Vision of the Ages: The Message of the Book of Revelation (Revelation 1.1-11)

Introduction

The title of the book of Revelation comes from the opening line of the book itself, which in the original language literally says “the apocalypse.” This is the apocalypse or revelation of Jesus Christ. It could be taken to mean that it came from Jesus or that it contains revelation about Jesus, both of which are true about the book. The Revelation made its way to us all the way down the heavenly chain of command: it came from God to Jesus who gave it to an angel who then gave it to John. This is the same apostle John who wrote the Gospel and the New Testament epistles and who had been an eyewitness of Jesus’ earthly ministry, death, and resurrection. But by this time John was an old man and the last living apostle. John has been exiled by an increasingly hostile Roman government to a tiny island in the Aegean Sea called Patmos. It was there that this incredible revelation, the very last book of the Bible, was given to him.

The book was originally addressed to the seven churches of Asia. This region was the Roman province of Asia also called Asia Minor, which is the modern nation of Turkey. Each church is addressed specifically and quite personally by Jesus Himself. And so, the book of Revelation begins more like an epistle. Jesus wants to prepare these churches for something that is coming that John is already experiencing. Suffering opposition and persecution is a central theme of the book of Revelation. The 7 churches of Asia need to be ready for what is coming so they can be overcomers just as Jesus Himself overcame the world and was exalted by the Father.

After this introduction, John sees the exalted, glorified Jesus who gives his messages to the 7 churches of Asia. After the letters to the churches have been recorded, John is taken up into the heavenly realm where he sees a series of visions which comprise the bulk of the book of Revelation. These visions have continued to both amaze and confound all those who read this book. The Revelation has been one of the most mysterious, difficult, and controversial books in the Bible.

Our first task when reading a book of the Bible is to try to understand the central focus or subject that is being addressed. In other words, what is the book of Revelation about? What is the theme of the book? This seems to be a rather obvious question to ask when reading a book of the Bible, but many Christians skip this step and immediately move to some detail in the book without first understanding the central theme. But this is always a bad idea, especially in a difficult book like Revelation. Details are meaningless and confusing without a context.

Worse yet, details that are taken out of context may become a pretext for someone’s own ideas and agenda. This has certainly been true of Revelation. Before we attempt to understand the mysterious visions in this book we need to try to get the main theme.

Fortunately, the main theme of this book is not difficult to understand and is developed almost from the very first pages of the book. While on the isle of Patmos John sees the glorified Christ. This is the same Jesus John had walked with along the shores of the sea of Galilee, but now Jesus has been glorified. The Gospels record how Jesus ascended into heaven and John recorded in his own Gospel how Jesus had to return to the Father to complete the work of redemption. The exaltation of the Christ had also been predicted in the Old Testament and when the Church began on the Day of Pentecost Peter had preached about Christ’s enthronement as God’s chosen ruler. But on the Isle of Patmos the veil that separated heaven from earth is pulled back and John sees Jesus as He now is in heavenly glory. And that reality of Christ reigning in heaven with God the Father is the central revelation of the book of Revelation. John sees a personal vision of the glorified Christ who gives his messages to the seven churches. But then John is taken up to heaven and sees Jesus in the Throne of God.

But we already knew from other places in the New Testament that Jesus went back into heaven and was received into glory by God the Father. The central revelation of Revelation is not a new revelation or a new doctrine at all. So why do we even need this book? We must remember that Christ’s heavenly reign does not appear to have made any difference in the world that we experience. In fact, the world does not even acknowledge that Jesus is Lord. Christians have declared their allegiance to a King the world cannot see. In the world of the 7 churches of Asia, Caesar was Lord. And this brought Christians into a collision course with the world around them. How do Christians live in a world that does not acknowledge or even welcome the Lordship and supremacy of Jesus? The book of Revelation was written to address that very issue. And it is still a relevant issue for every church and every individual Christian. The book of Revelation is not just for the seven churches of the Roman province of Asia Minor. This revelation addresses issues faced by every generation of the church from the time when Jesus ascended into heaven until the time He comes out of heaven and returns to the earth in all His glory. Revelation is showing how God’s people are to overcome a world order that does not acknowledge the reign of Christ.

