The Book of Revelation – Introduction – Part One
Revelation – A Book of Visions
What Is An Apocalypse?
Read: Revelation 1:1 and Matthew 24:1-8
Let’s start with the question of genre. What kind of book is the book of Revelation? Answer, it is a piece of apocalyptic literature.
Apocalyptic literature, is a distinct genre that flourished between 200 BC and 200 AD, characterized by vivid imagery, symbolic language, and revelations of divine mysteries. Rooted in times of crisis and persecution, these writings sought to unveil God’s ultimate plan for history, offering hope and assurance to the faithful. Books such as Daniel, 1 Enoch, 2 Esdras, and Revelation portray cosmic battles, angelic messengers, and visions of a renewed world, emphasizing themes of divine judgment, the triumph of good over evil, and the establishment of God’s kingdom. This literature often contrasts the present age of suffering with a future of divine justice, urging readers to remain steadfast in faith. As we study the book of Revelation, understanding this apocalyptic tradition helps us grasp its symbolic nature and its message of hope amid tribulation.
There are approximately 30 to 40 known apocalyptic writings from the period between 200 BC and 200 AD. These texts include Jewish, Christian, and Greco-Roman works, many of which were not included in the biblical canon but were highly influential. Key examples include:
- 1 Enoch (various sections, including the Book of Watchers and the Book of Parables)
- 4 Ezra (also known as 2 Esdras)
- 2 Baruch
- The Apocalypse of Abraham
- The Testament of Moses
- The War Scroll (from the Dead Sea Scrolls)
- The Sibylline Oracles (certain Jewish-Christian sections)
- The Apocalypse of Peter (early Christian)
- The Shepherd of Hermas (though more allegorical, it has apocalyptic elements)
The Book of Revelation belongs to this same tradition, sharing themes of divine revelation through visions, cosmic battles, final judgment, and the triumph of God’s kingdom. Understanding these writings helps frame Revelation within a broader literary and theological context.
Unfortunately, the English word Apocalypse has come to be associated with doom and gloom, foreboding, fear, and bad news. However, that is not what the word originally meant.
The Greek word for Apocalypse or Revelation is ἀποκάλυψις (apokalypsis). It means “unveiling” or “disclosure,” referring to the revealing of divine mysteries, often through visions or prophecy. This word is used in the opening of the Book of Revelation (Apokalypsis Iēsou Christou – “The Revelation of Jesus Christ”).
And, that is the very first thing I want to point out. Though John is given many visions, the book itself is primarily about One important thing that God revealed to John – that One thing is the Person of Jesus and his central role in history. Everything else John has to say revolves around the person and work of Jesus. The book is about Jesus. That is what God has revealed to John, and now, to us.
And, the book is meant to bring encouragement to Christians who are suffering and struggling to keep the faith. Sadly, the book has been distorted by comfortable Christians living in the West, most of whom who have never suffered very much at all. If you are Christian living in the affluent, peaceful West, especially those from North America, the book of Revelation can be quite disturbing, because we have been lulled into spiritual slumber by our affluence, and have forgotten that there are children living in war zones, there are communities of faith under constant pressure and surveillance of totalitarian regimes, and there are many hard working people of faith, who will not be able to find shelter or food tonight. For them, the book of Revelation is the extraordinarily good news, that evil will not go on reigning forever. The Messiah has suffered on our behalf to bring an end to suffering, sin, and death.
Verse 1:1 reads: “The Revelation of/about/from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place.” The Greek construction of this verb can include all of these possibilities. The Revelation is a revealing of the person and work of Jesus. Or, it is about him. Or, it is from him. Actually, all of these possibilities make sense, and all of them are really needed to understand the book.
Jesus Christ is God’s self-disclosure. In Jesus, God shows us his heart/character, and his ultimate plans for our salvation and the salvation of the world.
