For a deeper understanding of the different ways of viewing Revelation

Many, many people have attempted to unlock Revelation. Four views predominate, and, since many people would like to understand these better, you can find a longer explanation here. This has resulted in many guesses as to when Jesus would return. You can see a partial list here. I know of some dates that are not listed, thus this list is much longer.

Outline

• 1: Introduction
• 2-3: Letters to the Seven Churches
• 4-5: Vision of Heaven and Jesus Christ
• 6-22: Revelation of future events

Chapter 1

• This chapter of 20 verses is an introduction to the book. You can think of it like a prologue to a book in that it introduces the author, gives background of the book, and tells about the purpose of the book.
• 1:4, 5: “John, to the seven churches in the province of Asia. Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and form the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.”
• This letter is specifically addressed to the Christians in seven cities in present-day Turkey. One of the cities is Ephesus, where John most likely lived before he was arrested and placed on the island of Patmos, and where he probably returned after being released from Patmos upon the death of Domitian.
• While on the island of Patmos, John has a vision of Jesus.
• 1:12-16: “I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone ‘like a son of man,’ dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a gold sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.”
• Jesus told John to write down seven short letters to the Christians in seven cities.

Chapters 2-3

• These two chapters contain the seven short letters. Previously we discussed letters that are much longer that were written to Christians in different cities, but here the letters are each one paragraph long. They do have a common outline:
• Greeting
• Description of Jesus using a metaphor
• Praise or Warning
• Future promise in the afterlife

Chapters 4-5

• In these two chapters John either sees a vision of heaven or is taken in the spirit to heaven.
• 4:1, 2: “After this (the seven letters) I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.’ At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.”
• John then describes a throne with twenty-four elders and four living creatures surrounding the throne. John next describes a distressing scene, which ends in joy.
• 5:1-7: “Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?’ But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.’ Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne.”
• Remember I mentioned that Revelation uses lots of metaphors, and this is a good example: he mentions a “Lamb, looking as if it had been slain.” This person is Jesus, but why is Jesus called a lamb? This connects back to the Old Testament, and back to the time when the Egyptians held the Jews as slaves. God told Moses to have the Jews kill a lamb as a sacrifice and to paint its blood on their doorposts. Then, when the angel of death went through Egypt killing the firstborn son of every family, the angel would pass by a house with the blood. So the lamb sacrificed its life so that the firstborn son could live. Since Jesus died on the cross for the salvation of everyone, he is understood to represent the sacrifice of those lambs, and so is referred here as a lamb. This is known as "Passover."

Chapters 6-22

• The last part of Revelation discusses future events. I will not discuss these because, like the metaphors of Revelation, many different interpretations of these events exist among Christians. I will include an optional, detailed outline, which you can find here.