Hints on the Interpretation of the Revelation in its Introduction

Probably many of us have personally experienced or observed the following situation.

A woman tries to make something clear to her husband, but does not feel understood.
The conversation goes back and forth. Finally the woman says frustrated: “You don't
listen to me at all!”
I have been reminded of such scenes lately when I read commentaries and
explanations on the Revelation. The Revelation (in German the word is feminine) says
frustrated to the interpreter (usually a man): “You are not really listening to me!”
Women have a different way of communicating than men. A man must first get to
know a woman better in order to understand her. It is the same with the Revelation.
It is a very special book of the Bible, comparable to no other. It has a special way of
communicating its messages to us. The usual rules to interpret the other books of the
Bible are inadequate for the Revelation because of its special character. If we do not
get to know its way of communicating as best as we can, we will not understand its
messages properly either but will distort them!
Already in its introduction the Revelation gives us hints as to how it would like to
be understood. That is what I would like to show you here.
So the question is: What does the Revelation tell us about itself and its interpre-
tation? And note: The best method of studying and interpreting it will be that which
emerges from the text of the Revelation itself.

1. The Revelation is a book from and about Jesus Christ

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. (Rev 1:1-2 ESV)1

The Revelation is a book directly from and, in particular, about Jesus Christ, as the
message of the first chapter already clearly indicates. Christ is mentioned under various
names (the faithful witness in 1:5; Michael in 12:7; the Son of Man in 14:14 etc.), and
various symbols refer to him. His death, resurrection and redemption are mentioned
several times.
But above all, the Revelation shows Christ in his new role after his ascension: as
the enthroned King at the right hand of God (3:21), who completes the plan of salvation,
sits in judgment and creates the new earth.
And, again and again, the motive of the great conflict between Christ and Satan
shines through or is expressly mentioned (12:7-9). From this perspective we must
understand everything we read in the Revelation.

1
All cited Bible texts are from the English Standard Version (ESV) unless otherwise indicated.

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 Hints on the Interpretation of the Revelation in its Introduction

2. It is a divine revelation
The second thing we can learn from the first verse is this: It is a Revelation of Jesus
Christ that God gave him. John repeatedly points to the supernatural origin of the
visions and auditions he describes in his book.
If these visions come from God, the meaning of Revelation will often go beyond
what the human author might have understood. This, however, does not allow inter-
preters to indiscriminately seek all kinds of extended meanings in the book. Whatever
divine intent we may see in a passage should be a natural development of the human
author’s own language and purpose. Having discerned as far as possible the meaning
of the human author’s language, the divine claims of the book compel us to ask what
extended meaning God may have placed in the text, that are to be revealed by history
and later revelation.

3. The events described will take place rapidly

The meaning of a statement in verse 1 that has not been translated literally and is
therefore misunderstood must be explained. Most translations tell us that John would be
shown what must soon take place or must shortly come to pass. Here we must go back
to the original language of the Revelation to get clarity. This is sometimes necessary for
our understanding.
Soon or shortly is here the translation of the Greek expression en tachei. It comes
from tachos, which means rapidity or speed. In German the speedometer of a car is
colloquially called “Tacho”. The same expression is therefore translated, for example,
in Acts 12:7, as quickly, where an angel tells Peter in prison: “Get up quickly!” The angel
certainly cannot have meant shortly or soon.
The Berean Literal Bible renders Rev 1:1 therefore as: “… what things it behoves to
take place in quickness”; the very literal German Konkordante Übersetzung as follows:
“… to show his slaves what must happen in rapidity”. So it is not a matter of time, but of
the speed at which the events described will take place. When interpreting the visions,
we must therefore always pay attention to whether the context gives indications of a
rapid succession of events.
The same statement what must soon take place is repeated in Rev 22:6b; directly
following Jesus says: “I am coming soon” (v. 7; also vs. 12, 20). Here the adverbial form
of the same word is used (tachus). The statement of Jesus would therefore have been
rendered more correctly as: “I come quickly”, as does the King James Version and
many other translations. The Berean Literal Bible translates these verses as follows:

… to show His servants the things that must come to pass in quickness.
And behold, I am coming quickly.

For the term soon there is another unambiguous Greek word (eutheōs), which John
uses in his third letter (3 John 14).

