Unraveling The Riddle Of The Revelation

Albrecht Dürer's portrayal of the fearsome Beast
and the deceptive False Prophet of  the Revelation

The last book of our Bible, the Revelation (or Apocalypse), means "unveiling," but contains collages of images and symbols that may seem anything but revealing. Like parts of Daniel and Ezekiel, it is written in the genre of apocalyptic literature that was common to readers in the first century, involving cosmic themes of worldwide crisis, war between good and evil and of God's final judgment and triumph. 

The author writes this from the island of Patmos in the Mediterranean, a barren penal colony to which people were exiled who were seen as criminals or as a threat to the Roman empire. John, a Jewish follower of Jesus who refers to himself simply as a "servant" and a "brother," was likely the person we know as one of the twelve disciples, and was an influential overseer of numerous congregations in Asia Minor. He wrote this during a time when Christians were being persecuted for refusing to take part in a required form of emperor worship that involved token sacrifices and the simple pledge, "Caesar is Lord." By contrast, the Christian pledge of allegiance was "Jesus is Lord."

In a time of persecution this use of symbolic and code language was likely deliberate, but almost certainly made more sense to John's first century readers than they do to most of us today (though we are used to political cartoons, for example, that use images and figures that are symbolic in nature).

Here are four categories of symbols we find in the book:

1) heavenly: living creatures, elders, thrones, scrolls, crowns, stars, candlesticks, etc.

2) demonic: dragons, serpents, beasts, Babylon, the Great Harlot, etc.

3) political: bears, lions, horses, beasts, Babylon, etc. 

4) numerical: numbers such as as 3, 4, 12, 24, 1000, 144,000 and the often used number 7 (associated with completeness, wholeness or perfection) obviously have meanings other than purely mathematical ones. The number 3 1/2 (or "a time and times and half a time") seems to suggest a half way point in human history. The numbers 6 and 666 represent things evil, false and counterfeit, close to the perfect number 7 but incomplete and misleading. The number 12 suggests the people of God in the first covenant, as in 12 tribes, and in the second, for the 12 apostles.

While much of the book may seem dark and ominous, it is far more than just being about future judgment. Much of Christian worship is based on the kinds of exalted praise language found in this "hymnal of heaven" that contains seven great psalms of gratitude, with many containing seven praiseworthy attributes of God. 

Clearly this is a book to be read and savored with a keen sense of spiritual imagination, but also as an indictment against evil forces at work in the world both in the first century and in our own. See https://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2017/03/a-demonic-trinity-of-evil-nationalism.html