TWO THOUGHTS CONCERNING THE REVELATION

JANUARY 11, 2012
FOUR VIEWS OF INTERPRETING THE BOOK OF REVELATION

Preterism places the fulfillment of the prophecies of Revelation in the past, specifically during the time of Nero and the Jewish wars with Rome in the first century.

Historcism teaches that Revelation's prophecies have been fulfilled throughout Church History, rather than after the Church Age.

Symbolism teaches that the events of Revelation are allegorical explanations concerning spiritual realities.

Futurism teaches that most of the events of Revelation (from ch. 4) are going to happen after the rapture of the Church. This view obviously espouses the most literal interpretation of the Book of Revelation (actually, the only literal interpretation).

There are variations within each one of these four views. Each view is related to other doctrinal points of view, including Roman Catholicism, Reformed Theology, Covenant Theology and Dispensationalism, among others.

I am a Futurist.

THE OLD TESTAMENT, A MAJOR KEY TO THE BOOK OF REVELATION

Revelation is the last book of the Bible, the final installment of Divinely inspired Scripture, closing out the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments.

Though Revelation is a New Testament book, it cannot be properly understood without a knowledge of the Old Testament, likewise, the Old Testament prophecies cannot be understood without final pieces found in The Revelation. The  Old Testament quotes, imagery, events, character and prophecy are found throughout Revelation.

Matthew, the most Jewish of the four Gospels, has about 90 references from the Old Testament.

Hebrews, the most Jewish of the Epistles, has just over 100 references from the Old Testament.

Revelation has far more OT connections, with about 280 out of 404 verses referencing the Old Testament (encompassing over 500 OT passages).

Not only is the material in Revelation based on O.T. Scripture, the writing style, viewpoint and use of Greek language is Jewish. John was a Jew, who thought and wrote as a Jew, even when he was using the Greek language. Biblical symbolism is not without meaning, and it is not left to subjective and fanciful interpretation. God chose the symbols and gave us the meaning to the symbols. Most of the imagery and symbolism is found and understood by searching the Old Testament, the rest of it is usually explained in the Revelation itself.

Remember, the name of the book is, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ," indicating the purpose to be Divine disclosure, not "Hidden Message."

Launch Out and Hold Fast,

Pastor David L. Gould