The Gray Monk

Revelation or Rant?

Some thoughts on the Book of Revelations

This is perhaps the most difficult book of the New Testament, not least because of its apocalyptic style and the dire prophecies it sets before us. Is it a prophecy yet to come, or one that is already fulfilled and will be fulfilled again? Where does it come from, and who wrote it?

Let us begin with the where and when. It is believed to have been written between 90 and 95 AD, most probably from Ephesus, one of the churches addressed in the “letters” section. The “who wrote it” is more difficult because, at best, we are not certain. The evidence, however, points to it having been St John who is known to have been living in Ephesus and to have eventually died there. It was written during a time of severe persecution, and popular legend (and some facts) indicate that John had been arrested and exiled to a salt mine (some sources say “quarry”) on Patmos. Most people so sentenced died in the mines, but this John survived and was released to go home, legend says that he was blind, crippled, and “filled with the zeal of the Lord.” If it is indeed the John of the Gospel, then he certainly survived to a very old age, apparently outliving all his fellow Apostles and disciples.

The Book itself caused some controversy during the subsequent Councils which determined the Canon for the New Testament. Many felt that it should be rejected as it did not (and still does not) sit comfortably with the message of the Gospels, which it almost certainly postdates. In style and language it is completely dissimilar to the Gospel accredited to St John, although we should make allowance for both changing attitudes due to age and to the hardship of his exile. That said, it is a book of surprises as well as dread, not least because it is a very “Old Testament” style of vision, poetry, and prophecy, drawing heavily upon the imagery of that heritage. Those who seek to understand it need to start by understanding the Old Testament images and references on which it is based. They also need to leave aside the attraction of interpreting the easily understood passages in the light of the obscure ones!

The early Christians lived in hope of Christ’s return to earth, overthrowing the oppressive Roman Regime and replacing it with His own reign over creation. At the point that this book was written, some sixty years after the crucifixion and resurrection, some were beginning to waiver and to cast doubt on both the facts and the expectation. This, as much as the Roman attempts to suppress this Jewish Sect drawing revenue away from the various temples, was probably at the root of the author’s urge to write it.

With this book there is possibly the strongest case of all for seeing the content in the light of the history of its writing. This is the only way it would be possible to see what it meant to both its author and his audience. Once the events and the influences on the readers are understood it becomes a lot clearer. One such influence was the movement in Rome toward deification of the Emperor and the compulsory worship of him as a God. This would have created a terrible dilemma for the young church and, indeed, for the Jews. Secondly, there were already siren voices saying that the Apostles had it all wrong and that Jesus wasn’t a man at all, but a God in the form of a man. From this came the heresy that, as a supernatural being, He couldn’t suffer or die upon the cross because He lived on another level to ours. Ergo, no death, no resurrection – which blows a large hole in the Gospel message and in Isaiah 53. Taken with the lack of reappearance to reign in triumph over creation and the churches have to rethink a great deal of their teaching. This, of course, exposes one of the problems with too literal and fundamentalist interpretation of any religious text or teaching.

As I have already said, this book is in the apocryphal style; that is, it uses imagery and symbolic language to convey its meaning. It cannot therefore be taken too literally, nor can it be treated as some sort of timetable. That would be to miss the point and goes against the entire spirit of it. To interpret it you need to understand the background and you need to be able to interpret the various symbolic images it uses – and these are in the Old Testament. It is necessary to compare scripture to scripture to find a meaning. Nor does it end there; obscure passages cannot simply be glossed over or ignored, but neither must they be taken out of context or simply treated on their own. It is the clearly stated or at least clearly understood passages that should throw light on the difficult ones, not the other way round!

