REVELATION – AN INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION:

1. The book that we refer to as “Revelation” is unique.

2. This book is different from every other Bible book.

3. In the book of Revelation …

A. There are strange pictures.

B. Gory judgment scenes are portrayed.

C. The dwelling place of God is described.

I. FOR THESE REASONS, PLUS SOME OTHERS, THE BOOK OF REVELATION HAS

CAPTURED THE ATTENTION OF PEOPLE. WITH THE YEAR 2,000 GETTING NEARER

AND NEARER, INTEREST IN THIS BOOK SHOULD CONTINUE TO GROW.

A. Many have read Revelation and gone away feeling puzzled.

B. Others, like David Koresh, have abused what is in this book.

C. Tonight we are going to start a study of Revelation.

D. This lesson is one of the most important that will be delivered.

E. Before any text from Revelation is read, some decisions must be made about the book.

F. One decision is the dating of this book.

1. We know that John wrote this book. Revelation 1:4, 9

2. We need to know when John authored this material.

G. Some argue that John wrote prior to 70 A.D.

1. Brother Foy E. Wallace, who is now deceased, endorsed this date.

2. If this date is accurate, if John wrote prior to 70 A.D., then he wrote before the destruction

of Jerusalem.

3. Much of the Revelation then may point to the destruction of Jerusalem.

4. When people want to argue that Revelation was written prior to 70 A.D. they usually use

“internal evidence”.

5. Verses from Revelation are read that indicate that John wrote prior to 70 A.D.

6. Let’s look at an example from Revelation 11:1.

H. If John wrote prior to 70 A.D., the temple would have still been standing.

I. John makes reference to a temple in Revelation 11:1. READ.

J. Good arguments can be made for the idea that Revelation was written before 70 A.D.

K. However, good arguments can also be made for the book being written later.

L. I subscribe to a later date for this book.

M. I side with those who consider the authorship to have been 81 to 96 A.D.

N. The date of authorship will affect one’s explanation of this book.

1. If a date prior to 70 A.D. is selected, many of the events are tied in with the destruction

of Jerusalem.

2. If a date after 70 A.D. is selected, the destruction of Jerusalem has no bearing on what

John wrote.

O. I am going to put the date of this book as being after 70 A.D.

II. AFTER PEOPLE HAVE HAD A CHANCE TO LOOK AT THE FACTS ABOUT WHEN THIS

BOOK WAS WRITTEN, THEY GET TO DEAL WITH THE NEXT CRITICAL ISSUE.

A. How should this book be interpreted?

1. This is not a question that we normally face.

2. However, this question does need to be asked when opening Revelation.

B. One of four approaches to this book is usually used.

C. These four approaches are as follows:

1. The Futurist view;

2. The Continuous Historical view;

3. The Preterist view;

4. The Spiritualist view.

D. We are going to take a little time to look at all four of these views.

E. This material must be covered before the book of Revelation is studied.

F. These four views, as you will see momentarily, are radically different.

III. LET’S SAY THAT A PERSON CHOOSES THE “FUTURIST VIEW”.

A. This view is most often used by those living in our day.

B. What does the futurist view mean when it is applied to Revelation?

1. This position says that Revelation 1-3 applied to John’s day.

2. The futurist view is often connected with millennial ideas.

3. It believes in a kingdom on earth.

4. Contained in this view is the idea that Jesus Christ will reign on David’s throne 1,000 years.

5. In a nutshell, the futurist view says that Revelation is filled with lots of unfulfilled

prophecy and we are just waiting for it to be fulfilled.

6. Many of the people who believe in the futurist view will also make much of Revelation

literal.

a. A thousand years is literally 1,000 years.

b. Two “witnesses” are mentioned in Revelation.

c. These are considered to be two great prophets who will appear.

7. When people adopt the futurist view they make frequent references to anti-Christ.

8. The idea is that when we get close to the end of the world, some kind of terrible and

horrible ruler will be in power.

