INTERPRETATIVE VIEWS OF 
THE REVELATION

There is considerable disagreement on how the book of the Revelation should be interpreted. Therefore it isstrongly recommended that you consider performing your own inductive study prior to consulting a commentary. The single best inductive study in my opinion is the Precept Ministries International 4 part study on the Revelation (see below ). I would also recommend the Precept inductive study on Daniel (Click Daniel 1-6 orDaniel 7-12) (Click here for links to commentaries on Daniel) because the truths in the book of the Revelation have their foundation in the prophesy in Daniel. To state it another way, a full understanding of the book of the Revelation is virtually impossible without an accurate understanding of the book of Daniel, especially Daniel 2 and Daniel 7.

Before you consult any commentary, it is important to recognize that there are four schools of interpretationof the Revelation and it is critical to know which view the commentary you are consulting espouses. More importantly you should strive to have a good foundation from your own inductive study before you consult even the most respected commentary or otherwise you will almost certainly be confused by the wide diversity of interpretations of the same passage! The four views of interpretation are summarized in the following chart (see also Bibliography). 
 

Preterist More detail	Preterist (from Latin praeter meaning "past") holds that through the use of symbols and allegory, the Revelation deals with events that were fulfilled in John's time and that it was written primarily to provide hope and comfort to the first century church persecuted by Rome. For example, this view interprets the beasts of (Rev 13:1, 2, 11-note) as imperial Rome and the imperial priesthood. The preterist view is held by many modern scholars, especially liberals and others who deny that the Revelation is predictive of specific future events.
Historicist More detail	The historicist approach views the Revelation as a symbolic or allegorical prophetic survey of church history from the first century up to the Second Coming of Christ. This was the view espoused by most of the "reformers" and thus dominated Protestant eschatological teaching for centuries. This view however has been discounted by many as it does not adequately address the prophecies in the Revelation. The discerning reader needs to be aware that the historicist view is reflected in most of the "older" commentaries (many of which are public domain works easily accessible on the internet) including the works of John Knox, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, C. H. Spurgeon (although Spurgeon did believe in the Millennium), Matthew Henry, Adam Clarke and Albert Barnes. Unless you understand their historicist approach to prophecy, you may become very confused when reading these older "classic" commentaries. Note that with the exception of Spurgeon, these works are not included in the list of resources. It is also important to realize that many of these "classic" commentaries tend to treat many of the OT promises to Israel as primarily applying to the NT Church, a view that is strongly disavowed by this website (see discussion of The Israel of God). An example of a historicist interpretation is the belief that the strong angel of Revelation 10 symbolizes the Reformation and that the harlot in Revelation 17 represents the Roman Catholic church, both  interpretations which a plain reading of the text simply does not allow!
Idealist More detail	This approach argues that the symbols in the Revelation do not relate to historical events but rather to timeless spiritual truths. Idealists feel that Revelation relates primarily to the church between the first and second coming of Christ. They feel Revelation relates to the battle between God and evil and between the church and the world at all times in church history. The seals, trumpets, and bowls are thought to depict God’s judgments on sinners at all times, and the beast refers to all the anti-Christian empires and rulers in history. Thus the Revelation is viewed as describing the victory of Christ and His people down through history. The Millennium in this approach is not a future event but the final cycle of the book describing the church age. The weaknesses of this view include the failure to see the futuristic aspects of many of the prophecies or to connect them in any way with history. (Adapted from Grant Osborne: Revelation. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament) (See another discussion of Idealist Interpretation) This view is variously referred to as the spiritual approach,  the idealist approach or thesymbolic approach and makes no attempt to find individual fulfillments of John's visions, instead viewing Revelation as a great drama depicting transcendent spiritual realities, such as the spiritual conflict between Christ and Satan, between the saints and the antichristian world powers. Fulfillment is seen either as entirely spiritual or as recurrent, finding representative expression in historical events throughout the age, rather than in one-time, specific fulfillments. (From Gregg, S. Revelation, Four views: A Parallel Commentary. Nelson Pub)
Futurist More detail	A literal reading of prophecy will generally lead to a "futurist" interpretation. Thus futurists interpret Revelation 4-22 as predictive of future end time historical events preceding, during and after the return of Jesus Christ, the establishment of His 1000 year (thus futurist are usually "premillennial". Amillennialists spiritualize the 1000 years and postmillennialists spiritualize the resurrection which precedes it), millennial kingdom on earth, followed by the creation of a new heaven and new earth. Variations of this view were held by many of the so-called early church fathers, including men like Justin Martyr (164AD), Irenaeus (195AD), et al. This futuristic approach has enjoyed a revival since the 19th century and is widely held by many if not most modern evangelicals. Note that most of the resource links listed below take a futuristic approach to interpret the Revelation.

