Shadows & Substance

Revelation Study · Section I of XII

Introduction to Revelation

An introduction to Revelation — what the book is, the prophetic literary type, and the near-and-far pattern of fulfillment that shapes how to read it.

Citation

Aaron Smith, "Introduction to Revelation," Shadows & Substance, https://shadows-and-substance.pages.dev/study/rev-01-01/

Short cite: rev-01-01

Today I am going to attempt to give an introduction into Revelation.

This is the last book in the Bible and a very mysterious and exciting book.

Revelation means to reveal or to unveil. To make known. Or to disclose.

This book is God's message given to Jesus to disclose or make known to his servants. And Jesus makes it known by sending His angel to John.

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,

Revelation 1:1 (ESV)

Revelation is the only book that comes with a blessing for reading it aloud, hearing what is written in it, and keeping it.

Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

Revelation 1:3 (ESV)

Knowing this, I want to encourage each of you to read this book aloud to your family. Even if you don't feel equipped to teach it or explain it — which many feel — you can know that simply reading it will be a blessing that God will accomplish.

This book reminds us that this world is not our home, that Christ is coming in power and glory, and that the ultimate and final victory over the enemy and this world is coming soon.

We are shown a glimpse of what the judgment of the world and the wicked will be, and what the blessing will be for those who are in Christ. We are shown a glimpse into heaven itself and how mighty and awesome God is. The mystery of the ages is revealed to us, and the culmination of all things is explained.

The literary types of Scripture

There are several literary types used throughout the Bible.

  • Narrative, which makes up half of the Bible — historic events, people, places, what they said, what they did.
  • Poetry, which also takes up a large portion of the Bible — think Psalms.
  • Wisdom — Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job.
  • Prophecy.
  • Epistle, which means the apostles' letters to the church.

Knowing these literary types helps us to distinguish and understand how to read the Bible better and more accurately. We want to know these because we desire to do what Paul tells Timothy.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:15 (ESV)

Revelation falls in the category of a prophetic book, and it is the only prophetic book in the New Testament. Other books in the New Testament contain prophecy but wouldn't be categorized as prophetic books as a whole. Prophecy is characterized by visions, strong imagery and symbolism, spiritual insight into heavenly mysteries, and future events yet to take place.

How the book divides

Revelation can be broken up many ways, but the way I have seen it most easily divided is based on what Jesus tells John in verse 19.

Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.

Revelation 1:19 (ESV)
  • What he has seen — chapter 1
  • Those that are — chapters 2 & 3
  • Those soon to take place — chapters 4–22

Four ways people interpret Revelation

There are several different theories on how to interpret Revelation. (These descriptions are from J. Vernon McGee.)

  • Preterist theory: All of Revelation has been fulfilled in the past. It had to do with local references in John's day — the days of either Nero or Domitian.
  • Historical theory: Fulfillment of Revelation is going on in history; Revelation is the prophetic history of the church.
  • Historical-spiritual theory: A refinement of the historical theory, advanced by Sir William Ramsay. The two beasts are Imperial and Provincial Rome, and the point of the book is to encourage Christians. Amillennialism, for the most part, has adopted this view.
  • Futurist theory: The Book of Revelation is primarily prophetic and yet future, especially from Revelation 4 on to the end. This is the view of all premillennialists.

I lean toward a blend of the Historical-spiritual and Futurist views, and my reason is that I see a pattern of prophecy in Scripture that is very consistent.

The near / far fulfillment pattern

It is called the Near/Far Fulfillment Pattern of Biblical Prophecy. For the most part, all prophecies in Scripture have a near and a far fulfillment.

The Abrahamic promises had their ultimate goal in the coming of Messiah, through whom all the families of the earth could be blessed — but the promise and birth of Isaac under the most adverse conditions would help Abraham to believe it. Daniel 8:9-11 and 23-27 give another example: the little horn was a prophecy of Antiochus Epiphanes of Greece, who in 175 B.C. plundered the temple in Jerusalem and desecrated it — yet many believe this passage ultimately anticipates the last-day ruler, the antichrist.

Here are some of my own examples. God promises to multiply Abraham:

I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies,

Genesis 22:17 (ESV)

God did multiply Abraham — so much so that he became the father of many peoples and nations, the Jews through Isaac and others through Ishmael. This was the near fulfillment. But the far fulfillment is this:

Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.

Galatians 3:7 (ESV)

But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but "Through Isaac shall your offspring be named." This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.

Romans 9:6-8 (ESV)

The people of Israel looked forward to the promised land and eventually did enter under the leadership of Joshua. But that promise and prophecy still stands — there is still a land and a rest that is promised, and we as believers now look forward to it.

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.

Hebrews 4:1 (ESV)

And there are countless more. So this is how I see the book of Revelation: I believe it has had fulfillment throughout history and is yet to be fulfilled.

The posture for the study

So as we begin to dive into this book, I pray that we would do it with humble and sensitive hearts — that the Holy Spirit would help us understand and apply what it is telling us as Christ's church. I pray that I would teach it faithfully in the power of God's Spirit and not in the weakness of my flesh, and that each one of you would read through the text yourselves several times as we go, asking the Lord to open it up in understanding and truth.