He laid his right hand on me, saying, “Don’t be afraid. I am the first and the last,
18and the Living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades.
20The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lamp stands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven assemblies. The seven lamp stands are seven assemblies.
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 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 familiarly 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 |
[1] See my brief treatment of the interpretive methods of revelation in H. Wayne House, Last Things: Four Views of Revelation (Kindle).
[2] H. Wayne House, “Interpretations of Revelation,” Chronological and Background Charts of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981), 152.
[3] H. Wayne House, “Theological Perspectives on Revelation,” Chronological and Background Charts of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981), 152.