1As he went out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, see what kind of stones and what kind of buildings!”
2Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone on another, which will not be thrown down.”
3As he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, 4“Tell us, when will these things be? What is the sign that these things are all about to be fulfilled?”
5Jesus, answering, began to tell them, “Be careful that no one leads you astray. 6For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and will lead many astray.
7“When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don’t be troubled. For those must happen, but the end is not yet. 8For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places. There will be famines and troubles. These things are the beginning of birth pains.
9“But watch yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils. You will be beaten in synagogues. You will stand before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them. 10The Good News must first be preached to all the nations. 11When they lead you away and deliver you up, don’t be anxious beforehand or premeditate what you will say, but say whatever will be given you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.
12“Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child. Children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. 13You will be hated by all men for my name’s sake, but he who endures to the end will be saved.
14“But when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not” (let the reader understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, 15and let him who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter in, to take anything out of his house. 16Let him who is in the field not return back to take his cloak. 17But woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse babies in those days! 18Pray that your flight won’t be in the winter. 19For in those days there will be oppression, such as there has not been the like from the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will be. 20Unless the Lord had shortened the days, no flesh would have been saved; but for the sake of the chosen ones, whom he picked out, he shortened the days. 21Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘Look, there!’ don’t believe it. 22For false christs and false prophets will arise and will show signs and wonders, that they may lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones. 23But you watch.
“Behold, I have told you all things beforehand. 24But in those days, after that oppression, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, 25the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken. 26Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27Then he will send out his angels, and will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the sky.
28“Now from the fig tree, learn this parable. When the branch has now become tender and produces its leaves, you know that the summer is near; 29even so you also, when you see these things coming to pass, know that it is near, at the doors. 30Most certainly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things happen. 31Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
32“But of that day or that hour no one knows—not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33Watch, keep alert, and pray; for you don’t know when the time is.
34“It is like a man traveling to another country, having left his house and given authority to his servants, and to each one his work, and also commanded the doorkeeper to keep watch. 35Watch therefore, for you don’t know when the lord of the house is coming—whether at evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning; 36lest, coming suddenly, he might find you sleeping. 37What I tell you, I tell all: Watch!”
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. ↩︎