A Primer on the Book of Revelation

The Book of Revelation is the most mysterious book of the Bible. The prophetic book is encrypted with many codes and riddles from the Old and New Testaments. Christians have been interpreting this book for centuries. In this series, we will be going over the major themes of the Book of Revelation and decoding it from the Catholic perspective.

Literal or Symbolic? 

Whether Revelation is to be interpreted literally or allegorically is a debate that has rippled through many branches of Christianity for hundreds of years. Many Protestant denominations interpret Revelation in a literal sense. Their position is that the key to unlocking the book of Revelation is understanding the books of the prophets. Once the prophets are rightly understood, the other pieces of the puzzle fall into place.

A good example is Revelation 9:7-9 which uses imaginative language to describe vicious locusts coming out of a bottomless pit called the Abyss. The passage says:

The appearance of the locusts was like that of horses ready for battle. On their heads they wore what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, and they had hair like women’s hair. Their teeth were like lions’ teeth, and they had chests like iron breastplates.

If this passage were to be understood literally, then it would be absolutely terrifying and odd!

The book of Joel offers us an explanation as to the nature of these locusts. There are passages from Joel that parallel the exact description of the locusts from Revelation 9. Joel 2:6, for example, says “For a people has invaded my land, mighty and without number; His teeth are the teeth of a lion, and his molars those of a lioness.”

Joel 2:25 adds, “And I will repay you for the years which the locust has eaten, the grasshopper, the devourer, and the cutter, my great army which I sent among you.” Verse 6 reveals that the symbolic language of the locusts refers to people, and verse 25 affirms that the locusts were an army.

This allegorical picture of locusts attacking communities was evoked by the ancient Jews. They describe God bringing judgement upon a nation by referring to the plagues of Egypt. Locusts were sent upon the Egyptians by God as punishment for their disobedience (Exodus 10:4-6).

With this understanding, it makes more sense to interpret the images of Revelation largely as allegories through the lens of the prophets.

The Historical Context 

A popular interpretation of the timeline of Revelation is what is called the futurist view. Many Christians believe that the events depicted in the book haven’t taken place yet but are right around the corner.

It’s true that not all of the events prophesied in Revelation have happened yet, such as the Second Coming of Jesus; however, there are clues to suggest that the majority of what has been prophesied in Revelation has already taken place. One example is found at the very beginning of the book. In Revelation 1:19 Jesus says to John, “Write down, therefore, what you have seen, and what is happening, and what will happen afterwards.”

Revelation is written in three parts. The first part is the vision of Jesus that John has seen. The second part is the letter addressing the seven churches about issues that were current when it was written. The third part is the second vision John saw from Revelation 4:1 onward.

We can see a second major clue for what is soon to happen at the end of Revelation. Chapter 22, verse 10 says, “Do not seal up the prophetic words of this book, for the appointed time is near.” A scroll was only sealed if there was a specific person that were to open it at a proper time. The fact that John was given specific instructions not to seal the scroll because the time was near strongly suggests that the events were going to be taking place in the same time period and context of when the scroll was written.

Decoding Revelation with the Prophets 

Now that we have talked about the sense in which Revelation is understood and the historical context, we must talk about the method of interpretation. There are some things to be understood about the book: 1) it is a prophecy and 2) it is apocalyptic literature.

Usually the two types of literature go hand in hand, especially in the Old Testament. Revelation invokes many passages from the Old Testament books of the prophets. Therefore, in order to understand Revelation, we must understand the apocalyptic literature from the Old Testament.

One term that is frequently used in apocalyptic literature is God “coming on the clouds” or riding on a cloud. Isaiah 19:1 says, “See, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud on his way to Egypt; the idols of Egypt tremble before him, the hearts of the Egyptians melt within them.” Jeremiah 4:13 says, “See! like storm clouds he advances, like a hurricane his chariots; Swifter than eagles are his steeds: “Woe to us! We are ruined.”

Both of these scriptural passages mirror a feeling of dread coming over nations as God’s judgement is brought upon them. In the New Testament Jesus mirrors this same imagery in Matthew 24 when He discusses the destruction of the Temple. Therefore, when Jesus talks about coming on the clouds in Revelation, He is talking about judgement on a nation.

Conclusion

The Book of Revelation has fascinated the minds of Christians and other great thinkers for centuries. Many minds have wondered and even gotten creative about their own interpretations of the book. What sets this book apart from the rest of the biblical literature is the amount of scriptural references used to encode the prophecy.

In the next issue of this series on Revelation we will be discussing the symbolism of Revelation and cracking that code on the mysterious messages within the text.