4. The Revelation can be understood by every Christian

We return to the beginning of the Revelation. In verse 3 we read:

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 Hints on the Interpretation of the Revelation in its Introduction

Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those
who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. (Rev 1:3)

The message of the Revelation should be understood by everyone who reads it—
the public readers in the church services—or who hears it.
This was not the case with the book of Daniel: a part of his prophecies were to
be sealed, so they could not yet be understood (Dan 12:4). However, the Revelation
should be understood by its original readers and listeners, for it reveals (that is the
meaning of the Greek term for the Revelation: apokalypsis) important things.
For this, however, it is necessary to hear or read the Revelation again and again.
We can safely assume that the Revelation was read frequently in the seven churches.
The listeners are also asked to keep what is written in it. You should therefore
remember the contents well; much becomes more easily understood only with the
third or fourth reading of the Revelation, because then one can apply what one has
already recognized.
However, I need to be more specific about what verse 3 means: The Revelation
can be understood by an ordinary church member! Is that not good news that
encourages us to read and study it?
The Revelation is not just a book for professionals, pastors or theologians, as if
only they can understand and explain it. I need to say it more bluntly for the sake of
an obvious truth: Most exegetes of the Revelation are not really helpful in the process
of understanding! This is apparent from the fact that there are hundreds of different
interpretations of the Revelation and most of them contradict each other. Most
interpreters must therefore be mistaken in at least some of their interpretations.
And even if some commentators agree, this is no evidence that their explanation is
correct. What counts is the application of the right principles of interpretation.
Many interpreters impose a prior understanding or a particular preconceived
interpretative scheme on the visions of the Revelation (I will come back to that later),
and/or do not listen carefully to what the text of the Revelation wants to tell them.

5. The apocalyptic symbolism of the Revelation was known

Even a cursory reading of the Revelation shows that it often uses symbols, some of
which are very unusual, and sometimes even bizarre. Animals are described that do
not exist in nature and symbols are used that do not occur in normal life. For example,
beasts with seven heads and ten horns are mentioned several times.
But while this kind of symbolism may seem strange to us at first, it was fairly
common in the ancient Jewish world. In a book called 1 Enoch (or Ethiopic Enoch),
written perhaps a hundred years before the time of Jesus, there are seven archangels,
including Gabriel and Michael. This book also mentions a heavenly city with twelve
gates, three on each of its four sides.
In another book, called The Apocalypse of Zephaniah, a Jewish book of the first
century A.D., we read a remarkable description that is similar to the description of Christ
in Rev 1 (more on that when we discuss the introductory vision to the seven churches;
see PDF Revelation DIY 2, online source is given at the end).

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 Hints on the Interpretation of the Revelation in its Introduction

Scholars call this “apocalyptic literature”; it was a literary style that was well under-
stood in the ancient world. So, while the language of Revelation may often seem
bizarre, the first century Christian had a context in which to interpret it.
Interestingly, this apocalyptic style is increasingly popular in today’s world. Movies
like The Lion King, Armageddon and The Matrix apply apocalyptic themes and images
to life as we know it. In The Lion King we meet various animals, but in reality it is an
African apocalypse. It tells the story of a perfect world that perished and is restored by
a lion-son coming back.
In the first verse of the Revelation there is a reference to the symbolism in this book.
The verbal expression made it known is derived from the word for sign (sēmeion); we
could translate it signified (as does the KJV). When studying the Revelation, the inter-
preter must assume that symbolic terms are used throughout in the book. He must
determine which expressions are to be understood symbolically and what they mean.
Normally we take biblical texts literally, unless it is obvious that they are to be
understood symbolically. In the Revelation, however, expressions that make literal
sense may also be symbolic, because they often are allusions to an Old Testament text.
I will explain the topic of allusions extensively in my elaboration “Specific Principles for
the Interpretation of the Revelation” (see PDF Revelation DIY 0).

6. Consider the contemporary historical background in the Roman province of Asia

In the introduction it is emphasized that John wrote to the seven churches that are in
Asia (Rev 1:4; cf. v. 11). The Revelation was addressed to churches in the Roman
province of Asia in western Asia Minor at the end of the first century. It is best
understood when we read and study it from this perspective.
An example is the description of the glorified Christ in the second part of the first
chapter. Jesus introduced himself to John as the first and last and as the one who has
the keys of Death and Hades (vs. 17b.18b). There is a surprising correspondence
between these images and the ideas of people in ancient Asia Minor.
The ancient goddess named Hekate was very popular in western Asia Minor. In
those days the universe was thought of as a three-story building—heaven was at the
top, hell was below, and in between was the earth where the people lived. Hekate had
the keys of both heaven and hell. She could travel back and forth between the three
“stories,” reporting to the earth what was going on in the other two. She was also known
as “the beginning and the end” (in Rev 22:13 Jesus carries this name) and used angels
to mediate her messages.
The parallels between Hekate and Jesus are obvious. (More on this and on the
possible reasons why a God-inspired author would use pagan concepts, is found in my
treatment of the introductory vision to the 7 Epistles in the PDF Revelation DIY 2; there
can be found also some explanations of difficult expressions in Rev 1).
The book of Revelation reflects things that were going on in the real world of Asia
Minor. It was not isolated from its world, it was written in the language of that time and
place. The book of Revelation is more than just a letter to the churches; it also enters
into a dialogue with the ancient non-Christian world. The book addresses the time and
place of first century Asia Minor. This must be taken into account in the interpretation.

