THE BOOK OF REVELATION

"Blessed [is] he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time [is] at hand" (Rev. 1:3). Nevertheless, very few Christians read the book of Revelation as they do the other books of the bible.

There are a number of reasons that this unfortunate situation has come about: (1) it is highly figurative, (2) there are many complex speculative theories on the exact meanings of the figures, and (3) we have difficulty in allowing things to remain in the abstract (even temporarily). All of these factors have given Christians the feeling that you have to be a biblical scholar to understand it.

An analytical approach assists in understanding all of the other new testament epistles. Their complexity is not in their figurative language but in their concise wording. Thus, it is quite helpful to labor over each verse and not proceed to the next until we have mastered its meaning.

This approach can stifle our appreciation of the book of Revelation. Indeed, if we pause to obtain a thorough understanding of the literal meaning before going on, we might never get past the sixth chapter.

Let me suggest another approach. Put yourself in the place of John. Don't be concerned about the meaning of each of the objects within the vision -- just visualize what John saw and heard. John did not have the time to figure out what the third head and the fourth horn and the fifth crown was. He just saw "a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads" (Rev. 12:3). We can see it too!

I am not saying that the heads, horns, crowns, etc. might not have significance beyond their literal meanings. But the fact that we cannot totally resolve their significance should not get in the way of understanding the obvious.

For example, the trumpets are obviously Gods warnings, and the bowls of wrath are poured out upon the earth to bring us to repentance. This gives us tremendous insight into the reason for many of the things going on in our world today.

Above all, let us not be in that number who, when seeing the obvious warnings and signs of God's wrath: "repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols ... Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts" (Rev 9:20-21). That's not hard to understand.