"The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, everything that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads, and those who hear the words of the prophecy and keep the things which are written in it; for the time is near."
If we're going to read the book of Revelation appropriately, these first three verses give us a very clear instruction for the mindset we need to have as we proceed. It's not an obscure instruction either. John calls this document, "The Revelation[Apocalypse] of Jesus Christ". Why did I put [Apocalypse] there? Because that's the direct translation of the Greek word for "revelation" used in this verse: Apokalypsis.
It's important to understand that an apocalypse is not an end-of-the-world event. It's actually a revealing-of-the-truth experience. Essentially, an apocalypse is any time where the veil that obscures the spiritual realm is peeled back and the revelator – person experiencing the revelation – has an experience that illuminates what is “really going on”.
There are plenty of these apocalyptic encounters recorded in the Hebrew scriptures. It happens to the patriarchs in the Torah when they have strange encounters/visions/dreams. David and some of the other psalmists use apocalyptic imagery in the Psalms. The prophets have whole scrolls that record extended apocalyptic encounters. There’s a rich Hebrew apocalyptic tradition.
However, when it comes to the Christian Scriptures, John’s apocalypse of Jesus Christ is all on it’s own (aside from a few apocalyptic encounters in the gospels and acts). John’s apocalyptic timeline covers the totality of created history, but it also has a small bit in it that concerns "the end of the world". This might be the reason the word “apocalypse” has come to mean “the end of the world” in English – that’s the bit we tend to focus on. However, John is writing his apocalypse as a Jew who sees his apocalypse as part of a long line of other Jewish apocalypses – apocalypses he makes a great number of references towards – and he wants us readers to understand that context.
We’re supposed to notice the style and interpret it accordingly.
We’re supposed to catch the reference when he drops in imagery or symbolism from another apocalypse.
We’re supposed to see how these references fit with what John is sharing.
We’re supposed to tap into a long history of people who had these revelatory experiences.
We're supposed to recognize how each revelation engages the greater story.
Mostly, though, we’re supposed to accept the invitation to see “behind the curtain” into what is really going on.
If we’re going to do all that as we read through this “Revelation of Jesus Christ” then we are going to have to understand how to engage with all of those elements of apocalyptic literature.
So, what are they? Well, the elements of an apocalypse in Hebrew literature are actually pretty well laid-out.
First, we have to have a context within which the revelator experiences the revelation. The day-to-day reality of the revelator is an important element for understanding the content of the revelation. In very important ways, the circumstantial reality of the revelator and the ultimate spiritual reality that they encounter are in conversation with one another. In other words, the spiritual reality that’s being revealed is saying something about the circumstantial reality that has been obscuring it.
That leads us to the second point: a revelation is primarily about the present moment. Now, in order to understand the moment, we have to understand the past that led up to it, so some elements of the revelation are revealing the past. Revelations also happen during critical moments, so a lot of their messaging is about what is going to happen as a result of this moment – the future consequences. However, the primary purpose of an apocalyptic message is to enlighten, encourage, and equip their audience for the present moment.
Now, if those were the only aspects, then these revelations would only be important during brief windows in history. However, there is a third element that broadens their scope.
That third element is the symbolic component of a revelation. A revelatory experience always has at least one – and usually several – layers of symbolic meaning. Consciously and subconsciously, the revelator translates this revelation of spiritual reality into symbolic imagery that is full of meaning. While some of this symbolic meaning is personal to the revelator, most of the symbols are consistent with the wider culture.
As an aside, we all do this on a regular basis: we imagine our reality more often than we experience it “in the raw”. Quite frankly, it would be too much work for our brains and attention spans to constantly examine the world around us in detail so our brains decide to simplify the process using clever guesswork, pattern recognition, and references from previous experiences to re-create most of what we see. More on that another time…
Point being, we see in symbols in our waking lives and even more so when having revelatory experiences. This isn’t to say that revelations are false or that they aren’t real, it’s simply about being honest regarding the limits of our brain as it attempts to engage with overwhelming and genuinely novel experiences.
This “symbolic re-imagining” is far from being a flaw, in fact it’s more like a feature. By sharing the revelation using commonly understood metaphors and imagery, the revelator is able to convey a flood of meaning regarding subjects that are often too complex to talk about in detail. If people share a similar “revelatory language”, then they are able to communicate with astounding clarity on multiple levels at the same time.
An additional benefit of this symbolic perspective is the ability to speak to additional contexts as well. For example, if a prophet sees a vision about a particular king being evil, then it is easy to assume that we merely have an issue with that particular man. However, if a “crown” begins to grow prideful and starts to “breathe fire” over the nation, then the prophetic revelation isn’t necessarily about one bad ruler, it can also be applied to the tendency for kings to grow prideful and use their pride-infected authority to destroy the people.
Shifting back to look at John as he’s writing the Revelation of Jesus Christ, we see a masterclass in revelatory communication that offers a perfect example of all of these characteristics of apocalyptic literature.
John speaks from his own circumstances and experience to convey a message of stunning emotional and practical insight to people that he knew well.
John makes veiled and not-so-veiled reference to events that were happening at the time of the writing and uses several of the phrases and symbols of the region to give clarity to his message (and sometimes even actionable intelligence).
John understands the legacy of Jewish apocalyptic literature and uses many of the same symbols, images, and phrases that can be found within those texts.
John confirms, contradicts, and develops the meaning of several of these symbols in ways that are profound not only to his historical moment, but also in ways that clarify the history of the Jewish people and that give timeless insight to those that will keep “the words of the prophecy”.
John also, as an author straddling multiple cultures, uses symbols and structures in such a way that they have the ability to draw his audience together and to appreciate the value and insight of one another as they interpret the message together.
My hope, as we dive into this book, is that we will gain an appreciation for all of these aspects of such an amazing work of literature. More than that, though, my hope is that, as we gain an appreciation and love for this revelation John experienced, we would also gain the tools and confidence to be willing to engage in our own potential moments of revelation: that we would be willing to look past the chaos and clutter of our busy lives and possibly see the veil pull back. That we might take a small place in a long line of revelators and have our own little insights into what is “really going on”.