Number 1-b In A Series of Studies on Revelation -

How to Interpret the Book of Revelation

The Pulpit Committee had invited a young preacher to come over to their church for the interview.

The committee chairman asked, "Son, do you know the Bible pretty good?"

The young minister said, "Yes, pretty good."

The chairman asked, "Which part do you know best?"

He responded saying, "I know the New Testament best."

"Which part of the New Testament do you know best," asked the chairman.

The young minister said, "Several parts."

The chairman said, "Well, why don't you tell us the story of the Prodigal Son." The young man said, "Fine."

"There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, who went down to Jericho by night and he fell upon stony ground and the thorns choked him half to death. The next morning Solomon and his wife, Gomorrah, came by, and carried him down to the ark for Moses to take care of. But, as he was going through the Eastern Gate into the Ark, he caught his hair in a limb and he hung there forty days and forty nights and he afterwards did hunger. And, the ravens came and fed him.

"The next day, the three wise men came and carried him down to the boat dock and he caught a ship to Nineveh. And when he got there he found Delilah sitting on the wall. He said, ‘Chunk her down, boys, chunk her down.'

And, they said, "How many times shall we chunk her down, till seven times seven?"

And he said, ‘Nay, but seventy times seven.' And they chucked her down four hundred and ninety times. And, she burst asunder in their midst. And they picked up twelve baskets of the leftovers. And, in the resurrection whose wife shall she be?"

The Committee chairman suddenly interrupted the young minister and said to the remainder of the committee, "Fellows, I think we ought to ask the church to call him as our minister. He is awfully young, but he sure does know his Bible."

"God, the architect of the ages, has seen fit to take us into His confidence concerning His plan for the future and has revealed His purposes and program in detail in the Word. A greater body of Scripture is given to prophecy than any other one subject, for approximately one-fourth of the Bible was prophetic at the time it was written. That portion is devoted to the unfolding of God's program." -- Source: J. Dwight Pentecost, Things to Come, p. vii.

Isn't God wonderful to let us know what is going to happen? He hasn't chosen to do that on a personal level (how many kids, job, when you will die), but He has laid out how all of it will come together and then it will conclude.

I want to be courteous to those who may not see the Book of Revelation like I do. I am like a man who had a running list of the names of all the people he could whip. An acquaintance asked, "Am I on your list?" "Yes, you are." "You can't whip me!" "Are you sure?" "Yea!" "Okay, I'll take your name off the list." Listen, I have not arrived. Although I am a teacher, I am still a learner. I will humbly tell you that I do not know it all. Now, I'll bet that surprised you. If there is a book in the Bible that will humble you it is the Book of Revelation.

I, also, want to be careful in my interpretation and teaching of God's Word. 2 Timothy 2:15 is in the Bible before 2 Timothy 4:2. "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" comes before "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season." I want to thank this wonderful church for providing for me as I am able to devote my time to the study and teaching of God's Word.

And in a day when people are turning away from the truth I intend to be courageous in preaching what I have come to believe from the Bible, with all the urgency and unction of my soul.

How I approach the Bible is based on my belief in the divine Inspiration of the Bible.

For this I make no apology. I work from the assumption that the Bible is true and authoritative. It judges me; I do not judge the Bible.

- 2 Timothy 3:16 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God..."

- 2 Peter 1:21 "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."

How I understand the Bible is based on my conclusions through diligent Interpretation of the Bible.

- 2 Peter 1:20 "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation."

This does not mean a private individual can interpret prophecy. It means no prophecy is to be interpreted solely with reference to it's self. All other passages are to taken into account. Prophecy must be interpreted with the whole of prophetic teaching.

There are three great steps in Bible study. The methodical process involves . . .

1. Observation...What do I see?

2. Interpretation...What does this mean?

3. Application...How does it work (not, Does it work).

The assumption is that you can know what the Bible wants you to know and do what the Bible commands you to do.

Rule 1: Work from the assumption that the Bible is authoritative.

Rule 2: The Bible interprets itself; Scripture best explains Scripture.

Rule 3: Saving faith and the Holy Spirit are necessary for us to understand and properly interpret the Scriptures.

Rule 4: Interpret personal experience in the light of Scripture and not Scripture in the light of personal experience.

Rule 5: Biblical examples are authoritative only when supported by a command. Discern the difference between what is recorded and what is taught.

· The Bible records polygamy, but it does not teach it.

· The Bible records suicide, but it does not teach it.

· The Bible records adultery, but it does not teach it.

Rule 6: The primary purpose of the Bible is to change our lives, not increase our knowledge.

Rule 7: Each Christian has the right and responsibility to investigate and interpret the Word of God for himself. - Source: Walter Henrichsen Gayle Jackson, Studying, Interpreting and Applying the Bible, pp.147-167.

I drove my first car when I was 13 - my dad's 1958 Bel Air Chevrolet. For the next three years, when I drove I drove illegally. My brothers would let me drive and then there were times when I failed to ask them and drove anyway. When I was a sophomore in High School I took driver's training in an old 1950 model Chevy - dual pedals for the safety of Coach Kitrell the instructor. We were required to study the manual, learn highway laws and safety. We were taught you cannot legally drive on the wrong side of the road, drive at speeds posted above the limit, or ignore traffic lights. Then I had to take a driving test, including parallel parking, with a DPS Officer riding shotgun.

Before people interpret the Bible they need to master basic rules of Bible Interpretation.

- Psalm 119:34 "Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart."

Correct Bible interpretation involves...

Content...the raw material, the data.

