The Book of Revelation For Dummies

Richard Wagner, Larry R. Helyer

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2011
• ISBN:
  9781118050866
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

Decode one of the most complex books in the Bible! Are you baffled by the Book of Revelation? Understand the purpose, key themes, and symbolism of the most fascinating book in the Bible with The Book of Revelation For Dummies, an easy-to-understand guide that will help you grasp the enduring messages of Revelation and apply them to your life. You will understand what Revelation says about the past, present, and future, and how it relates to the rest of the Bible.

You will learn how this mysterious book of the Bible fits into a historical context. You'll discover all kinds of interesting facts about the apostle John and learn about the details of his world. You will be able to choose a perspective for interpreting this book of the Bible and decipher the many haunting symbols. There is no need to read this reference guide from cover to cover; simply browse the table of contents or flip through the pages to find the answers and assistance that you need. Discover how to:

• Interpret the prophecy of the Revelation
• Place it in historical context
• Understand how it relates to other books in the Bible
• Unravel the details of the apostle John's life and world
• Choose a perspective for understanding
• See the grander scheme of things

Complete with lists of the ten most commonly asked questions about end times and the ten rules of thumb for interpreting scripture, The Book of Revelation For Dummies will help you understand and decode one of the most perplexing books in the Bible!

Part I

Revealing the End of the Biblical Story

In this part . . .

The book of Revelation may be about the “end of all things,” but we have to start somewhere. This part gets your apocalyptic feel wet, so to speak, by introducing you to the book’s author, the original recipients of the book, and the world in which it was written.

After you’ve immersed your feet in the waters around Patmos (where the author wrote the book), you’re ready to dive into biblical prophecy, which is essential to a solid understanding of the symbolism in Revelation. We introduce you to biblical prophecy, taking it step-by-step so you don’t get the bends. After that, we provide a first look at Revelation, giving an overview of the book’s structure and timeline. So come on in, the water’s fine . . . though we do seem to recall a certain beast that may be lurking in the sea! (But you have to wait for Revelation 13 for that.)

Chapter 1

One Man’s Visions,All Humans’ Fate

In This Chapter

Understanding why Revelation is important

Getting a big-picture look at Revelation

Discovering the five natural divisions of the book

Looking for clues to the chronology

Many people love fantasy stories populated with strange apparitions. Others love a good mystery. And still others love an adventure story full of action and battle scenes. If you fall into one of those camps, you’re in luck. The book of Revelation is all these and more.

But Revelation is a challenging book. Those fantastic beasts and creatures are symbols for individuals, nations, governments, and the like. The storyline of the book twists and turns in on itself, not following a straight, chronological narrative. And the whole package is a prophetic vision that’s related to what’s actually supposed to happen when the world comes to an end, at least from a biblical perspective.

This chapter doesn’t try to explore the symbolism behind the events that are chronicled throughout Revelation (we save that for Chapter 5). It also doesn’t pore over the details of these events, personalities, and issues (that’s what’s Part III is all about). In this chapter, we get you started in the right direction. We begin by painting broad strokes of the structure and content of the final book of the Bible. As we do so, we point you to parts of this book where you can find more details on each specific subject.

Why Read Revelation, Anyway?

Humans have always had an insatiable curiosity to know their future and what’s going to happen in the “last days.” That’s at least part of the reason the Left Behind series was popular and why new Nostradamus documentaries show up almost every year. For many, the appeal in reading and understanding Revelation is, quite frankly, not altogether different from the desire to peek into a fortuneteller’s crystal ball. Understanding how it all ends can give you a sense of what your purpose is now.

Revelation can be tough going because of its structure and symbolism and the many ways in which scholars interpret the book. You can easily become discouraged and wonder why you should read Revelation, anyway. Here are several reasons many people consider Revelation to be essential reading:

It helps explain the biblical view of God and his relationship with humans. Many people turn to Revelation in search of definitive answers about what will happen. But Revelation is far more about grasping the nature of God and the close relationship that exists between God and people who believe in him.

It gives readers a glimpse of heaven. The Bible offers few specifics on what heaven will be like. The Old Testament says very little. Jesus and Paul offer more in the New Testament. As if saving the best for last, the final chapters of Revelation offer a rare glimpse into the new heaven and new earth (see Chapter 14).

It offers a message of hope. It’s easy to be a little freaked out by the gloom and doom warnings of the book. But in spite of all of the battles and judgments depicted, Revelation is really all about hope. It portrays, in vivid detail, the biblical view of good triumphing over evil and suffering.

Taking a Whirlwind Tour through Revelation

A major challenge in reading Revelation is sorting out and identifying the overall themes and messages while images — seals, trumpets, bowls, beasts, witnesses, and so on — are ever coming at you. But if you take a step back and get a solid understanding of the big picture, you can begin to dive into the details and make sense of how they all fit together.

Although Revelation contains a lot of confusing symbolism and has many interpretations (see Chapter 4 for a discussion of these interpretations), the book actually divides up rather nicely. At the most basic level, you can split Revelation into five major parts, as illustrated in Figure 1-1. We discuss each of these parts in this section, so read on.

Figure 1-1: The basic structure of Revelation.

Introduction (Rev. 1)

The first chapter of Revelation serves as a prologue or introduction to the entire book. Its purpose is to provide a context to help you make sense of the rest of the chapters (also see Chapter 6). Within the first several verses, you discover that

This is an unveiling of the plans of Jesus (from God) (1:1).

The author is John (1:4).

The audience is the seven churches of Asia (1:4).

It was written on the island of Patmos, a Mediterranean island belonging to modern-day Greece (1:9).

Its purpose is to give readers a sneak peek of what’ll take place (1:1).

As Revelation 1:1 underscores, this book is Jesus’s revealing of God’s plans for the world. In this opening section, John provides explicit details about how his words came to appear in print: God gave the revel...