It is a book of visions, and thus, it is not some sort of timetable. The Eastern Mystic mind is not as obsessed with timetables as we are in the West; the focus is on the main thrust of each picture and not the timetable. Each vision should be taken as a parable, and the hidden meaning drawn out in much the same way. Look first at the whole painting and then try to discern the theme and finally the meaning. Consider the Heironymus Bosch triptych, which includes on either side of the vision of harmonious life a vision of Eden and a vision entitled “The Garden of Lust” – synonymous to him with Hell. The visions of this book are very much in that theme and should be studied in the same way.

The book gives us some incredibly powerful images which lace our worship and influence our perceptions of Heaven or “the life of the world to come”. Consider the Sanctus at the Eucharist “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts, heaven and earth are full of your Glory, Hosanna in the highest.” This is from Chapter 4 of the Revelations and is the cry of the four living creatures before the throne. That image, too, is one we hold in our minds, the throne of grace or of judgement, the sea of glass, the crowned elders, and the host of the saved. These are all images from Revelations, as are the images of avenging angels waging war across the heavens and the earth against the forces of evil. Yet all of them have their origins in the writings of the Old Testament and – the angels, particularly – some of the extra canonical books. The images of Heaven and Hell (or Hades if you prefer) are very much those of the first Century Jewish teachings on the place of grace and the place of the dead.

The book shifts effortlessly between Heaven and earth, between condemnation and salvation, the images increasingly more powerful. Armageddon, the proposed ultimate battle, is identified as the plain of Meggido, a site where many battles in the History of Palestine have been fought – and, famously, a few refused – but with a very logical reason. It was known to John’s readers as a place where much of Jewish history had been created by the decisive battle fought by Joshua in that place and by subsequent battles won and lost there against the Egyptians and others. It made a perfect “earthly” place to stage the last battle of all time – the fulfillment of history in a place steeped in history.

The period stretching from 200 BC to 100 AD was the most difficult of all Jewish history. The voice of prophecy had long been still, the nation was divided and not as devout as we perhaps assume. Strangers ruled the land and the people of God were scattered, with non-Jews taking up residence among them even in Judea. This resulted in a loss of confidence and gave rise to a wide variety of sects and even to some “resistance movements” determined to bring about a Messianic revival of the former glory of Solomon and David. It gave rise to many other writers of apocalyptic literature, most of who adopted a pseudonym or reinterpreted the earlier prophets. While the Revelations is in similar style, it differs in one important particular, the author identifies himself as the Apostle, he does not use a pseudonym or try to hide his identity and even the different style can be accounted for in the nature of the content – visionary rather than reported fact.

Much is sometimes made of the numerology of the book, but in fact these are much more likely to be symbolic. The obvious ones are the twelve, twenty-four, and seven, these representing twelve tribes, twenty four elders (see Judges and Exodus), and seven is the “perfect” number, as it represents God. The number of the beast, 666, is a tripling of the “human” number, which is 6, less than perfect no matter how often repeated. In this symbolism, no matter how powerful the beast, it cannot overcome God, the perfect seven. In the final chapters we encounter another large number “one thousand”, which is again symbolic, as it represents “sufficient time for God” or “longer than the human span”, roughly thirty generations in John’s day.

Finally the new vision is created, death destroyed, the beast completely under control, and the new age ushered in. Here John describes a heaven on earth, all loved ones reunited, no pain, no hurt, no more parting, for God is near and all those who have chosen the way of Christ are reunited with Him.

It is not an easy book to read or to understand. In places it is quite frightening, and one could be excused for thinking that, strictly interpreted, there is little hope for anyone, let alone sinners like us! Yet, if read in the context of its period and with the understanding of the imagery that comes with knowing the Old Testament thoroughly, it becomes something much less threatening and much more enlightening. Don’t be put off by it, read it thoughtfully, and try to discern what it is saying about our own age. Do get a good guide to it, either the Lion Handbook as a starter or a copy of the Tynedale commentary which will give more depth. Enjoy it, but don’t fall into the trap of taking too strict an interpretation of it. Who knows, you may yet be able to refute the arguments of the Jehovah’s Witness evangelist at your door!

Peace be with you as you read.