Christians have always had a fascination with the Book of Revelation. There is no end of volumes in history trying to decipher the imagery and the timeline of events. Every generation has tried to line up the events in Revelation with the events in the headlines. Much of the ink given to this task has proven over time to have failed to accurately interpret the future. In fact, I would venture that 100% of the predictions in prophecy books have been 100% wrong to this point. Yet the books just keep on coming.

For nearly 20 years, I have been studying eschatology. The tendency by most is to use the book as a guidebook to understand the future . However, there are other approaches that scholars have recognized for years that are much more grounded in the original intent of the book.

I believe that if one can recognize these two key principles, the book will be far more relevant to the reader.

1. Revelation reveals Jesus, not the future.
2. Revelation images are almost always self-interpreted

Revelation Reveals Jesus

One of the most important things to notice is the first words of the book itself. “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place.” Notice it does not say “a revelation of the future” or “a revelation of the end times.” It says “The revelation of Jesus the Christ.” The purpose of the book is to “reveal” Jesus.

How does Revelation reveal Jesus? First you need to remember that the type of book is “apocalyptic.” That is a type of first-century book that Jewish people were very familiar with. Several of the intertestamental books were apocalyptic, as well as the Book of Daniel. The apocalyptic prophecy was pointed at identifying the Messiah and his coming kingdom.

When Revelation says it is the “revelation of Jesus Christ,” it means the goal of the book is to reveal to a First Century Jewish audience that the Messianic prophecies are of Jesus, the Messiah. There are three visions in Revelation that demonstrate this.

The first instance is found in the opening chapter when John identifies the Son of Man (a messianic image from Daniel) coming on the clouds (1:7), then sees the Son of Man among the lampstands (1:12-18). Each of these images are messianic and applied to Jesus, the one who was, is and is to come. So from the very beginning, John’s revelation is that Jesus is the Messiah.

The second instance is Revelation 5 when John wonders who will open the scrolls (an act of revelation). This time, John hears the angel say the one who is worthy is “The Lion of the Tribe of Judah.” (5:5). But what he sees is different than he hears. He sees “A Lamb as though it had been slain.” (5:6). In this vision, the messianic image of the Lion is being reinterpreted through the Lamb, Jesus. It was showing that his death and resurrection is what made him Messianic, not his military power that was the expectation of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

The third instance is the Angel’s own words about the purpose of prophecy in Rev 19:10. When John saw the image of the marriage of the Lamb, he bowed to the Angel. The Angel quickly corrected John and said, “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” (19:10). The Angel was letting him know that the prophetic images were not the point. Believing in Jesus is the point of the prophecy, not the future event. The marriage imagery was OT biblical imagery of the people of God. All prophecy reveals Jesus, not the future.

Revelation Interprets Itself

A second important key to understanding Revelation is that it intends to reveal, not conceal. This book is not designed to confuse the believer or be mysterious. When you understand its purpose (which is to reveal Jesus not who the anti-Christ is) then it is no longer mysterious or confusing. For the first century audience who heard this book read in their churches, the whole point of this revelation was to help them understand what was happening in their world. It was supposed to be relevant to them.

To demonstrate that the images are not supposed be a mystery, notice how often the Angel interprets the images for John.

• The seven lamp stands “are the seven churches.” (1:20)
• The Dragon is clearly identified as “The Devil, or Satan.” (12:9)
• The Four Horses in Revelation 6 are images of conquerors, war, famine, disease, all very real threats in the first century.
• The Mark of the Beast is interpreted by the number 666, which “is the number of a man.” That number represented someone in the first century. Most scholars point to Nero.
• The Woman in Scarlet in Revelation 17 is identity by the Angel “I will show you the mystery of the woman.”
• The Beast and heads are interpreted. The Angel tells John. “The seven heads are the seven mountains,” referring clearly to Rome (17:9).
• The Horns on the Beast are interpreted. “The ten horns are ten kings.” These are the rulers of Rome, some which “were,” some which “are,” and some which “yet.” This makes no sense if it is all future, but it makes perfect sense to the first century.
• The waters are interpreted as people. “The waters which you saw are…people, multitudes, nations, and tongues.” (17:16).
• The New Jerusalem is also interpreted as the Bride. John says he saw a “Holy City, the New Jerusalem.” But the “city” is adorned as a bride, as in a representation of God’s people. The Bride is where “God will dwell with them, and they shall be his people.” So the point is not to figure out how big the future city of Jerusalem will be, but to understand that the Jerusalem that was destroyed by the Romans is not where God dwells.

There is so much more that can be said, but each of these examples demonstrates that the images were intended to be immediately understood by John and the first century audience. The reason why it is so cryptic to today’s Christian is the book was written about first century realities. When one understands that better, the book makes much more sense.

Revelation does not have to be scary or cryptic. It can be read for hope and encouragement. Most of all, it should reveal Jesus in his Messianic reality. The book is a prophecy that reveals Jesus, just like the OT prophecies predicted the Messiah’s coming. The Book of Revelation shows that those prophecies have been fulfilled in Jesus. But it also points to the future when the resurrection will take place and the Messiah will reign on earth. This we await till Jesus comes.