C. The futurist view of Revelation is what we and our friends hear on television.

D. This view of Revelation sells books.

E. If someone uses this view they can easily draw a crowd.

F. The futurist view makes for lively sermons.

G. This view, and I am being kind, is irresponsible.

1. The futurist view is filled with speculation.

2. This speculation has been wrong again and again.

3. When we looked at Matthew 24, I presented some predictions that had been made.

4. The Civil War started – “Here is the end.”

5. World War I and II came along. Same story.

6. Desert Storm cam along – “Here is the end.”

7. There was the group in Texas – “Jesus is coming back.”

8. The year 2000 is not far in the future – “Here is the end.”

9. The end has been predicted again and again.

10. The futurist view has been tested and it has failed the test.

H. Even if we had not tested this view, reason (logic) shows that this is not right.

I. The people John was writing to were suffering.

J. Revelation 6:10 – READ.

K. The people in John’s day wanted relief; help; comfort.

L. What comfort did John give if he described things that we have yet to see?

M. These are two crushing blows to reading Revelation with the futurist view.

N. These problems are not the only ones.

O. Notice how the book of Revelation begins. READ Revelation 1:1

1. Look at the word “must”.

2. The original word means “a moral necessity”.

3. Tie this in with Revelation 6:10.

4. People were suffering; hurting; needed justice.

5. There was a moral necessity for vindication.

6. John says in Revelation 1:1 – Help is on the way.

7. There is a moral necessity for what I am writing.

8. And, “my words will come to pass ‘shortly’.”

9. John did not mean 2,000 years later.

P. Another big objection to the futurist view is this:

1. Christianity is not a materialistic religion.

2. The emphasis is spiritual things.

3. The futurist view is filled with material emphasis.

Q. In spite of these objections, the futurist view of Revelation is and will continue to be popular.

1. People even try to defend it.

2. This view says, “We take the Bible at its word.”

3. This is the right thing to do.

4. The book of Revelation is not a regular piece of literature.

5. This book is filled with symbols and signs.

6. If we say to a child, “Get lost”, what if the child takes us literally?

7. There are special rules that come into play with this book.

8. So saying, “We just take the Bible at its word”, is the wrong approach to Revelation.

R. The futurist view will not be used in our study for the reasons that have been given.

IV. ANOTHER VIEW THAT IS USED TO EXPLAIN THIS BOOK IS THE CONTINUOUS

HISTORICAL VIEW.

A. Some call this the “historical view”.

B. Others refer to this as the “continuous view”. I am combining the two.

C. This idea says that John predicted the future of the church.

1. From John’s day to the end of time, Revelation records what will happen.

2. Thus, some parts of this book have been fulfilled, and some will be fulfilled in the future.

3. Those who take this approach to the book see in Revelation:

a. References to the Catholic church.

b. People see the rise of Mohammed.

c. The reformation by Martin Luther is seen by some. (See Summers, p. 36.)

4. This viewpoint has been held by scholarly men.

a. Albert Barnes, a noted commentator, held to it.

b. Martin Luther believed in it. So did Adam Clarke.

c. Isaac Newton supported this understanding of Revelation.

d. A man by the name of Bengel, a great Bible scholar, supported it as well.

e. I believe Johnson’s Notes also uses this view to explain Revelation.

5. Some highly regarded people interpreted the book of Revelation with this view.

6. If you will sit down and see how people developed this view, you will be amazed at what

you find.

7. History and Revelation do match up very, very well.

8. Though this view does have some definite merit to it, many (including myself) have rejected

this approach to Revelation.

D. The Continuous Historical view faces the same objections as the futurist view.

1. Speculation runs rampant.

2. We pick out a way to explain this book and then run to history.

3. This is not expounding the Bible. This is a backwards approach.

4. The other objection we have to this is what help did it offer those in John’s day?

5. Suppose that Revelation predicted the capture of a pope 900 years later.

6. How would this help those who were suffering in John’s day?

7. Another difficulty is that this view requires time to be literal.

8. 70 years must be literally 70 years.

9. Or, dates are figured on a “year-day” theory.

10. This theory says that 1 day equals 1,000 years.

11. We again come back to a very subjective kind of interpretation.

V. VIEW NUMBER THREE IS THE PRETERIST POSITION.

A. This is most in line with my approach to the book.

B. This will be most like the approach I will use in discussing Revelation.

C. The Preterist View says that this book was written for the people in John’s day.

D. The fulfillment of Revelation (at least generally) was within the 1st-3rd

E. Revelation pictures good and evil opposing each other.

F. The forces of good (God) win the war.

G. Unusual figures and symbols are used to describe the battles.

H. The Preterist view says that much of Revelation is past but not all.

I. Though much of Revelation is history there is a lot that we can know has not occurred.

J. Some of the things in Revelation which have yet to be fulfilled are:

1. The resurrection;

2. Final appearance before Christ;

3. Final reward/punishment, and related matters.

VI. THE FOURTH VIEW MAY BE CALLED THE SPIRITUALIST VIEW.

A. Some refer to this position as the “Philosophy of History” method of viewing Revelation.

B. It has also been called the “Idealist View”.

1. This idea says that Revelation is unrelated to specific history.

2. The symbols in the book represent the on-going struggle between the church and her enemies.

3. This view needs to be rejected.

4. God said that Revelation was a prophecy. Revelation 1:3 and Revelation 22:7 – READ.

CONCLUSION:

1. I once heard of a preacher who said he was going to teach Revelation.

2. He decided to try to teach all 4 of these positions at once.

3. He nearly went crazy.

4. In this study we are going to maintain that Revelation:

A. Was primarily for the people in John’s day.

B. Yet, there are still things we can learn.

C. There are some things in the book that have not yet happened.

D. There are also many things that have already happened.

E. The Revelation describes events between the church and Rome/Judaism.

F. A general picture in the book is that good will overcome evil.

5. Next week we will present one more introductory lesson.

6. Tonight we want to close with this thought: God will always win.

7. Are you on His side?