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 Hints on the Interpretation of the Revelation in its Introduction

The reader should inform himself about the historical background in the Roman
province of Asia. In this respect, commentaries are often helpful, even indispensable.
However, the references to events or circumstances of that ancient time which are
claimed by commentators to have bearing on the interpretation of the Revelation must
always be critically examined.

7. Discover and apply the allusions to the Old Testament

When we read the Revelation carefully we will note that the Old Testament plays an
important role in the descriptions of the visions. John uses expressions from the Old
Testament extensively, but he doesn’t quote a single OT text, but only alludes to it by a
few words. Here is an example from the introduction in Rev 1:7:

Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced
him, and all tribes of the earth will wail (or mourn) on account of him.

The words highlighted here are an allusion to Zechariah 12:10:

And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace
and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced,
they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him,
one weeps over a firstborn.

John quotes in his Gospel the middle part of this text literally with reference to Jesus
(John 19:37); in the Revelation he does not quote that part, but alludes to it.
A good knowledge of the Old Testament is the key to understand the Revelation.
Those who are not familiar with the central stories of the Old Testament have no chance
of correctly understanding the Revelation and deciding which interpretation is correct
and which is not.
When we have found the source of an allusion, the context of the Old Testament
text gives us decisive clues as to how the text in question is to be understood in the
Revelation.

Old Testament Revelation

determine
source allusion
apply
context interpretation

But there is one more principle of interpretation we must consider. There is a decisive
difference in the statements we just read. According to Zechariah 12 the inhabitants of
Jerusalem will mourn for the pierced Messiah, but according to the Revelation 1:7 it will
be all tribes of the earth (look at the grey part of the texts quoted obove).
The local event of the Old Testament prediction was fulfilled worldwide.
(These two interpretation principles are elaborated in the PDF “Revelation DIY 0 –
Specific principles of its interpretation”. Online source is given at the end.)

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 Hints on the Interpretation of the Revelation in its Introduction

So we should examine very carefully how John referred to the Old Testament.
It is important not to overlook his evidence, but we must not fabricate parallels to the
Old Testament that do not exist.
When we study the Revelation, we must carefully try to discover the allusions to
the Old Testament. They are the decisive key to the correct understanding of the
Revelation!
What I have presented here is described in more detail in chapter 5 of Paulien’s
book The Deep Things of God (Hagerstown: Review & Herald, 2004, now Pacific
Press). His work is ground-breaking with regard to the interpretation of the Revelation,
and therefore I highly recommend its reading. (The content is partly based on earlier
articles of Paulien in Symposium on Revelation–Book I in the “Daniel & Revelation
Committee Series”, Vol. 6). Jon Paulien is the leading Adventist expert on guidelines
for interpreting the book of Revelation. He is also respected in non-Adventist circles.
Unfortunately, many interpreters, including Adventist interpreters, do not give an
account of their interpretation methods, or do not observe important interpretation rules
such as the consideration of allusions. (This is also the case with the Sabbath School
Bible Study Guide on the Revelation.) Moreover, they often proceed from assumptions
or premises that do not conform to the Revelation and therefore have no justification.
As a result the message of the Revelation is misunderstood or distorted—possibly
at our own peril. For the last generation of faithful believers before the Second Coming
of Christ it is especially crucial to understand the statements of the Revelation correctly,
for it is about eternal life or eternal lostness, about receiving the seal of God or accep-
ting the mark of the beast. It's about recognizing diabolical seductions and staying
faithful. For this we must understand the message of the Revelation.
The effort of trying to understand the Revelation is of great value, because,
according to Rev 1:3, it brings a special blessing: “Blessed is the one who reads … the
words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written
in it.” Let our prayer be: “Lord Jesus, give us ears that hear what you want to say to us.“

© Werner E. Lange
Retired book editor of the Advent-Verlag (the German Adventist Publishing House)

This presentation is available in English as a video on the website mentioned below and on
an Adventist YouTube channel (https://youtu.be/4639CJiH7BU).
Reactions to my elaborations are welcome. They can be sent directly to me per e-mail
(lektorat-wernerlange@t-online.de). I would welcome, too, if these PDFs are shared, or the
website is recommended to church members.
I am willing to share this paper as a WORD-manuscript, and also the PowerPoint-presen-
tation with pastors who would like to present this material in an own sermon.
In the coming weeks I will discuss in my local church the interpretation of the chapters
of the Revelation corresponding to the theme of the respecting Sabbath School lesson.
A summary as PDF will be provided each Friday on the website before the respective lesson
begins in the Sabbath School Bible Study Guide.
Link to all PDFs and the video: https://1drv.ms/f/s!Agfvhk0oak34jZBoDxAbbPJKmCC2JQ
Link to an explanation of the Project Revelation DIY (Do It Yourself) and an overview of all
available elaborations: https://hansa.adventisten.de/aktuelles/offenbarung-diy/diy-english/

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Hints on the Interpretation of the Revelation in its Introduction