A Word or Two about Imagery and Symbolism
Whenever I teach on the Book of Revelation and begin explaining that it uses symbolism, metaphors, and allusions, I soon have someone raise their hand and say something like, “Are you saying that scriptures are not speaking of real events,” or, “Are you saying that you do not believe the Scriptures?” I like to answer that by saying, we do the same thing, all the time, whenever we speak of important, world changing events happening in our own time. Let me give you several examples.
When a culture starts to decline, we speak of “societal collapse” which is a word picture that would literally mean everything in a failing culture has fallen down or imploded.
We speak 9/11, the day on which terrorist attacks were made on the United States, as being a “dark day,” though that would suggest that the sun did not shine that day.
We speak of the attack on Pearl Harbor as being an event that “shook” America, though we do not mean that an unusual amount of earthquakes took place that day.
We speak of the economic hardships of the 1930s as being a “Great Depression,” though that imagery suggests that everything had been pushed into the ground.
We sometimes speak of an event as being the beginning of a “bright future,” though we do not mean that we anticipate having more hours of daylight.
When a leader disgraces herself, we speak of her as having “fallen” though we do not really mean that she tumbled off the stage.
We are using language very similarly to the way the Book of Revelation and all apocalyptic literature does. We are using rich symbols, metaphors, and allusions to talk about significant events that shape the lives of countless people. In this way, you might say that the influences of apocalyptic literature can still be felt. Or, perhaps this is the way language has always worked, and it is just more noticeable in Apocalyptic Literature, because it uses such language in heavy brushstrokes.
But, why does the imagery of Revelation seem so hard to understand and decode?
I will answer this question with a story. I took a class about the Book of Revelation at Asbury Theological Seminary, from the renowned scholar, Robert Mulholland. At the time, about 1/3 of our class came from countries outside of the North America. Mulholland said, “I am going to put up cartoon clip, and I want the class to guess its meaning. But, if you are from Canada, the United States, or Mexico, you do not get to answer. I only want answers from my international students.
The clip he showed us was of a political cartoon. It was an elephant trying to set a trap up to catch a donkey, but somehow becoming ensnared in his own trap. At the time, a Republican Congress, represented by the elephant, was trying to impeach a Democratic President, represented by a the donkey. Yet, everything the Republicans were doing to try to bring down the President, was somehow causing them more problems than it was the President. They were getting caught in their own traps.
For all of the North American students, the cartoon was very easy to understand. But, it was completely incomprehensible to our students from places like Vietnam. The symbols just did not mean to them what they meant to North American students. Thus, the cartoon was very confusing to them.
Likewise, most of the imagery in the Book of Revelation was very easy to understand for people living in the Roman Empire during the First Century. Take, for example, the Woman sitting on the Seven Hills, with the seas at her feet. This was a very common image of the goddess Roma. She sat on the Seven Hills of Rome and she had command of the world’s waters, via the Mediterranean Sea. This image was so common that is was displayed on many of the coins. No one living at the time would have had to have this imaged explained. She was as common to them as Uncle Sam or the Statue of Liberty are to us.
But, here is where the shock is created by John’s Revelation . To people living in the Roman Empire, Roma was a Queen, a goddess even. But to John, she is a drunken whore, who is intoxicated from drinking the blood of the nations she has conquered. Such subversive talk would have been shocking, even to the point of being considered dangerous, but it would not have needed a word of explanation.
Not all of the symbolic language found in Revelation is that easy to explain; but the majority of it is. After a careful study of the book, some of John’s language may still allude us, but the big picture will be crystal clear.
In Matthew 24, Jesus describes this age as one of struggle, as good and evil contend for this world. It is a time of turmoil and uncertainty, our world shaken about by this struggle. But, through it, God is bringing about the birth of a new world and new age to come.
Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
– Matthew 24:1-8
Questions for Deeper Thought and Reflection
In this lesson, we talked about metaphors, symbolism, and allegory, poetic, emotive, descriptive language used to talk about real events. John uses this powerful language to describe what God is doing and changes that are about to take place. What are some of the seismic shifts happening in our day? But, we also gave examples of how language is still used that way in our own time. Beyond the examples given, can you think of others?