Click here for an excellent in depth discussion of the interpretative approaches to the Revelation

The interpretative approach taken by this website regarding Revelation 4-22 is that these passages describeliteral people, places and events that will be fulfilled in the future. As someone has well said "If the plain sense makes good sense seek no other sense lest it result in nonsense." Most of the resources on this page are espouse the futuristic view, but this fact does not necessarily mean that we agree with every comment in all of the resources.

The wide divergence of interpretative views makes it imperative that the reader of the Revelation be a "true blue" Berean (Acts 17:11) and perform his or her own inductive study prior to consulting any commentary, tape set, web site or sermon, lest he or she become mired down in confusing rhetoric and specious speculation. The Revelation of Jesus Christ was written to edify, equip, encourage and bless God's children, not to hopelessly confuse or divide them. Maranatha!

Revelation Bibliography

FUTURIST

Archer, Gleason

Barnhouse, Donald Grey. Revelation: An Expository Commentary Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1971

Barton, B. B., & Osborne, G. R. Revelation. Life application Bible commentary Tyndale House 2000

Chafer, Lewis Sperry.

DeHaan, M. R. (Our Daily Bread. Radio Bible Class).

Ironside, H. A. Lectures on the Revelation: Neptune, N.J.: Loizeaux Brothers, 1920

Johnson, Alan. Revelation in the Expositor's Bible Commentary.

Kaiser, Walter

MacArthur, J. Revelation 1-11 and 12-22. Chicago: Moody Press, 1999
J. Vernon McGee. Thru the Bible With J. Vernon McGee. Thomas Nelson December, 1988.  

Morris, Henry M. The Revelation Record: A Scientific and Devotional Commentary on the Book of Revelation: Tyndale House, 1983

Newell, William R. The Book of the Revelation: Chicago: Moody Press,1935 (devotional flavor)

Pentecost, J. Dwight.

Phillips, John. Exploring Revelation. Chicago: Moody Press. 1874

Ribeira (1537-91) Jesuit scholar held almost all events are future and apply to the end times

Ryrie, Charles Caldwell. Revelation: Chicago, Ill.: Moody Press, 1968

Tenney, Merrill C. Interpreting Revelation . Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1957. (also dispensationalist)

Thomas, Robert L. Revelation 1–7: An Exegetical Commentary. Chicago: Moody, 1992.

Thomas, Robert L. Revelation 8–22: An Exegetical Commentary. Chicago: Moody, 1995.

Walvoord, John F. The Revelation of Jesus Christ . Chicago: Moody, 1966.  (also dispensationalist)  Recommended

HISTORICIST

Barnes, Albert. Revelation in Notes on the New Testament; Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1884–85

Calvin, John

Clarke, Adam. Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Holy Bible: Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1967

Edwards, Jonathan

Henry, Matthew. Acts to Revelation, vol. 6 in Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Old Tappan, N.J.: Fleming H. Revell

Knox, John.

Luther, Martin

Newton, Sir Isaac: The Prophecies of Daniel & the Apocalypse. 1733.

Torrey, R. A. The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge: Old Tappan, NJ.: Fleming H. Revell (Historical premillennialist)

Spurgeon, C H is classified as a Historicist: Keep this in mind when reading his sermons on the Revelation

IDEALIST (SPIRITUAL)

Alford, Henry. The Revelation in The Greek Testament, revised by Everett R Harrison (Chicago: Moody Press) 1958.

Calkins, Raymond. The Social Message of the Book of Revelation. New York: Woman's, 1920.

Carrington, Philip. The Meaning of the Revelation . New York: Macmillan, 1931.

Cleveland: Corpus Books, 1968. Rissi, Mathias. Time and History. Richmond: John Knox, 1966.

Hendriksen, W. More Than Conquerors . Grand Rapids: Baker, 1940.

A. Hoekema

Phillip Hughes

Kiddle, Martin. The Revelation of St. John . MNT. New York: Harper, 1940.

Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. New Testament commentary: Exposition of the Book of Revelation. Baker House. 1953-2001.

Lenski, R. C. H. The Interpretation of St. John’s Revelation: Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1943

Milligan, William. The Book of Revelation . ExB. Hodder & Stoughton, 1909.