Context...truth is always connected to other truth. Context is simply that which goes before and that which follows after. The major cults are built on the violation of the principle of context. "A text without a context is a pretext."

- Philippians 2:12. Context? v. 13. That puts verse 12 in a totally different light.

Comparison... where does this show up in other places in the Bible?

"Private interpretation never meant that individuals have the right to distort the Scriptures. With the right of private interpretation comes the sober responsibility of accurate interpretation. Private interpretation gives us license to interpret, not to distort." - Source: R. C. Sproul, Knowing Scripture, pp. 35-36.

Culture...Where did this happen?

Have you ever seen Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece, The Last Supper? According to all the experts, it is an incredible work of art. But this work is way off when it comes to what the Last Supper was really like.

· Jesus and His disciples sitting at tables eating....they reclined to eat in ancient times.

· They are all seated on the same side of the table...as if someone said, "Hey, guys, let's all gather around and take a company picture. One last shot before the Lord goes."

· Leonardo has a 15th century frieze on the back wall...not 1st century.

· At the day time outside...actually at night. Accuracy in Bible interpretation demands that we go back to that period and culture to find out what was really going on.

Consultation...get out your tools. Anybody ever watch This ol' House ? The craftsman on the show is Norm Abrams. He does some incredible work. Some of the segments show his workshop. It is filled with tools, every kind of tool imaginable. The more tools a carpenter has the better job he can do. The same is true with Bible study. Consultation involves the use of secondary resources. Concordances, Bible dictionaries, Bible handbooks, Atlases, Bible commentaries.

"It shall greatly help you to understand Scripture if you mark not only what is spoken or written, but of who, and to whom; with what words, at what time, where, to what intent, with what circumstances; considering what goeth before and what followeth." - Source: Myles Coverdale, in his translation of the Bible, 1535 A. D.

There are four primary views for the interpretations of the book of Revelation:

· Preterist Interpretation. Preter is from the Latin word "praeter" which means "past" or "beyond." This views the prophecies of Revelation as having been fulfilled in the early history of Christianity. Revelation is seen principally as a record of the conflict between early Christians with Judaism and paganism. It sees all of Revelation fulfilled in the days of the Roman Empire. They hold the view that John wrote the book prior to the destruction of the temple in A. D. 70 and was referring to the events of his own day. One of the major problems of this view is there is no record of the seals, trumpets, and vial judgment occurring.

· Spiritualizing Interpretation. This view sees the Revelation as a pictorial unfolding of great principles in constant conflict, without reference to actual events. This view believes John was talking about a spiritual conflict, of how good overcomes evil, and not about a physical, literal experience.

- Symbolic history, rather than prophecy; not predictive, but descriptive.

- It is only seen as a means of comforting suffering Christians in the first century.

- No literal interpretation. Speculation and imagination rule.

- All the seals, trumpets and vials are spiritual plagues, not physical in any sense.

- No chronology is intended in this view.

- Augustine - City of God versus the City of Satan.

- Example: The beast in Revelation 13 with 7 heads, and 10 horns, with the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion with this view of interpretation is "a symbol of a powerful and vicious antagonist met by the cause of righteousness in spiritual battle."

· Historical Interpretation. This views the Book of Revelation as portraying a panorama of the history of Christianity from the days of John to the end of time and the ultimate triumph of the gospel. The Bible commentator Albert Barnes takes this position. He see the 3rd trumpet as the invasion of Attila the Hun, A. D. 433-453, the 5th trumpet as the Mohammedans, the 6th trumpet as the Turks, and so on. This view of interpretation force fits the book of Revelation to history.

· Futurist Interpretation. This views most of the book (chapters 4-22) as prophecy yet to be fulfilled and uses a strong literal interpretation. It view of interpretation follows the self-disclosed outline of the book in Revelation 1:19.

1. Seen... chapter 1.

2. Are... chapter 2-3.

3. Shall be hereafter... chapter 4-22.

Revelation 4-19 takes place within a brief space of seven years - Daniel's 70th week (9:24-27). For example, when Revelation 11 mentions the temple being measured we take it that the temple will be rebuilt and when it mentions two witnesses we take it to mean there will be two men who will literally be God's prophets during that time. When Revelation 20 mentions 1,000 years futurist believe that means 1,000 years.

We do not ignore symbols when they appear. Many are interpreted for us: Revelation 1:20; 17:1; 17:15.

Careful notice is paid to words "like" and "as" and "as it were." Revelation 6:1; 9:7. These indicate a comparison, not an identification.

Critics of this way of apparent interpretation say this book would have had little personal benefit for those who first received it.

They fail to see that Revelation is a book of prophecy! And prophecy does bring comfort and hope.

Consider the following suggestions on better understanding Revelation:

1. Literal. When the plain sense makes common sense, seek no other sense. Scripture should be taken literally unless the facts of the facts indicate otherwise.

2. Location. Locate where the activity is taking place. Keep this in mind - is this happening on earth or in heaven? The scenes in Revelation alternate between heaven and earth. The book begins in heaven and it ends in heaven.

3. Logical. By this I mean, the Book of Revelation unfolds in a chronological or sequential fashion, except when there is commentary added. You will hear me say this a lot in this study - most of Revelation is chronological and the rest of it is commentary on that which is chronological.

4. Lord. Remember Revelation 1:1. This is ‘the revelation of Jesus Christ."

Conclusions:

1. God will ultimately triumph.

2. Saints will be blessed.

3. Sin will be judged.

4. Jesus is Lord of all.

Prepared and delivered by
Dr. Jerry D. Locke
Lake Worth Baptist Church
4445 Hodgkins Road
Fort Worth, TX 76135-2136