Studies in Revelation: The Nature of This Prophecy

^1:1 The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave to him to show his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known, sending it through his angel, to his servant John, ² who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony concerning Jesus Christ, to all, in fact, that he saw. ³ Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy and those who hear it and obey what is written in it, because the time is near. (Revelation 1:1-3)

How do you characterize the book of Revelation? John calls it both a revelation (apocalupsis, unveiling or revealing) and a prophecy. It is written to seven churches in what is present day Turkey, just seven, though there were other churches in that region (1:4,11). He wrote it from the isle of Patmos, just off the coast of that region, apparently because he had been exiled there as a punishment (1:9). The chain of communication was from God to Jesus, from Jesus to his angel, from the angel to John, and from John to the churches. It incorporated the word of God and the things John was shown. It was about things which must soon take place, whose time was near.

When we read the prophecy we find a vision of Jesus Christ who has messages for the seven churches, evaluations of their conduct and hearts, motivating them with threats of judgment (“I’ll remove your lampstand” or “I will soon come to fight against them with the sword of my mouth” or “I will cast into suffering” or “come unexpectantly” or “spit you out of my mouth”), promises of reward in the kingdom (“to the one who is victorious I will give…”), assurances of protection from the hour of trial, and promise of reconciliatory fellowship.

We find a vision of heaven and a concern over who is worthy to pour out God’s judgments on the earth. We see an unfolding of those judgments, a dangerous time for believers, a satanic endeavor to rule the world, and a war with the returning Jesus Christ, who wins and sets up his kingdom in Jerusalem, followed by the coming to a renewed earth of the heavenly Jerusalem where the saints will dwell forever with the Triune God.

It is hard to believe any of those judgments or Christ’s return have already happened (though some have sought to explain that they have), or that the kingdom is now here or the heavenly Jerusalem. So in what sense are these things near or soon? It is best to understand that by “soon” and “near” is meant that they are imminent. That is, there is nothing preventing them from coming now that Christ has died and risen again, ascended to heaven and ready to bring in the last times. The actual length of time it will take for them to happen is not critical. It has in fact been nearly 2,000 years since John wrote.

Of the interpretive views of Revelation,

The Idealist (Revelation is meant to give us timeless truths, not a chronology),

The Preterist (Revelation has largely been fulfilled),

The Historicist (Revelation is being fulfilled historically), and

The Futurist (Revelation awaits fulfillment in the future, we haven’t seen any of it fulfilled yet),

The Futurist view seems the best. How is that applicable to the readers? It challenges us to be ready for Jesus’ return, living in obedience to him, giving witness to him, because it could happen at any time.