Minear, Paul S. I Saw a New Earth: An Introduction to the Visions of the Apocalypse. Cleveland: Corpus Books, 1968

Morey, Earl. Notes on Revelation in The Spirit-Filled Life Bible, Jack W. Hayford, Gen. ed: Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1991

Rissi, Mathias. Time and History . Richmond: John Knox, 1966.

Vincent, Marvin. Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament. Hendrickson Publishers, 1985

Wilcock, Michael. I Saw Heaven Opened: The Message of Revelation: Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1975

Wilson, Geoffrey B. Revelation: Durham, England: Evangelical Press, 1985

PRETERIST

Adams, Jay. The Time is at Hand: Phillipsburg, New Jersey: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co, 1966.

Ashcraft, Morris. Hebrews—Revelation The Broadman Bible Commentary v12: Clifton J. Alien, Gen. ed,  Nashville: Broadman Press, 1972

Barclay, William. The Revelation of John. Philadelphia: Westminister Press, 1976.

Beasley-Murray, G.R. "The Revelation." NBC rev. Edited by D. Guthrie, et al. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970.

Berkouwer, G. C. The Return of Christ. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1972.

Bruce, F. F. "The Revelation to John." In A New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1969.

Byrum, C. S., Parvin S. Unlocking the Mysteries 150 FAQs About Revelation and the End of the World. Nashville: Abingdon, 1999.

Caird, G.B. The Revelation of St. John the Divine. Harper's New Testament Commentaries . New York: Harper, 1966.

Charles, R.H. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Revelation of St. John . 2 vols. Edinburgh: 1920.

Chilton, David. The Days of Vengeance: An Exposition of the Book of Revelation: Ft. Worth, Tex.: Dominion Press, 1987

Gentry, Kenneth. The Beast of Revelation (2002), Before Jerusalem Fell (1998).

Glasson, T. F. The Revelation of John. The Cambridge Bible Commentary on the New English Bible . 1965.

Morris, Leon. The Revelation of St. John . Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1969 (Also categorized as "Spiritual")

Mounce, Robert H. The Book of Revelation: New International Commentary on the NT: Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977

Metzger, Bruce. Breaking the Code Understanding the Book of Revelation. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1993.

Pieters, Albertus. Studies in the Revelation of St. John . Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1954.

Sproul, R. C.: Sproul, R. The last days according to Jesus. Grand Rapids: Baker Books. 1998

Interpreting The Book of Revelation

Dennis Bratcher

I. The Nature of Scripture

George Ladd: “The Bible is the word of God given in the words of men in history.”
Dennis Bratcher: “The Bible is God’s word in human words.”

A.  Because it is God’s word, the Bible has: (a) ongoing relevance, (b) authority, (c) testimony to the nature of God.  These cannot be investigated or proven; they are accepted by faith as a given, so we cannot study the Revelation from any of these perspectives.   

B.  Because it is in human words, the Bible has: (a) historical and cultural particularity, (b) features of human creativity and expression, (c) concerns common with human existence today.  These can be investigated with various tools; this is the starting point of study. The process of doing so is described by two terms: exegesis andhermeneutics.  

1) exegesis: using various methods of studying the Scripture for historical, cultural, and religious background; methods of writing; use of language and features of the Bible as literature; use in the ancient community of faith; development of the canon of Scripture for later use; etc. The purpose here is to understand, as much as possible, what the text would have communicated in the context of the time and culture that produced and used it, while still understanding that our questions are conditioned by our own language, culture, and history and so provide only one angle of vision into the text.

2) hermeneutics: taking that understanding of the text and hearing what that community tells us about God, about us, and about how we should relate to God. The purpose here is to understand how we can or should apply that witness to our modern culture and spiritual lives.  Here also we realize that while the communication of the text may be established within certain parameters, it may be applied in different ways in different contexts.

C.  Understanding what a text intended to communicate in the community (or communities) that produced and used it is the only proper context for understanding what a text "means." A text cannot mean what it never could have meant to its original authors or hearers (Fee & Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth). It can be re-interpreted in light of new historical events, so it may come to have more meaning than it had originally in a specific historical context. But that new meaning always lies along a historical and theological track that is connected to and includes the original meaning (the technical term here is theological vector).

