Revelations
   
                  
The Revelation
Introduction
The Revelation is the concluding
book of the Scriptures, unfolding the events which bring human history, as we know it, to
an end. The word "revelation," used as the title of this book, is from the late
Latin revelatio, which means (as does the Greek apokalupsis, from which the English word "apocalypse"
is derived) disclosure of what has previously been hidden or unknown.
Some Bibles have titled this book
as, "The Revelation of Saint John the Divine." This notion is refuted in the
very first sentence of the book, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto
him..." This entire revelation is God's revelation, given to Jesus who, in turn, gave
to an angel to give to John who then wrote it down for us.
An accurate understanding of The
Revelation is acquired only through an accurate understanding of the preceding
65 books
of the Bible. Any thought of simply reading and understanding The Revelation, without
first reading and understanding the previous books, is doomed to fruitless failure.
The main purpose of the book is
providing the setting for the revelation of Jesus Christ. Prominent attention is given to
the time of the tribulation (chapters 4-19), which coincides with Daniels seventieth week
(Daniel 9:24-27). The climax of the book begins with the revelation of the Lord Jesus
Christ in chapter 19.
Alternating Scenes in Heaven
and Scenes on Earth.
A foundational aspect of this
book, too often passed over by commentators, is a significant help in understanding these
chapters when it is recognized. That is, many scenes of this book are located in heaven,
while the judgments themselves take place on this earth; and the scenes in heaven always
precede the earthly events to which they are attached. Thus, the messages to the seven
churches are preceded by a vision of the ascended Lord. The opening of the six seals in
chapter 6 is preceded by a vision of the Lamb in heaven, worthy to open the book (chs. 4;
5). The judgments accompanying the blowing of the seven trumpets are preceded by a
heavenly scene extending from 7:1 to 8:5. The dreadful events of chapters 11; 12; 13 are
again preceded by a heavenly scene of instructions to John. The devastations accompanying
the seven plagues (chs. 15; 16) are preceded by the announcements of the angels and the
showing of "the temple . . . in heaven." And, after the final judgment of
chapter 20, the book concludes with a picture of the heavenly home of the redeemed.
There are two great truths to be
drawn from this phenomenon. First, what is about to take place on earth, though unknown to
man and unexpected by him, is fully known to those in heaven-the ascended Lord, the
angels, the twenty-four elders, the living creatures, and the others. Secondly, what is to
take place on earth is under the complete control and direction of heaven, so that we may
safely say, judging from this book, as well as from other prophetic books in the
Scripture, everything that takes place on this earth only fulfills the Word of God. This
principle is remarkably set forth in the preliminary announcements concerning the kings of
the earth going forth to make war with the Lamb. Though we read of the ten kings
satanically inspired, having one mind and giving their power and authority unto the beast
(17:12,13), nevertheless, it is God who "did put in their hearts to do his mind, and
to come to one mind, and to give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God
should be accomplished" (17:17).
Wycliffe's Comments on The
Four Principal Schools of Interpretation
The book of Revelation is the only
large portion of the Word of God concerning which four basic differing systems of
interpretation have been developed. The system of interpretation a Bible student adopts
will make an enormous amount of difference in what he believes the book teaches.
(1) The Spiritual Scheme of
Interpretation. From the time of Augustine, there have always been some Biblical scholars
who have insisted that the purpose of this book is not to instruct the church regarding
the future, not to predict specific events, but simply to teach fundamental spiritual
principles. This is the view expressed over and over again by Milligan (W. Milligan,
Lectures on the Apocalypse), though at times he contradicts his own conviction. He says in
one place: "The Apocalypse does deal in a most distinct and emphatic manner with the
Second Coming of the Lord." Gloag insists upon the same view: "The book is
designed to teach us the spiritual history of the Church of Christ, to warn us of those
spiritual dangers to which we are exposed, to inform us of the spiritual trials to which
we are liable, to describe the great contest with evil, and to comfort us with the
assurance of the final victory of Christ over the powers of darkness." Now all of
this is true. The book does teach principles, spiritual principles; it does bear a message
of comfort in its assurance of the ultimate victory of Christ. But everything in the book
contradicts the view that it does not unfold the prophetic future. The book itself claims
to be genuine prophecy. "Evil," as Moorehead says, "ever seeks to
concentrate in a person or system; so does good. Revelation shows us evil centralized in
the beast and in the false prophet." Certainly the return of Christ is in this book,
and that is a prophecy of a future event; likewise, the resurrection of believers and the
judgment of the Great White Throne. (This is the view held by most commentators of the
Reformed faith, Peters and others).
(2) The Preterist Scheme of
Interpretation. This system of interpretation of Revelation insists that the author
describes only events taking place on earth in the Roman Empire during his own time,
especially toward the end of the first century. This was a view developed principally in
the seventeenth century by a Jesuit scholar, Alcazar, in an attempt to reply to the
arguments of the Reformers, who insisted that the book predicted the corruption and doom
of the Roman Catholic Church, especially in the two chapters devoted to Babylon. Alcazar's
view has been adopted by a number of modern writers-Moses Stuart, A. S. Peake, Moffatt,
Sir William Ramsay, Simcox, and others. These men hold that the ruler whose deadly wound
was healed refers to Nero, and that Domitian was the beast of chapter 13. It is true that
the preterist view must be applied in our interpretation of the seven churches. But to say
that the remainder of the book refers only to the events of the first century is really to
deny its prophetic character, and to force many of its statements into a mold too small to
contain them. As Milligan has said, "The whole tone of the book leads to the opposite
conclusion. It treats of much that was to happen down to the very end of time, until the
hour of the full accomplishment of the Church's struggle, of the full winning of her
victory, and of the full attainment of her rest. The Apocalypse bears distinctly upon its
face that it is concerned with the history of the Church until she enters upon her
heavenly inheritance" (op. cit., p. 41).