The Major Revelations in Revelation

One of the first revelations in the book of Revelation is the fact that there are two realms: earth and heaven. The Bible is constantly showing us these two realms. The earth is the home of mankind and is the lower, inferior, temporal region. The earth is also where the Devil and his legions have power and influence. Heaven is the realm of God and His servants the angels. Heaven is always where all the real decisions are made. Heaven rules the earth. The earth and most of her inhabitants are really in a state of rebellion against heaven. We are living in the middle of a war! There is now a separation between these two realms, just as there was a veil in the Tabernacle separating the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place.

If you could go beyond the veil the first thing you would see is the throne of God. There were other prophets before John who saw into heaven and saw a throne. Isaiah saw the Lord seated on His throne, as did the prophet Daniel. It is interesting to notice that the throne is usually seen when times are difficult for God’s people on the earth. This throne is the control room for the earth. And the throne is never empty, there is always someone seated on the throne. John himself gets this vision in chapter 4 of Revelation. After he has delivered Christ’s message to the churches of Asia upon the earth, he is taken into heaven and sees the eternal throne of God. Things may look chaotic on the earth, but in heaven nothing has changed. God is still on His throne. That throne is the central fact of all Biblical revelation.

But John sees something in heaven that had not been seen before. He sees a lamb, looking like a freshly sacrificed lamb, sharing the throne of God. And all the inhabitants of heaven are worshiping the slain lamb just as they were worshiping the one seated on the throne. John sees the lamb with a kind of double vision: first as a lion who has conquered his enemies, and then as a sacrificial lamb. This lamb is sharing the throne of God. The lamb even takes a sealed scroll from the hand of God. Some have said this scroll represents the purpose of God for the final chapters of world history. Others have said this scroll represents the title deed to the earth. Perhaps both perspectives are true and right. This slain lamb is ruling the world and administering the purpose of God. Everything that happens in the rest of the book of Revelation will happen under the authority of the slain lamb who shares the throne of God. Absolutely everything that happens on the earth is under the control of Heaven.

Chapters 4 and 5 of Revelation contain the vision of the heavenly throne room. These chapters are the theological anchor for the entire book of Revelation. Everything that follows comes as a directive from the throne room in heaven.

What happens on the earth was first decided in heaven. A cosmic drama is about to unfold. The rest of the book of Revelation is really a cyclical series of visions. It is divided into 3 cycles that each have 7 elements. These visions are cyclical because they cover the same period from different perspectives. Here we have 3 different perspectives on the history of the world from the time Jesus went back into heaven at His ascension until the time when He comes again.

The first cycle is the 7 seals. The lamb seated on the throne begins to break the seals and open the scroll that he received from the hand of God. This is a picture of Christ’s heavenly reign over all events upon the earth and all the various forces of history. Jesus is running the world from heaven, administering the Kingdom of God, and fulfilling God’s eternal purpose. Jesus really does have the whole world in His hands. Christ’s heavenly reign is for the salvation of believers in the world. We could not be saved unless Jesus were really reigning over all. All the forces that are opposed to God’s people in the world must submit to Christ. If God is for us, who can be against us?

The second cycle is the 7 trumpets. A trumpet is a signal or a warning. In this cycle the enemies of Christ are revealed and there is a series of Divine judgments on the world. These judgments are only partial and should be taken as warnings to the inhabitants of the earth, none of whom ever repent of their wicked rebellion against God. These partial judgments are the signs of the final judgment that is coming. God has not passively ignored the fact that the world has followed in the rebellion of Satan and declared war on the people of God.

