REVELATION 1 (PART 1)
Read Revelation 1:1-20
We quite often shy away from reading the Book of Revelation because of all the weird language and symbolism in it. It seems so far from our day to day lives and so difficult to understand that we think that maybe the best thing to do is to ignore it and hope it will go away. There are some people, though, that take an unhealthy interest in the obscure language and think that in all this peculiar symbolism there is the key to unlock the date of Jesus’ return (despite the fact that Jesus himself told us that it is impossible for us to know such things). Others regard it as a description of what will happen to the world at the end of time when in reality it is, for the most part, a description of what the world was like two thousand years ago and what the world is like today, albeit in very colourful language.
However, we should try to avoid these extremes. The Book of Revelation has been preserved for us by the Holy Spirit as God’s word. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16), so it is there for us today and we need to engage with the Book of Revelation because it is God’s word to us.
The way to approach Revelation is to not get too involved or distracted with the unfamiliar language, but to try to understand the general principle of what God is saying to us. Yes, the language is unfamiliar and difficult. It is also symbolic, using symbols that would have meant something to the original readers but are a lot less clear to us. The fact that a lot of the language is symbolic is important. We are not expected to be able to imagine the beast with seven heads and ten crowns and looking a bit like a leopard, a bit like a bear and a bit like a lion. The description is of the characteristics of the beast, not its appearance.
The way forward is to read God’s word and with the help of the Holy Spirit, try to see how they speak to us in this day and age.
In some of the more traditional translations of the Bible this book is referred to as ‘The Revelation of St John the Divine’, but it is important to note, as v1 tells us, that it is not John’s revelation, but the Revelation of Jesus Christ. John is merely the reporter; the source of what is contained in the book is Jesus. And the central character is not the beast or the antichrist, but Jesus. The theme of Revelation which comes shining through again and again is that whatever problems there have been in this world and whatever problems there are today and will be in the future, Christ has been and is victorious over them. Jesus Christ is the Messiah; God’s kingdom will come in all its fullness and all its glory. That’s not to say that things will not be difficult in the meantime – persecution and suffering will happen – but Jesus has already triumphed on the cross.