1Jesus went out from the temple, and was going on his way. His disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple. 2But he answered them, “You see all of these things, don’t you? Most certainly I tell you, there will not be left here one stone on another, that will not be thrown down.”
3As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? What is the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?”
4Jesus answered them, “Be careful that no one leads you astray. 5For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will lead many astray. 6You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you aren’t troubled, for all this must happen, but the end is not yet. 7For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there will be famines, plagues, and earthquakes in various places. 8But all these things are the beginning of birth pains.
9“Then they will deliver you up to oppression and will kill you. You will be hated by all of the nations for my name’s sake. 10Then many will stumble, and will deliver up one another, and will hate one another. 11Many false prophets will arise and will lead many astray. 12Because iniquity will be multiplied, the love of many will grow cold. 13But he who endures to the end will be saved. 14This Good News of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
15“When, therefore, you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take out the things that are in his house. 18Let him who is in the field not return back to get his clothes. 19But woe to those who are with child and to nursing mothers in those days! 20Pray that your flight will not be in the winter nor on a Sabbath, 21for then there will be great suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever will be. 22Unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved. But for the sake of the chosen ones, those days will be shortened.
23“Then if any man tells you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘There!’ don’t believe it. 24For false christs and false prophets will arise, and they will show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones.
25“Behold, I have told you beforehand.
26“If therefore they tell you, ‘Behold, he is in the wilderness,’ don’t go out; or ‘Behold, he is in the inner rooms,’ don’t believe it. 27For as the lightning flashes from the east, and is seen even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 28For wherever the carcass is, that is where the vultures gather together.
29“But immediately after the suffering of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; 30and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. 31He will send out his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
32“Now from the fig tree learn this parable: When its branch has now become tender and produces its leaves, you know that the summer is near. 33Even so you also, when you see all these things, know that he is near, even at the doors. 34Most certainly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things are accomplished. 35Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
36“But no one knows of that day and hour, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only. 37As the days of Noah were, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ship, 39and they didn’t know until the flood came and took them all away, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and one will be left. 41Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and one will be left. 42Watch therefore, for you don’t know in what hour your Lord comes. 43But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 44Therefore also be ready, for in an hour that you don’t expect, the Son of Man will come.
45“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his lord has set over his household, to give them their food in due season? 46Blessed is that servant whom his lord finds doing so when he comes. 47Most certainly I tell you that he will set him over all that he has. 48But if that evil servant should say in his heart, ‘My lord is delaying his coming,’ 49and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eat and drink with the drunkards, 50the lord of that servant will come in a day when he doesn’t expect it and in an hour when he doesn’t know it, 51and will cut him in pieces and appoint his portion with the hypocrites. That is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.
The book of the Revelation of Jesus the Messiah is different from any other book of the New Testament, though not different from portions of the New Testament such as is found in Matthew 24 and Mark 13, or the teaching of Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5 and 2 Thessalonians 2, the teaching of Peter in 2 Peter 3, or major prophetic portions of the Old Testament, particularly the book of Daniel. The book is not merely an apocalyptic work. It has apocalyptic elements (primarily much symbolic and figurative language) but it is also a prophecy, and also includes historical accounts of the churches in Asia. The normal method of interpretation works well with the Revelation, as well as a very good familiarity with the Old Testament and the Gospel accounts. His imagery largely comes from these portions of the Bible, and elucidates the meaning of the text. The rule of thumb with all biblical interpretation, as well as other literature, is “when the Scripture makes sense, seek no other sense, lest it be nonsense.”
One should not avoid the book because it is a difficult book. St. Dionysius of Alexandria said that
The darkness of this book does not prevent one from being astonished at it. And even if I do not understand everything in it, that is only because of my incapability. I cannot be a judge of the truths which are contained in it or measure them with the poverty of my mind, being guided more by faith than by understanding. I find them only surpassing my understanding.
There are primarily four ways in which the events of the Revelation have been understood through the centuries, namely, the Preterist, Idealist, Historicist, and Futurist approaches.1 I will present these views by means of a chart that I included in my Chronological and Background Charts of the New Testament:2
| 1-3 | 4-19 | 20-22 | |
| Preterist | Historic churches | Symbolic of contemporary conditions | Symbolic of heaven and victory |
| Idealist | Historic churches | Symbolic of conflict of good and evil | Victory of good |
| Historicist | Historic churches | Symbolic of events of history: fall of Rome, Mohammedanism, papacy, Reformation | Final judgment, millennium (?), eternal state |
| Futurist | Historic churches and/or seven stages of church history | Future tribulation; concentrated judgments on world and on antichrist; coming of Christ | Millennial kingdom; judgment of wicked dead; eternal state |
From a study of the book there are also four primary theological perspectives that have been developed, namely, Postmillennial or Preterist, Amillennial or Idealist, Premillennial, and Apocalyptic. The following chart from my charts book 3 explains how the different theological methods understand the book:
| 1-3 | 4-19 | 20-22 | |
| Postmillennial or Preterist | Historic churches | Generally historicist | Victory of Christianity over the world |
| Amillennial or Idealist | Historic churches | Generally historicist | Coming of Christ; judgment; eternal state |
| Premillennial | Historic churches representative of historical stages | Generally futurist | Literal millennial reign; judgment of great white throne; New Jerusalem |
| Apocalyptic | Historic churches | Generally preterist | Symbolic of heaven and victory |
See my brief treatment of the interpretive methods of revelation in H. Wayne House, Last Things: Four Views of Revelation (Kindle). ↩︎
H. Wayne House, “Interpretations of Revelation,” Chronological and Background Charts of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981), 152. ↩︎
H. Wayne House, “Theological Perspectives on Revelation,” Chronological and Background Charts of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981), 152. ↩︎