The Church who Left Her First Love, Ephesus

The Church who Left Her First Love, Ephesus

(ef’-e-sus) (Ephesos, meaning “desirable”): A city of the Roman province of Asia, near the mouth of the Cayster river, 3 miles from the western coast of Asia Minor, and opposite the island of Samos. With a harbor accessible to the largest ships, standing at the entrance of the valley which reaches far into the interior of Asia Minor, and connected by highways with the chief cities of the province  Ephesus was the most easily accessible city in Asia, both by land and sea.  See map

Ephesus, at the time of the writing of the Revelation, was a city of great importance in Asia Minor. This city, with an approximate population of 225,000 was the gateway to and the capital of the Roman province of Asia and as such it was a city of great wealth, great culture, and great corruption both politically and socially. Of the seven churches of Asia Minor, Ephesus is the only one that we can trace to the beginning.

It is believed Paul established this congregation of God’s people on the heels of Apollos who came through before him.  On Paul’s third missionary journey he remained there two years preaching in the Jewish Synagogue (Acts 19:8,10).  As a result of this, “all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks” (Acts 19:10).   Timothy was an evangelist in Ephesus when Paul wrote both letters to Him.  The church in Ephesus had elders, “And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church” (Acts 20:17).  Thus we learn that the church in Ephesus was a tremendous influence on the spreading of the gospel throughout the Roman province of Asia. 

This church was not a tiny little congregation of the Lord’s people nestled away in a remote community.  This congregation was the result of years of evangelism and instruction by Apostles and other great teachers.  This congregation was directly involved with the evangelism of the entire province of Asia.  This congregation was large and influential, located in one of the richest cities in all of the Roman Empire.  Thus the Christians in Ephesus developed a satisfied complacency in their service to God and allowed themselves to become a little too full of themselves.  As such they were not motivated by love and it appears that they desired the praises of men more than the praises of God. It is with this background that Christ addresses this Church.

The message to them was threefold.  Hard times are on the horizon, stop loving yourselves and return to your first love or suffer eternal consequences and he that overcomes will eat of the tree of life. 

Revelation 2:1
“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, he that walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks:”

As discussed earlier this is Jesus Christ who walks among the congregations of His church which is His body over which He rules as the head.   

“I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:  And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.”

Jesus calls attention to the good qualities the church was exhibiting.  They were rich in works and labor, they were being patient and faithful, they had encountered people who were evil and they could not bear them.  They had confronted and exposed false prophets.  They had worked for the name of Christ and not given up in spite of some pretty severe persecution. 

“Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.”

Notwithstanding all the good works they had done, Jesus had something against them.  The importance of being a well rounded Christian complete and sound in the faith cannot be overstated.  We are commanded to Love Christ “out of a pure heart and a good conscience and faith unfeigned” (1 Timothy 1:5), and to “follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Timothy 2:22).

Going through the motions of Christianity is not enough.  Evangelizing, visiting the sick, helping the widows and afflicted is for nothing if it not done out of love for Christ and for each other.  We are His bride, a bride is expected to love her husband. 

“Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.”

These Christians had fallen away from their first love.  They were going through the motions of Christianity but they didn’t have their hearts in the right place.  They were told to repent.  Their departure from their first love was sin and Jesus said if they did not repent and return, He would remove their candlestick.  This can only mean one thing.  Christians of the first century were warned by Jesus Christ that they could lose their standing as a congregation of His church.  And they were doing everything right with only one exception and if they did not fix the problem, they were going to be rejected by Christ. 

The Church who would claim Jesus as her head cannot depart or deviate from the truth and trust in their righteous deeds to pull them through.  All of the good deeds and works we can do will not erase unrighteousness.  Jesus was unwilling to overlook this one thing in favor of all the rest of the good things they were accomplishing.  The importance of this cannot be overstated.  An entire congregation of the Lord’s church can lose their candlestick, their light, their standing, their fellowship with Christ over a single shortcoming, except they repent. 

“But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.”

How significant this is that Jesus would mention the Nicolaitans at this time.  The Nicolaitans started their apostasy with a single transgression.  They had been around for a while when Revelation was written, but in the beginning of their existence they started by eating meat sacrificed to idols.   There was a lot of pagan worship going on in the Roman Empire and many of them included animal sacrifices.  When these sacrifices were completed, the meat from the dead animals was used for huge public feasts.  The Nicolaitans wanted to participate in these feasts and they did so in transgression of God’s will (Acts 15:29).  This was the beginning of their apostasy.  As time went on, they assimilated many of the other idolatrous pagan practices into their worship until it resembled nothing of Christian worship.   How fitting for Jesus to correct a church who was guilty of only one transgression and then conclude with an example of one that likewise started with one transgression and ended up far worse.  When Jesus mentioned the Nicolaitans to the Ephesian church, He used them as an example of where they could end up starting with but a single transgression. 

The application for us today is the same.  We are to be diligent to show ourselves approved (2 Timothy 2:15), contending earnestly for the faith that was once delivered (Jude 3), realizing and accepting that the commandments of men constitute vain worship in the eyes of God (Matthew 15:9, Mark 7:7).  Apostasy no matter how far from righteousness it may be in then end, starts with a single departure from the truth.  Jesus’ warning to the church at Ephesus has just as much significance for the church today as it did for the church in Ephesus 2000 years ago.

