Apr 19, 2010
Revelation’s Message in Context and for Today: The End of the Story Matters
I used to read the book of Revelation as a series of prophecies predicting the future of the world. Locusts were helicopters, the anti-Christ took over the United Nations, and events such as the rapture, slaying of unbelievers by the returning saints, and the millennium were all to be read as actual events that will happen some day.
Entire systems of theology have emerged in response to this prophetic reading of Revelation. You can read a decent overview of Christian beliefs about the end times at Wikipedia. While I’m not particularly enamored with any one view, I’m more concerned that we have tended to read the book of Revelation without a proper understanding of its Jewish context and its place among Jewish literature from its day.
Though most interpreters may try to uncover element’s of Revelation’s context, the failure of most interpreters to read it as a Christian version of Jewish apocalyptic literature has cut us off from the most likely and most relevant reading of the book.
I want to look at the way a contextless reading of Revelation has led us to interpret the book of Revelation and the consequences. Such a reading has a strong impact on our beliefs about God, the approach we take to our faith, and ultimately our practice. In fact, this theology has become quite pervasive in many Christian congregations today through the Scofield Study Bible, the Left Behind Series, and the appeal of trying to uncover Revelation’s coded message for us.
What I’m Not Saying
While I would never question the salvation or reputation of anyone who reads Revelation without an eye to its Jewish context and literature, I am concerned that a suspect belief system of the end times has taken hold in the church today. In fact, many of our critics, both inside and outside of the church, cite our readings of Revelation with fire consuming people and the earth as particularly problematic in their critiques of Christianity—critiques that need not stick to us in my opinion.
This contextless system of interpretation fails to do justice to the Gospel and to the larger biblical narrative. It’s not heresy or a damning doctrine, but it does lead us off course in some significant ways because it fails to read Revelation according to the literary standards of its time.
Why This Matters for You
A contextless reading of Revelation has become so pervasive that it has subtly—and sometimes not so subtly—influenced how we read and apply the rest of the Bible. If we expect the world to perish in a ball of fire, then why should we worry about verses extolling the sanctity of God’s creation? If God is coming back to drown his enemy’s in their own blood, why should we have compassion on them today? If God is going to whisk us away someday soon, shouldn’t we separate ourselves from the world to prepare for him?
The shift in thinking has been gradual and perhaps some may deny its impact. True enough, there are many factors that influence what we believe. However, this contextless understanding of Revelation, has influenced our belief and practice more than many of us would care to admit.
The ending of the biblical story matters a great deal. There is a huge difference between a God who engulfs all of creation in literal fire and a God who judges all people with his figurative fire and does combat with spiritual forces in our world. The scope of our mission and the Gospel itself can be changed significantly by such an understanding of the end, even if the basics of Jesus’ life, death, and Resurrection remain untouched.
If many Christians believe in an unbiblical view of the end times, then we have a significant problem when it impacts the rest of our beliefs. In addition, we are missing out on the message of Revelation for us today.
Tomorrow I’ll discuss a little of the interpretive history of Revelation, and in particular where our contextless reading of Revelation comes from.
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Cool! I spent the last 86 weeks of our adult Sunday School class going through the book of Revelation. I think the book is quite simply an update of the OT prophets now transformed by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It’s a simply amazing book with tons to say about empire, power, suffering and rescue. Imaging it to be a cryptokey to help a particular generation game the “end times” better than their infidel neighbors betrays poverty for love of neighbor. Thanks. pvk
Interesting that our church is also doing an adult SS on Revelation – it just started – but our pastors are respectfully asking us to also consider that Rev is not all locust helicopters and Left Behind books. I never thought it was anyway, but it’s been refreshing to get a very exegetical look at it from that non-future only point of view, which as the previous poster says, requires a deep look back at the OT prophets…. will be fun to read your posts in conjunction with my class.
-e
Paul, I’m impressed that you have worked through Revelation in a Sunday school class. Well done! I like both of your insights, which are a bit different from where I’m going, but very relevant and complimentary. I’m especially intrigued by the thought of the ramifications for Revelation being a cryptokey… that’s something I haven’t heard before but certainly at the heart of the matter.
Esther, what are the odds that I know two people studying Revelation in Sunday school? Far out! In my own study of Revelation I think there has to be some kind of synthesis, a bit like the Eastern Orthodox take on the book with an already and not yet tension at play. However, I think we gain the most from Revelation by comparing it to Jewish literature from the same period in which it was written.
Thanks for dropping by!
Ed
I find that most of the Bible needs to be considered within its context. Whenever someone gives a quote to me, I most always have to read the verses around it to see what was being addressed. Revelation, however, has been ‘tres difficile’, so I am really looking forward to your discussion. Merci!
Really looking forward to this series!
This is a big sticking point in a lot of conversations that I have with Christian family and friends. So any additional insights will be very helpful.
Thanks Curtis and Dee.
I’ll hit on some more general stuff throughout the week as well as some suggestions for reading Revelation. However, as I suggested on another comment thread for this series, my former prof. Larry Helyer is the man for this. He wrote Revelation for Dummies and a book on the connections between Jewish Second Temple Literature and the NT. His stuff will blow your mind.
If you want to REALLY dig into this topic, have a look at Collins’ The Apocalyptic Imagination. Collins is not a conservative evangelical (disclaimer for readers), but we have a ton to learn from him.
[...] written some posts explaining what I think Revelation means, and to be honest, I think it’s a book with a lot of [...]