The third cycle is the 7 bowls. This cycle depicts the final judgment of the world, the defeat of all Christ’s enemies, and the beginning of the New Creation. The judgments of the 7 trumpets are partial. The judgments of the 7 bowls are complete and final. All evil is purged from the world and the final Day of Judgment arrives. The present world passes away and a new world appears in which heaven and earth are merged into one and the dwelling of God is with men.

Much of the imagery in these visions comes from the story of the Exodus. God’s people are strangers in the world just like Israel was in Egypt. Just as the children of Israel were mistreated in Egypt, the world persecutes the followers of Jesus. And just as God punished the Egyptians with plagues the Lord will punish the wicked world and then bring His people out in a final, cosmic exodus. Our Promised Land is the New Creation. This great deliverance of His people from a wicked world that is going to be judged and pass away is the central theme of history.

We have all probably heard that poetic line from Robert Browning: “God’s in His heaven, all’s right with the world.” But the book of Revelation tells us that all is not right with the world. An important part of Revelation is the revelation of the enemies of Christ.

The first enemy revealed is the greatest enemy of them all, the Dragon, who is Satan himself. In chapter 12 the whole drama of Redemption is replayed for us. As the Son of God is being born into the world the Dragon waits to devour Him. Unable to do so, the Dragon then makes war on the people of God who remain in the world. The Dragon cannot directly assault the Throne of God in heaven because the Dragon has been cast out of heaven. So, he focuses his attacks on the people of God upon the earth. To wage his war the Dragon calls up some helpers.

Out of the raging sea, which is a picture of the world’s wickedness, Satan calls forth a beast. We know from the book of Daniel that a beast is used to represent kingdoms or earthly government. This beast in Revelation is a combination of Daniel’s 4 beasts that he saw in a vision. This beast is arrogant, blasphemous, and begins to feed on the blood of the saints. In the time immediately following the writing of Revelation the church went through an intense period of persecution at the hands of the Roman government. Satan has continued to use governments to attack the Church.

There is a second beast. This beast uses deception. It looks like a lamb, but when it speaks it sounds like a dragon. This beast is a religious beast and represents all false religion that tries to deceive the Church. If Satan cannot overcome the Church through violent persecution, he may then use religious deception. This may have been a reference to the paganism of Rome which tried to force Christians to worship the Caesar. After the period of violent persecution at the hands of the Roman government came Constantine’s Edict of Milan in which Christianity was made the official religion of the Roman Empire and eventually created Roman Catholicism and the Papacy.

There is one more enemy. She is the most shocking image of the three enemies that are revealed. She is a beautiful woman, richly and seductively attired, riding on the back of the beast. Like the first two beasts she is also bloodthirsty for the lives of the people of God. But her way is to woo and to seduce the people of God with her pleasures and vices. She is a prostitute and her name is Babylon. She is a prostitute in contrast to the holy Bride of Christ, the Church. And she is Babylon, the secular, idolatrous City of Man in contrast to the holy City of God, the New Jerusalem. At the time of John’s writing the Prostitute was most vividly seen in the corruption of the city of Rome. But Rome was only the beginning.

This woman represents the efforts of Satan to attack the Church with worldliness. If Satan cannot succeed by persecuting the Church or by deceiving the Church, he will try to seduce the Church with the pleasures of the world. And this attack has perhaps proven to be the most effective of the three and is certainly the attack the Church faces in our society. And when the Church gives in to the seduction, “Babylon” becomes the Church’s name too. (Our Protestant forefathers often referred to the Roman Catholic Church and especially the Papacy as Babylon.) God’s people are commanded to come out of the world and to be separate and holy, not even touching anything unclean. We are not to join our affections to the world with its lusts and prideful rebellion against God.

The Interpretive Keys to Revelation

When our eyesight is not quite clear, we can go to a doctor who can make some lenses through which our vision will be corrected and sharpened. Sometimes our ability to see or understand Scripture is clouded, especially with a difficult book like Revelation. Many people choose to utilize interpretive lenses for understanding the Bible. And there is probably no other book that has more of these interpretive lenses than the book of Revelation.