(3) The Historicist Scheme of
Interpretation. In the history of the interpretation of the Apocalypse, probably more
great names are attached to this scheme than to any other one view, with the exception of
the futurist. According to this conception, the book of Revelation, especially in the
prophecies of the seals, the trumpets, and the bowls, sets forth particular events in the
history of the world that relate to the welfare of the Church from the first century down
to modern times. The greatest work based on this theory is the four-volume study by
Elliott (E. B. Elliott, Horae Apocalypticae), which may be taken as an illustration of
this scheme. He says that the trumpet judgments cover the period from A.D. 395 to 1453,
that the first trumpet refers to the invasion of the Goths, the third to the Huns under
Attila, the fifth to the hordes of Moslems pouring into the West in the sixth and seventh
centuries, etc. To take another illustration, Mede, in his famous work, says that the
sixth seal predicts the overthrow of paganism under Constantine, that the second vial
refers to Luther, the third to events in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, etc. Many of
those who belong to this school insist that the earthquake in 11:19 refers to the French
Revolution; others find Napoleon Bonaparte in the book of Revelation, etc., etc.
Now, apart from all other objections to this scheme, it is admitted on every hand that it
offers no fundamental principle or criterion of judgment by which we are able to determine
exactly what historical events are referred to in a given passage. And this has led to a
vast morass of confusion and contradiction among those who hold this view.
Milligan, in a powerful criticism
of this whole scheme, says: "We may indeed admit that the events found in it by the
historical interpreter would have been instructive or consolatory to the early Christian,
if he could have thoroughly apprehended them. But the real difficulty lies in this, that
such apprehension was then impossible. . . . While thus useless to the men first addressed
by them, the visions of the Apocalypse would, upon this system, have been equally useless
to the great body of the Christian Church, even after they had been fulfilled, and their
fulfillment recognized by a few competent inquirers. The poor and the unlearned have
always known, and will probably always know, little of the historical events supposed to
be alluded to. Could it be a part of the Divine plan to make the understanding of a
revelation so earnestly commended to us dependent on an acquaintance with the
ecclesiastical and political history of the world for many hundred years? The very
supposition is absurd. It is inconsistent with the first promise of the book, 'Blessed is
he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy!' . . . The selection of
historical events made by the system is in a high degree arbitrary, and cannot be said to
correspond to the degree of importance which these events have vindicated for themselves
in the course of history" (op. cit., p. 131).
(4) The Futurist Scheme of
Interpretation. It can hardly be doubted that the Revelation is a book of predictive
prophecy. To deny this is to disregard the style, the theme, and the future events of the
Apocalpse. Certainly the Second Advent, the final conflict of Christ with the forces of
evil, the Millennium, the final judgment, are events still future. The futurist scheme of
interpretation insists that, for the most part, the visions of this book will be fulfilled
toward the end and at the end of this age. The futurist view was long ago excellently
defined as that scheme which "looks for the fulfillment of these predictions, neither
in the early presentations and heresies of the church, nor in the long series of centuries
from the first preaching of the Gospel until now, but in the events which are immediately
to precede, to accompany, and to follow the Second Advent of our Lord and Saviour"
(Lectures on the Apocalypse, p. 68).
It is strange to find Gloag (in
1891) saying that "this system has not many supporters" (op. cit., p. 372). The
fact is, it has a great many supporters, among whom are some of the outstanding Biblical
expositors of modern times and some of the most distinguished students of prophecy. Among
them are Todd, Benjamin Wills Newton, Seiss, William Kelly, Peters, practically all of
those writing within the circumference of the Plymouth Brethren, e.g., S.P. Tregelles,
Nathaniel West, A. C. Gaebelein, Scofield, Moorehead, Walter Scott, Alford, and others.
Theodor Zahn's notable commentary on Revelation (not yet translated into English) takes
the futurist position, and Zahn is recognized as the greatest conservative New Testament
scholar of Europe towards the close of the nineteenth century. Simcox, who is no futurist
himself, frankly admits "from the time of Tertullian and Hippolytus - not to say
Justin and Irenaeus - we have a consistent expectation of the course of events that will
precede the last judgment" (G. A. Simcox, The Revelation of St. John the Divine in
CBSC, p. xliv).
There is, of course, an extreme futurism which must be emphatically rejected. Some
futurists go so far as to say that the seven churches of Asia will be reorganized and
re-established at the end of the age, at which time the predictions concerning them will
be fulfilled - a view wholly unnecessary and unreasonable.
So which scheme is the best to use
when interpreting The Revelation? There is, of course, some truth in each of these systems
of interpretation. The first three chapters must be interpreted historically. There are
tremendous spiritual principles set forth in the judgments, promises, prophecies, and
Messianic victories of The Revelation. For the most part, however, the Apocalypse will be
most correctly interpreted if the futurist scheme is adopted.
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