Deciphering the Clues of Revelation (3)
Did John write about events that were thousands of years away, and irrelevant to his immediate audience, or did he describe things that were "just about to happen"?
This is Part 3 of a 5-part series. Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
“Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care?” — Chicago
Thus far in this series, we’ve looked at some of the fascinating parallels that exist between numerous Old and New Testament passages and the mysterious woman, “Babylon the Great,” mentioned in the book of Revelation. In this piece, I’d like to highlight some of the benefits associated with the idea that we’ll have a better chance of understanding John’s vision if we attempt to interpret his words and grammar in the light of its original first-century context.
Many modern interpreters have argued for a symbolic or trans-temporal reading of Revelation (i.e., its themes apply to all times and places rather than to any particular time or place),1 however, if we pay close attention to the clear language of the opening, John immediately calls attention to the fact that he was writing about things that, from his perspective in time, were just around the corner. Here is John’s opening:
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed…are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near (Rev 1:1-3).
If we take these words at face value, John doesn’t appear to be writing about things that are always true or things that will take place thousands of years in the future. This becomes even more clear as we make our way through the book, since John keeps repeating this same point: (Rev 2:16, 3:11, 11:14, 22:6-7, 12, 20). If this idea is news to you, it may take some time for you to wrap your head around it. In the end, however, it’s not all that different from the way we interpret the book of Daniel. Though events were future from the prophet’s perspective, we should interpret them as having already been fulfilled.2