There is the view of Revelation that says everything that is in this book has already happened, either right at the end of the first century or immediately following the end of the Apostolic era. So, the book was prophetic but only for the immediate future and does not speak of the entire history of the Church in the world. We can learn from the book but only as much as we might learn from the history of Israel or other events recorded in Scripture.

Another view of Revelation says that almost everything in the book of Revelation is still in the future and will only happen at the very tail end of world history. Those who take this view say that everything after the letters to the churches is still to come. So, we can learn from Revelation, but only as it pertains to some future time at the very end of the world.

Yet another view of Revelation is that this book is not about any actual events at all, past or future, but is simply a book of spiritual principles written in symbolic form. Therefore, we should not be concerned about identifying specific events depicted in the book but should try to decode the message that could apply to Christians in any period. So, everyone can learn something relevant from Revelation if we see the spiritual principles behind the strange visions.

Of course, you want to know the correct view. You will find good Christian people who take different positions on the interpretation of Revelation. Let’s not make this a test of fellowship. We don’t have to wear any interpretive lenses when we read Revelation. Why can’t the book of Revelation contain elements of all three positions: historical, futurist, and spiritual? If we use these lenses we might have to bend the text to fit our position instead of listening honestly to the Word of God as we should.

Unfortunately, many people simply avoid the book completely because of all the potential controversies the different views create. Hopefully we can fall between the extremes of condemning everyone who does not agree with us or ignoring this book altogether. We may not have a perfect understanding of the book of Revelation, but we can get within hearing distance of the message Jesus wants His people to know before He comes again.

But I am not saying that every interpretation of Revelation is equally valid. There are two serious mistakes that are made with the book of Revelation. Sometimes these errors are made by ignorant teachers who may not know any better way to understand the book. But sometimes the book of Revelation is used by religious hucksters to manipulate people and prey upon them.

First, there are interpretations of Revelation that produce fear in good, Christian people. There are some scary images in Revelation and it is part of human nature to fear the unknown. Doom and gloom is easy to sell because the future is dark and we tend to assume the worst. So, people are afraid of the Antichrist, the mark of the beast, or a future world government. So-called prophecy experts mix this fear with a little conspiracy theory and political intrigue and sell it to people who are ready to believe that something bad is just around the corner for the late, great planet earth. Never mind the fact that the book of Revelation clearly shows that Jesus is more powerful than all the forces of evil and all opposition to Christ’s reign amounts to nothing in the end.

A person with faith in Jesus cannot read the book of Revelation and then be afraid of the future. If the book scares you then you have not heard the message that was intended for God’s people.

Secondly, there are interpretations of Revelation that take the focus away from Christ and the Gospel. The message of all Scripture is the Gospel of Christ. So, if we come away from the book of Revelation with something that does not relate to the Gospel we have missed the point. It is the book of Revelation that tells us “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Jesus is the star of this show and it is always wrong to upstage Him with some other issue.

Unfortunately, when it comes to the book of Revelation many people are more concerned with the mark of the beast, the rise of the Antichrist, the tribulation, the rapture, Armageddon, and the meaning of the millennium than with Christ and the Gospel. But the same Gospel that is taught all through the Bible is also revealed in Revelation. It would make no sense for God to suddenly introduce some new doctrine in the final book of the Bible.

But many people have an infatuation with the new and the novel. The book of Revelation is often viewed as entertainment, like a comic book or graphic novel, that we can enjoy in our spare time or ignore if we choose. But Revelation deserves the same kind of serious and careful consideration that the rest of inspired Scripture demands from those who want to know the whole truth of God. Those who twist, ignore, or flippantly use the Scriptures are not serious about understanding the Truth but are only interested in novelty, sensationalism or personal gain.

