I.  The Nature and Character of the Book as Apocalyptic

A.  Most unique book in the New Testament and in the canon with the exception of Daniel in the Old Testament.  Uniqueness tied to its clear identity as the “unveiling of Jesus Christ,” 1:1 or as an Apocalypse.

B.  Characteristics of Jewish Apocalyptic Literature

1.  Pseudonymity so that the writer wrote in the name of some ancient and revered person, e.g.;  Baruch, Enoch, etc.  The Book of Revelation is clearly from the apostle John with some suggesting John the Elder but clearly not an unknown writer;

2.  Conflict between the forces of good and evil with the outcome either unknown or known in the end; The Book of Revelation is the celebration of the victory that has been won for us in Jesus Christ.  Even the forces of darkness are under His complete control.

3.  Historical Contexts are contrived so that they have little or no meaning.  The Book of Revelation is written just as the Book of Daniel in a very clear and very precise historical context.

4.  Symbols often function in a variety of ways with a variety of meanings (multivalent) while the symbols in the Book of Revelation have very clear and concrete connections, e.g.; the One who is riding forth on a white horse is very clearly the Lord Jesus Christ.

C.  The Book of Revelation is a Biblical Christian Apocalyptic in which the coming victory in time has already been achieved by God through Christ upon the cross and the resurrection.  The clear historical context and the certain theological victory makes this book unique among Apocalyptic writings.

II.  The Role of Symbols in the Book of Revelation

A.  Symbols function as a part of the literal in this book.  They are part and parcel of the nature and character of apocalyptic literature.

B.  A look at some of the symbols:

1.  Colors:  White is for purity and victory, red is for the victory that is ours through the blood of Jesus, black is for evil and darkness and grey is for death.

2.  Numbers:  Three is for God, four is for the world, six is for imperfection and for humanity, seven is for perfection, ten is for completion and twelve is for the Old and New Covenant Community of Israel and the Church.  Multiples of these numbers can be found as well, e.g.; 144,00 which is 12 X 12 raised to the tenth power.  This is the number of completeness for the people of God that gather both to praise God and proclaim His glory in the work of His Gospel.

3.  Animate and inanimate objects:  horses are for strength and power.  Dragon is for the demonic of the devil.  The sea is a place of evil and dread.  Lampstands represent the One who is the light of the church.

III. Authorship and Date

A.  Written by the apostle John during the persecution of believers under the emperor Domitian c.a. A.D. 95-96.  “John received the Revelation almost in our own time toward the end of the reign of Domitian,” Irenaeus, Against Heresies.  The book is “not only a divine prediction of future events but also the divine diagnosis of the present state of affairs.”  It is rooted in history as the context and anchor for its eschatology.

IV.  The Four Basic Approaches to the Book of Revelation

A.  Historical.  This approach sees the teachings of the book being unfolded in history from the time of the apostolic church until the time of the second coming.  The events that are recorded in the book are future in the sense that many of them are yet to happen but not future in the sense that they are beyond the end.  This approach requires a millennial perspective that is either “amillennial” or “postmillennial.”  The first does not see a millennium at all; history progresses toward the end and then the end comes with the return of Jesus and all that follows.  Postmillennialism sees the millennium coming in the context of history with the world getting progressively better through the influence of the Gospel and the church functioning as salt and light in the world with the end coming after the millennium.

B.  Futurism.  This view sees everything from chapter six to the end as yet to take place.  The historical situation is established in chapters 1-3, the theological context is established in 4-5 and the eschatological events are chronicled for us from 6-22.  This view requires a premillennial perspective with the church being taken out of the world either prior to the Tribulation or during the Tribulation.  The Millennium then comes at the end of the Tribulation period culminating in the final defeat of Satan and his forces and the creation of the new heavens and the new earth.

1.  One spin off of this perspective is historical futurism which sees the Book as both grounded in history with that history given substance and shape to what is in the end.  For example, the Roman Empire is real and is a stronghold of Satan during the days in which this book was written so that we can read and study what was going on in the Empire of that period in order to understand what will be going on in the final chapter of human history.

