challenge you with is to dig deeper into this final book of the Bible. I recently completed a study on this book by Jen Wilkin and it was so enlightening. As 21st century Bible readers, there are so many connections we don’t make to the Old Testament. But the more you dig into the text, the more connections and beautiful symbolism you’ll be able to see that show how God has woven all of Scripture together for a purpose.
Let us have hope. Let us remember the final two verses of the entire narrative of Scripture:
He who testifies about these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with everyone. Amen. (Revelation 22:20-21 CSB)
