End Times 101

The last Book of the Bible is known as Revelation, not Revelations. It is also called the book of the Apocalypse, which coming from the Greek apokalypto which means to reveal. The title is taken from the first part of the first verse which says “The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave Him to show His bond servants.”

 

 

Revelation was originally written according to many scholars in 96 AD. There are also those who believe it was written around 70 AD. Part of the reason for the 70 AD date some people argue is that because they believe some of the things predicted in the book refer to events that happened or were to happen when Rome sacked Jerusalem in 70 AD.

 

 

In the book of Revelation the author refers to himself as John. John said he was on the island of Patmos at the time. Patmos was believed to have been a penal colony of Rome. John said he was there because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. So it seems John was there under persecution. Many believe that the John who wrote Revelation was John the apostle. Some argue that it was not that John because of the wording used. However, Christians believe that while each book of the Bible was written by the hand of man that it was all divinely inspired by God. The Bible itself also says that all scripture is God breathed. If God is the ultimate author of Revelation and every other book of the Bible, it doesn’t matter what words were used or what knowledge is shown in the book because God knows everything and can choose any words He desires.

 

Scholars say that Revelation was written in a style that is called apocalyptic. Now since we know God is the ultimate author of the Bible. This does not mean that John set out to write the book in a popular style to code his message to Jewish rebels. What it does mean is that the book fits into a category. Categories of literature are also biography, romance, poetry and so on. The style of apocalyptic writing includes vision and symbolic language about the end times. The book of Revelation does fit this style. This does not mean anything in itself because God has used symbolism and visions in other parts of the Bible.

 

 

The first part of the book of Revelation was dictated by Jesus to John as letters to be written to seven churches in Asia Minor (now Turkey.) The rest of Revelation, John describes as a vision he saw. Obviously some of the things in the vision were not meant to be taken literally but did have a distinct meaning. In one part John saw a Lamb who looked as though it was slain. I have no doubt John saw what he described but what does it mean. Jesus is the lamb who was slain for our sins. The Bible often refers to Jesus as the Lamb. In Revelation chapter eight Jesus is referenced as the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.

 

Studying Revelation with its sometimes symbolic and other times literal meaning requires a consistent hermeneutic, which is the study of the principals of interpretation. Doing this will lead to an understanding of when things should be taken literally and when they are symbolic.

Studying and reading other parts of the Bible before Revelation is also important. Revelation references other parts of the Bible and knowing these references will make more sense. Think of Revelation like the last book in a series. It’s hard to understand the last book in a series if you haven’t read the other books first. Daniel is especially important to read first because Daniel has a lot of the same imagery and symbols. Daniel is filled with prophecy and visions about the end times and Revelation is in agreement with what was said in Daniel. Daniel does give more explanation for the symbolic visions, so knowing this will help Revelation make more sense.

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