“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John,” Revelation 1:1 is a revealing. The Greek word translated to “revelation” is apokalypsis, so sometimes the book is called “the Apocalypse.”
The meaning of apokalypsis is a revealing. Jesus in the Book of Revelation is revealing something to John. This means the message given to John to give to the seven churches of Asia was not a mystery. It was not in the least confusing to those who received it. It was meant to be understood.

To understand Revelation though, we must apply good exegetics, good Bible study practices.

SECRET #1

First, we must ask ourselves who was the book written to. The book was not written to the 21st-century church. It was preserved for us and we can learn from it, but it was not written to us.

“John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;” Revelation 1:4

The book was written to the seven churches. It was written and then sent out by messenger to be read to the seven churches and most likely copied by them. When we read Revelation, we are reading someone else’s mail. To understand Revelation, we must understand it as the original audience would have. When interpreting any scripture, we must determine how the original audience would have understood it. So we know there are no helicopters or microchips in Revelation because we know that those things would not have been understood by the original audience.

We know that when the churches in Asia received John’s letter, they did not think, “Wow! This is great stuff that the church 2000 years from now will experience.” No, it was written to them.

Are the churches “church ages” as some teach? No and a thousand times no. The members of the church of Laodicea would not have read, “And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.” Revelation 3:14-15, and thought, “Willikers! In 2000 our little church here in Asia will be lukewarm.” No, Jesus was addressing them about their spiritual condition.

Many preachers today erroneously proclaim that we are in the “Laodicean church age.” But, no Christian writers in the 1800s said that they were in “the Philadelphia church age.” Neither did Puritan writers 200 years ago claim they were in “the Sardis church age.”
The idea that the seven churches are actually seven church ages is an invention of the 1800s and has no foundation in scripture. The Book of Revelation was given to John to be sent to and understood by the seven churches of Asia in the first century AD.

SECRET #2

Once we know who the scripture is written to, we need to ask ourselves if there are any time indicators in the text. Has God revealed when things prophesied will happen? In Matthew 24, Jesus made it clear that the destruction of the temple would happen in that generation, and it did, in 70 AD.
“Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” Matthew 24:34
Another time indicator was given in Matthew 16:28 “Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.”

When the Jews went into captivity and the first temple was destroyed, God told Jeremiah the exile would last 70 years. Daniel found this prophecy near the end of the 70 years and knew that they would be going home soon. The time indicators made it clear when God would act.
“Everyone who interprets a passage of the Bible stands in a present time while he examines a document that comes from a past time. He must discover what each statement meant to the original speaker or writer, and to the original hearers or readers, in their own present time.” A. Berkeley Michelsen, Interpreting the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1985), 55

Are there any time indicators in Revelation?

Yes. In the very first verse of Revelation and then again in the third verse, Jesus gives time references.
“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. 3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.“ Revelation 1:1-3

Jesus in the last chapter repeats that “the time is at hand.” “And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.” Revelation 22:10
“Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.” Revelation 22:7
The hearers and readers of Revelation would have no other understanding than that the things that were written would happen soon. “Shortly come to pass” and “the time is at hand” can be understood no other way.

Peter wrote, “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” 2 Peter 3:8
The Psalmist said the same thing, “For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night,” Psalms 90:4

Some folks, trying to put the Book of Revelation in the future, (2000 years in the future), use those to verses to say that “soon” to God did not mean what it does to us. This is however bad exegesis.

Peter is making a theological statement. He is saying God is not restrained with time. It is a statement about the nature of God. He is not saying that when God says something will happen in a specific time that God is actually saying that God will get around to it when he does and the time reference means nothing.

Certainly, Daniel didn’t read where Jeremiah recorded God’s promise that the exile would last 70 years and wonder if God meant 70 real years, or 70 years meaning thousands of years.

Neither would the original audience have understood Jesus’ words that the things recorded would shortly come to pass to mean anything other than the things recorded would shortly come to pass. To interpret Jesus’ words any way other than how plainly he stated them is pure foolishness. Jesus could not have made it any plainer when the churches should expect the revelation was to come to pass.

SECRET #3

To understand the Bible, we must understand the language of the book. I am not talking about learning Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic, I am saying we must understand phrases and expressions as the writer meant them and as the original audience would have understood them.

If my wife tells me to “break a leg” when I am going to preach, she is wishing me good luck. “Break a leg” is a term that came out of vaudeville. There were times when vaudeville shows would have too many acts available. A performer only got paid if he went on stage. “To break a leg” meant that the performer’s leg went past the curtain and on stage. It was a term meaning good luck.

But, if someone from another culture heard my wife tell me to “break a leg,” he would believe she was wishing bad luck on me, not good luck. Similarly, we need to understand the phrases and terms John uses in Revelation as the early church would have understood them.

Consider Isaiah 24:1-5 “Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word. The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.”

This certainly sounds like the end of the world. This passage was about the Assyrian conquest of the Jews. God was proclaiming how he would use the Assyrians to conquer the Jews and they would be scattered abroad. The entire planet was not made empty, nor did it fade away. These are strong prophetic statements against the Jews.

Isaiah 34:1-8 “Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it. For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcasses, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree. For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion.“

This sounds a lot like the Book of Revelation, but notice, it is about God’s judgment coming on Edom, (Idumea). A judgment so severe and complete that the land is desolate to this day. Isaiah said, “And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll:” The heavens referred to here were not God’s heaven or the earth’s atmosphere. It was referring to the government of Edom. Terms like heaven and earth very often refer to earthly governments and earthly people in prophecy.

Now notice Revelation 6:14 “And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.” Same phrase. So are we to believe that when the Book of Revelation was being written, it referred to the atmosphere being rolled up like a scroll literally, or is it talking about the government being judged would be destroyed?

Zephaniah 1:2-3 “I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the Lord. I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling blocks with the wicked: and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the Lord.”
Is Zephaniah predicting a time when God will destroy all men, animals, birds, and fish? Is this a literal destruction of all living things?
No. Zephaniah was predicting the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 587 B.C. In Verse 4, it is made clear that the “earth” in verses 2 and 3 were Judah and its inhabitants. Some translations have “earth” here instead of “land.
Zephaniah 1:4 “I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.”

Matthew 24:29-35 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”

The stars here are the leaders and high priests of the Jewish nation. The powers of God’s heaven were not going to be shaken, no the Jewish nation was to be shaken. It would happen in the generation Jesus was speaking to, (first century). In 70 AD Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed. The Jewish nation ceased to exist. Many Jews were killed and many more taken away into slavery.

When we understand the language being used, we can see the amazing fulfillment of God’s words. But when we try to take prophetic language literally, then we get the idea that these things didn’t happen, so they must be future. Or, as many atheists try to say, Jesus was wrong and the prophecy failed.

We need to let the Bible interpret itself. When you see phrases in the New Testament, see if they were used in the Old Testament.
With the three simple “SECRETS” I have given you here, you should be able to start understanding the Book of Revelation. Remember, it is not a mystery, it is a revealing.

For more about what happened in 70 AD, check out my article HERE.

I welcome your questions and comments, but I will not entertain dispensational ideas or eschatology. Thank you. Dennis