Some Interpretive Keys That I've Discovered

Version of March 30, 2002

The book of Revelation is at best a very difficult study; however, in my repeated travels through the book, I have discovered several interpretive keys that have helped me unlock the meaning of otherwise obscure passages. I hope you will find them helpful. I also hope that, if you disagree with my conclusions and observations, you will talk to me or write to me and discuss why you think differently.

From the very beginning of the book, we see that Jesus is the subject of Revelation. One of the keys, then, to understanding Revelation, is this; if you are reading something obscure, something that you are not quite sure as to what it is about, consider the very likely possibility that you are reading about Jesus.

Jesus is presented to us in the book by many and varied names:

This is a powerful encouragement to us to read and study the book. I suspect that many people make one of two errors in this regard - they either go overboard with a fanatical overemphasis on prophecy, or they shy completely away from the book, thinking that it is beyond them. I think we should walk a middle road of reading and studying the book, trying to understand it as well as we can. If we do this, we will discover and experience the many blessings promised in the book:

It is undeniable that Revelation is a symbolic book. No matter how strongly held one's views may be that the bible should be interpreted literally, Revelation itself makes abundantly clear that it is a book full of symbols that cannot and must not be taken at literal face value.

Much of the symbolism in Revelation is drawn from the Old Testament. When trying to understand the meaning of a symbol in the book of Revelation, it is often very helpful to seek out correlating cross-references in the Old Testament.

There are many instances in the book of Revelation where God does not want us to have any doubt about the meaning of things, and so the book of Revelation itself gives us the meaning of the symbols.

Many interpreters of this book have attempted to force it into a chronological order. There is, however, abundant internal evidence that it is a book of prophetic visions, not confined to our normal notions of space-time. Perhaps one of the clearest examples is that, in Revelation 6 we find a description of the final judgement, just prior to the ushering in of the New Heavens and the New Earth. We are shown the stars falling from heaven and the heavens rolled up as a scroll. And yet in later parts of the book, we still find the beast and false prophet active.

I've discovered a paradigm, repeated again and again in the book. A messenger will describe something to John in words. Then John will turn and see the scene that was just described. Although these are one and the same thing, the description John hears and the description John gives of what he sees are completely different. Most interpreters in the past have erred by thinking that the descriptions are of two different things. In truth, I believe they are two different descriptions of the very same thing.

While this pattern appears repeatedly throughout the book, it is the most clear in one or two places. Once you see it clearly in the clearest instances, it will become easier for you to spot the pattern in the more obscure cases where it will aid your understanding of the book. Perhaps the clearest and most unequivocal example of this pattern is found in chapter 5:

There is no argument among scholars that it is Jesus who is the Lion of Judah, and that it is Jesus who is the Lamb of God. In this verse, we see the literary pattern clearly - the elder says to John "look at the Lion" and when John looks, what does he see? The Lamb, slain. There is the pattern, plain as day - "I heard" with one description and "I saw" with a different description of the same thing.

There is another example just as plain, or nearly so, to eyes that will see. It is found in Revelation 21:

In this example, John hears that he will be shown "the bride, the Lamb's wife". What is he then shown? The messenger takes John and shows him "that great city, the holy Jerusalem". Here again we see the "I heard" / "I saw" pattern. The two entities described are actually one and the same; the bride of Christ is the holy city.

They aren't all "angels" as we commonly think of angels. We must discern from clues in the context which of at least three kinds of beings each angel is. I have selected some candidate passages from Revelation for each of several possible categories.

1. Supernatural spirit beings, that is, the beings we commonly think of when we think of angels.

5:2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?

5:11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

7:1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.

2. Human beings, i.e. ordinary men acting as messengers of God.

19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See [thou do it] not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

22:8 And I John saw these things, and heard [them]. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. 9 Then saith he unto me, See [thou do it] not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

3. Churches (also comprised of men). Note that it is very reasonable to classify the term "the angel of the church" as a "genitive of apposition" - that is, a genitive case (i.e. "of the church") that refers to the same thing that it modifies (i.e. "angel"). A common example in English would be "the city of San Diego", where the terms "city" and "San Diego" refer to the same thing.

1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

2:1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;

4. God Himself. In the Old Testament the "Angel of the Lord" would appear from time to time, and was recognized by those who saw Him as the Lord Himself. Even so in the book of Revelation, by careful observation we can see that some of the angels presented to us are most likely the Angel of the Lord (i.e., The Messenger Who Is The Lord). For example, in chapter 10 we see a mighty angel to whom is attributed the same features and characteristics that are attributed to Jesus in chapter 1. My conclusion is that this Messenger can only be Jesus Himself.