C.  Preterism.  Everything that is prophesied here to happen in the end happened in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in A.D. 70.  This was the return of Jesus to establish His Body as the Temple and to bring judgment.  The world will continue as is until the end when the final judgment falls and God brings into being the new heavens and the new earth.  Partial Preterism sees the second coming of Jesus, the judgments, and the establishment of the new heavens and the new earth as yet to be.

D.  Idealism.  The Book of Revelation depicts the struggles in which the church is engaged in every age and in the context of these struggles communicates the reality that we have already won the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

V.  Outline and Themes

A.  The Prologue that establishes the purpose of the book, 1:1-3.  The first word establishes the character of the book and the next two the source and the object.  This is an Apocalypse that comes from Jesus Christ and is all about Jesus Christ.  God gave it to Jesus to show His servants what was to take place “in short order.”  He wants them to know what is about to take place.  Then we are told to whom it was sent and blessing is pronounced on those who read it out loud.  It is this word about reading it out loud that has caused some to see the book as a drama that would have been acted out on the stage in the city of Ephesus.

B.  The Sender, Recipients and Greeting, 1:4-8.  Jesus is clearly established as the center as the One who was, who is and who is to come.  He is the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the Kings of the earth or Christ and Lord.

C.  The Vision of the Risen Christ that produced the writing of the book, 1:12-20

D.  The Letters to the Seven Churches, 2-3

1. The Letter to Ephesus, 2:1-7.  The church that left the love she had at the first.  The worldly church.

Identification of the Sender
What is positive in the church
What is of concern in the church
Call to repentance
Warning
Call to hear the Word of God
The Promise of God to His People

2.  The Church at Smyrna, 2:8-11.  The church that has endured and continues to endure suffering.  One of two churches for which there is no negative word.  The Consecrated Church.

3.  The Church at Pergamum, 2:12-17.  The church that compromised with the culture.  They created a kind of “cultural Christianity.”  The compromising Church.

4.  The Church at Tyatira, 2:18-29.  The tolerant church.  Wickedness in the church that was tolerated either out of a misunderstanding of love or being intimidated and fearful of the ones who were wicked.

5.  The Church in Sardis, 3:1-6.  The Seduced Church.  Much in the way of outward activity with little or nothing in the way of real, true life.  She had a name of being alive but was dead.

6.  The Church in Philadelphia, 3:7-13.  The Steadfast Church.  This church is being persecuted but is remaining steadfast in the midst of the persecution.  The second church for which there is no negative word.

7.  The Church in Laodicea, 3:14-22.  The Lukewarm Church.  Religion without righteousness.

Views of the Seven Churches:

1.  Actual historical churches in Asia Minor

2.  The state of the church in her various expressions throughout history;

3.  The state of the church at various periods in church history

E.  The Center of the Book and Controlling Thesis, 4-5

1.  Worship in the throne room of God with the four living creatures and the twenty four elders

2.  Worship in the throne room of God with no one found worthy to open the scroll in the right hand of God that contains the plans of God for the fulfillment of His purpose upon the earth until the Lamb of God who is at once the Lion of the tribe of Judah steps to the center of the throne room.  Four  hymns of praise hold the key to these two chapters.

F.  The Opening of the first six seals, 6:1-17

G.  The Sealing of the 144,000 Jewish Witnesses, 7:1-8

H.  The Multitude of the Martyrs who are persecuted and put to death for the Name of Jesus as Lord, 7:9-17

I.  The Opening of the seventh seal and the silence in heaven with the prayers of the saints as the great and terrible Day of the Lord draws closer, 8:1-5

J.  The blowing of the first six trumpets, 8:6-10:11

K.  The Two Witnesses, 11:1-14

L.  The Seventh Trumpet, 11:15-19

M.  The Woman and the Dragon, 12:1-17

N.  The Two Beasts:  The AntiChrist and his colleagues, 13:1-18

O.  The Song of the 144,000, 14:1-5

P.  The Three Angels, 14:6-13

Q.  The Harvest of the Earth, 14:14-20

R.  The Last Plagues and the Bowls of the Wrath of God, 15:1-19:5

S.  The Marriage Supper of the Lamb, 19:6-10

T.  The King is Coming, 19:11-21

U.  The Thousand Year Reign upon the earth, 20:1-21

V.  The New Heaven and the New Earth, 21:1-22:5

W.  The Coming of Christ, the Invitation to Christ and the Blessing of Christ, 22:6-21

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