But we do have to admit that Revelation poses a special challenge. Humility is the first required attitude when reading this book. We may never have all the answers. Interpreting this book is sort of like playing golf: you are not going to get a perfect score, but you should try to get as close as possible. To get as close to the meaning of Revelation as we can I suggest the following guidelines:

First, we should always allow Scripture to interpret Scripture. This is true no matter what book of the Bible we are reading. But one of the reasons many people miss the meaning of Revelation is because they are not familiar with the Old Testament, particularly the Prophets.

Much of the imagery in Revelation is borrowed and recast from the Old Testament Prophets, especially Daniel and Zechariah. In fact, scholars have noticed that Revelation contains more Old Testament allusions than any other New Testament book.

Second, we must become familiar and comfortable with symbolic language. Much of the language in Revelation is meant symbolically, not literally. All the numbers in Revelation should probably be taken figuratively, for instance. These symbols cannot simply be assigned a meaning as we see fit and this is where many modern interpreters go wrong. People often want to read all kinds of modern associations into the meaning of Revelation, like one interpretation I heard that took the locusts to be attacking helicopters! The text can’t mean today what it never meant.

Third, it is wise to keep the big picture in view and not get caught up in understanding every detail. Revelation is a book of visions or pictures. In every picture, there is a focus or something that we are supposed to see. It is not wise to try to strain at every detail and miss the focus of the vision. Imagine a person who looks at a photograph of a glorious sunset, only to focus on a large rock in the foreground! However, if we do look first at the big picture we will often find the details coming into focus as well. The details are always meaningless things without this larger view. But I tend to think the book of Revelation takes the macro rather than the micro view of things. It is like looking at the lay of the land from an airplane at 30,000 feet.

The Spiritual Outcomes of Revelation

Even if we do not understand every detail of this book, the intended effect that Revelation should have on believers is to encourage hope and produce reflective sobriety. Revelation is both a word of hope and a word of warning for Christian people.

This book shows us that the world is under the control of Heaven. God has not vacated His throne and His eternal purpose marches on under the capable administration of Jesus. The world may be raging against God and His Christ now, but a new world order is coming and all opposition to the Kingdom of God will be utterly swept away. All evil will be defeated.

The message of Revelation comes to believers like good news to a besieged city that on the battlefield their King has won a decisive victory and the war is over. Very soon the enemies that God’s people see encircling them will be gone for good. Until that time, we must keep the faith. Everything that we are waiting for will eventually come into view and faithfulness will be rewarded.

On the other hand, we must be warned that the danger is not over. We are still in enemy occupied territory. The Church must not fall asleep. It seems the letters to the Seven Churches are put first for a good reason. Suffering comes before glory, as was also true of our Lord, and before we wear a crown we must take up our cross. When the New Creation finally comes, there will be people excluded. A great separation is coming and now is the time for us to choose sides. The time is coming when all choices will be finalized and locked in for eternity.

Conclusion

If we see nothing else in Revelation that is clear, let us at least see Jesus in this book. Revelation shows us that Jesus is alive and is reigning in heaven with God the Father. The main vision of Christ in Revelation is as a freshly slain lamb in the presence of God. Revelation shows us in a vision what the book of Hebrews teaches us: Christ has entered heaven with His own blood to appear for us in the presence of God.

While He was on earth Jesus won a decisive victory over the Devil, the world, and even death itself. Believers can overcome because Jesus has overcome. His victory can be our victory. And no matter how great the forces seem to be that are arrayed against us we know that “greater is He who is in us than he that is in the world.” If we will stay with Jesus there is no way that we can lose. We are more than conquerors through Him who loves us!

And very soon our beloved Bridegroom will come for His Bride. Someday the veil separating heaven and earth will be torn asunder and He will appear. The book of Revelation ends with the greatest celebration in the history of the universe: the wedding supper of the Lamb! Every great story has a happy ending, and we know how the story of all stories is going to end. God’s people will truly live happily ever after.