[There are several other articles available on biblical interpretation; they can be found from the menu page Issues in Biblical Interpretation]

II. The Nature of The Book of Revelation

A. The book as apocalypse:  An apocalypse is a very specific kind of literature with no modern equivalent. While there is only one OT apocalyptic book (Daniel) and one NT book that demonstrates some features of this type (Revelation), it was a common form of writing in the two centuries before and after the birth of Christ. There are several distinct features of apocalyptic writing.

1) It arises out of a historical context of great turmoil, persecution, and oppression. The prophets looked forward to God balancing the scales of justice within history; apocalyptic has given up on history and has become so pessimistic of change that it can only see God acting by bringing a radical end to history, destroying all evil, and beginning again with a new world.

2) It is carefully crafted literature. It was not spoken (like prophetic sermons), but was composed. That means it exhibits certain features of normal writing, such as structure, form, flow of thought, creative use of language, etc.

3) It is presented in the form of visions, dreams, and other worldly journeys. Several features intend to communicate a sense of mystery, the revealing of secrets long hidden in the mists of the past. Therefore, most apocalyptic writing is written under the name of a long dead person of some reputation (Abraham, Moses, Enoch) who is instructed to keep the book for the "latter days," which, of course, would be the time the book was actually being written. Also, there is often a guide to reveal the secrets or mysteries.

4) Its images and symbols are forms of fantasy rather than reality, and its language is cryptic, metaphorical, and highly symbolic. These symbols are not drawn from our modern world, but from the language, experience, and cultural "pool" of the ancient world.  The assumptions that underlie those symbols are likewise not those of a modern scientific world view of the 21st century Western world, but those of the Ancient Near East of 2,000 years ago. Strange multiheaded beasts, weird creatures, dragons, and odd combinations of normal images (locusts with scorpion’s tails and human heads) are common ways of writing. It purposely presents a world that does not exist except as a means of communication.

5) It is a highly stylized and schematized way of writing. There are neat packages of time and event, all moving in a very ordered way. Sequences of numbers, people, or events are common. Numbers, especially, take on symbolic value, even to the point of ciphering (certain numbers standing for certain letters of the alphabet). There are frequent uses of certain numbers, such as 3, 7, and 12 (and multiples, such as 144,000).

6)  However, simply because a writing exhibits some of the features of an apocalypse does not necessarily mean that itsmessage or theology must conform to that genre.  That would be to ignore both the dynamic of inspiration (God's word) and  the creativity of the author/community of faith (in human words).   While the book of Revelation is obviously modeled in some ways on the classic form of apocalyptic writings, the message of the book implies something far different than "traditional" apocalyptic writings. 

B. The book as prophecy:  Because the Book of Revelation is written in John’s own name, it is related to OT prophecy, perhaps more closely than it is to apocalyptic. But it is not prophecy in the popular (and incorrect) modern sense of "predicting the future."  OT prophecy was overwhelmingly concerned with speaking God’s message to people of the prophet’s own time, interpreting God’s will for them in light of then current historical events. The prophets were primarily "covenant mediators," calling the people to be faithful to God in the midst of the ups and downs of history.

1) In this sense, Revelation is a message, not for the far future, but for the first century Church whose very existence was being threatened by persecution from both Romans and Jews.  But as a message to the first century church, since we accept it as Scripture, it is also a "word" of God to the church today.

2) This relation to OT prophecy also underscores the fact that the Book of Revelation is related to a particular time in history, to a particular set of circumstances, and to particular people. This does not mean it is irrelevant for us today; it just means we cannot make it address the issues we want it to address directly, without first understanding something about what it meant to the early church.

III. Interpreting the Book

Several principles need to guide any study of the Book of Revelation.

A. "The primary meaning of the Revelation, or at least the anchor point of any meaning, is what John intended it to mean, which in turn must also have been something his readers could have understood it to mean." (Fee and Stuart, How to Read the Bible for all It’s Worth. . ., p. 209)

B. "Any keys to interpreting the Revelation must be intrinsic to the text of the Revelation itself or otherwise available to the original recipients from their own historical context." Fee and Stuart, How to Read the Bible for all It’s Worth., p. 209)

C.  The rich and varied cultural context of the ancient world must be the frame of reference for interpreting the names and symbols of the book, but also with a sensitivity to how creatively they are used in the book.

D. The visions and symbols should not be pressed into allegory in which every detail has some meaning; most often the meaning is in the entire vision and its impact rather than every detail.

E. Apocalypses (or writings modeled after them) do not intend to give a detailed chronological map of the future; the message is much more historically conditioned, and much more theologically oriented. Rather than a map of the future, it is an encouragement for the present.