The end of the beginning or
the beginning of the end or
has it all already happened??
Systems of Interpretation for Revelation
Preterist System – Revelation has largely been fulfilled
and has reference in particular to John’s time and the
Roman state
Futurist System – the whole book following Chapter 4
takes place sometime in the future
Prophecies about remote future events
typically involve metaphors, similes, and
hyperboles to make a point.
A hyperbole is the use of an exaggeration
as a figure of speech to create emphasis or
for effect.
An example of hyperbole is: "The bag
weighed a ton."
A Metaphor is the concept of understanding one
thing in terms of another.
A simile is a figure of speech that indirectly
compares two different things by employing the
words "like", "as", or "than”.
For instance, a simile that compares a person
with a bullet would go as follows: "Chris was a
record-setting runner and as fast as a speeding
bullet." A metaphor might read something like,
"When Chris ran, he was a speeding bullet racing
along the track.”
In the OT, when prophets like Ezekiel,
Daniel, and Zechariah thought about the
distant future, they did not dwell on
impending doom or Armageddon, but the
redemption and restoration of God’s people
and the return to Eden like conditions.
They used figures of speech NOT intended
to be taken literally.
Taking these figures of speech literally does
a disservice to the Bible.
It also creates the problem of mistaking
material that was fulfilled long ago in Israel
or fulfilled in a more general way in Biblical
times as material awaiting fulfillment as the
Christian era nears an end.
Read Revelation 13:5-8
Who or what is the beast?
Preterist interpretations, a theological position
also advocated by most academic scholars
generally identify the First Beast with Nero.
The Hebrews used letters for numbers.
They had no zero.
The Greek "Neron Kaisar” when
transliterated into the Hebrew Nrwn Qsr had
a number of 666.
Resh (‫ )ר‬Samech (‫ )ס‬Qof (‫ )ק‬Noon (‫ )נ‬Vav (‫)ו‬
200
60
100
50
6
Resh (‫ )ר‬Noon (‫ )נ‬TOTAL
200
50
666
What is an apocalypse?
Apocalypse comes from the Greek word
meaning lifting the veil or revelation and is a
disclosure of something hidden from the
majority of mankind in an era dominated by
falsehood and misconception,
Apocalyptic literature can be treated as a
hard and fast prescription of the future all the
way to being completely imagination.
One form is a literature written in a coded
language to comfort a group of believers
undergoing some kind of crisis.
It begins with the present circumstances of
the people and tries to help them interpret
and endure those experiences in light of the
larger perspective that John’s visions of what
is above and beyond them.
Apocalyptic literature may or may not relate
to the end times.
It usually deals with visions which may be
hyperbolic or metaphorical in nature.
The heart of this literature is the “unveiling” of
secrets and truths about God’s perspective
on difficult subjects like justice, evil, etc. and
what God proposes to do about them.
Apocalyptic literature was the dominant form
of prophecy from the 2nd century BC through
the second century AD.
The authors believed that they were in an
age where earlier prophecies were being
fulfilled and were thinking about what God’s
final solution would be.
In the first century, God’s people were living
in dark times and God’s will for believers
was unclear.
God’s will was a secret or a mystery, His
plan needed to be revealed because it was
not self evident.
Have you ever been in a situation, like
the 1st century Christians, where times
were bad and God’s will was not self
evident? What happened?
There was a major shift from traditional
prophecy where prophets spoke for God
about the present or the future to
apocalyptical prophecy which spoke about
the end times.
This shift took place because people
believed that they were at the beginning or
already in the end times. They wanted to
know God’s will or plan.
How is this that like we feel today?
The prophecies for Jews and Christians
many centuries ago had meaning for
those people. They were written for
those audiences, not for us.
What the words meant in then, they still
mean today. What they did NOT mean
then, they do not mean today.
The words were not written to scare us!
The authors believed that their audiences
already lived in the end times?
How do you explain that the end times
were over 2000 years ago?
John had visions and wrote them down in
what we know as the Book of Revelation as
an apocalyptic prophecy to express not only
what he had seen, but what bearing the
vision meant to his audiences.
John was not well versed in the scripture
but also acquainted with the mythical
images of the Greco-Roman world.
What John saw he had to describe.
When you see images and symbols in
odd combinations, you have to find some
sort of analogies to make sense out of
them and describe them.
Often times, metaphors are used and the
symbols may have multiple meanings.
How are it is for you describe something
you have seen in a dream?
Apocalyptic prophecy is a sort of coded
language and requires interpretation and
explanation.
John is not only concerned about heaven
but also about events that are near in terms
of time.
Read Revelation 12:1-6
Explain these verses in today’s context.
Explain these verses in the context of
the first century.
John believed in God, Christ, and angels and
their interaction with human beings.
How do you view the interaction of angels
in the world today and how would you
describe it to others?
Listen to Hallelujah Square
How does this song relate to
apocalyptical prophecy?
How would words like these
make you feel better when going
through trying times?