“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.”

Finally, Jesus makes a promise to the faithful of Ephesus.  He was saying to them and to us today that He will give eternal life to those who remain faithful and overcome all obstacles and remain faithful to the end.  The application for us today is no different.  Christians of the 21st century are not any different than those of the 1st.  God’s will has not changed in 2000 years.  Those of us today who hope to inherit eternal life must overcome and endure to the end. 

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John’s Introduction to Revelation

John’s Introduction to Revelation

Revelation is a letter of great importance to a readership of people John loved and was concerned for.  It was a period of great uncertainty for those in the church because of the severe persecution coming at them from all sides.  The Jews who rejected Jesus Christ and the Roman empire were violently opposed to Christianity.  They were facing the hatred of the unbelievers and faced physical persecution and death no matter where they turned.  To the Christians it must have seemed God had abandoned them to the evil forces and they were doomed to perish at the hands of their enemies because of their faith in one true and living God.

It was under these circumstances that John wrote the Revelation.  The first readers of John’s letter needed a divine message of hope and perseverance to encourage them to keep the faith and to let them know that God was still in charge of the affairs on earth and they needed to know that God was worth dieing for.

The first thing such a letter needed to say would be to identify who it was coming from, by what authority and to who it is addressed.  The first readers needed to know immediately that this letter, no matter who it was written by, is coming from God Himself.  The first sentence of the Revelation is loaded with information and worthy of a study all to itself.  When we break the first sentence down into its individual thoughts we learn that:

“The Revelation of Jesus Christ“, The message John is writing is coming from Jesus Christ, the one who came down here and died for all.  The head of the church, the ruler of the kingdom of God.  This is further reinforced in verse 5.

“which God gave him” The message coming from Jesus was given to Him by God the Father.  This message originated and came from the highest authority. 

“to show unto his servants”  This letter is specifically for the servants of Jesus Christ.  In our previous study of the opposition forces, we identified the good side as the Christians.  God did that for the first readers of this letter in his first sentence.

“(even) the things which must shortly come to pass” The events described in this letter are going to take place in a relatively short time frame.  Certainly not over a period of thousands of years.  This letter is in reference to immediate concerns, not the concerns of future generations of people living millennia later.  Notice this reinforced in verse three with the words “for the time is at hand“.  Christians of the day were being oppressed and killed for being Christians.  People tend to associate messages addressed to them as being applicable to their immediate conditions.  People 2000 years removed from the Revelation read it and try to associate it with current conditions.  They see an earthquake or the heinous actions of an evil leader and they instantly try and draw a connection between it and the Revelation.  We see this all the time.  In this respect, people today are no different than they were in first century.  The first century Christians would read the Revelation and draw comparisons between it and the conditions surrounding them at that particular time.  And for good reason because the letter is addressed directly to them, not to Christians living today.  And this is how we must look at this letter if we are to ever understand it. 

“and he sent and signified (it)”  And Jesus sent and “signified” it. This word in the Greek is semaino (say-mah’-ee-no), which means to express one’s thoughts by signs.  The Revelation is not the only place in scripture where this word is used. 

John 12:32-33 “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die.”

Jesus expressed his thoughts to his disciples on how he would die by using the words “lifted up“.  He never used the word “crucified”. Jesus “signified” what death he would die without ever revealing literally how it would be done.  We see this again in almost the exact form in John 18:32 when Jesus was standing before Pilate and again in John 21:19.  So we see from the first sentence of the Revelation, by divine inspiration from God, that the message being given was done so in signs and figurative language.  This message was “signified” or “symbolized”.  Therefore the rules of Biblical interpretation which say that the Bible must be generally interpreted in the simplest literal terms unless cause can be shown otherwise, are reversed for the Revelation.  The visions, creatures, time periods and scenes of Revelation must be understood to be figurative unless cause can be shown otherwise.  As discussed in previous studies, the reasoning behind this is so that people ignorant of the scriptures would be incapable of understanding the real message and not perceive it to be any threat to them.  And of course what better key to unraveling the mysteries could there be than with knowledge only a Christian familiar with the word of God would possess.  What genius we see at work here in the plans of God.  Only those who are familiar with the word of God can understand a message from God.  God was communicating to His people in forms of speech, signs and symbols only they would be able to comprehend, thus concealing it from outsiders. 

“who bare witness of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, (even) of all things that he saw.”  John himself wrote in the first chapter of his Gospel account that Jesus Christ was the word of God.  He identified himself here as the apostle who was there to witness the life of Jesus and his testimony, and in the last part declared that he had seen these things with his own eyes.  There were many people named John in the first century.  But this John was special and the Christians knew it.  These people knew John was an apostle and that when he said he had a message from God, it was genuine and God made sure the first readers knew it was being delivered through a reliable and trustworthy source.

Revelation 1:3
“Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein: for the time is at hand.“

Now that God has established who is the authority behind the letter, He then goes on to say that those who read and keep the the things written therein would be blessed.  Much could be written about this statement but the key thing to bear in mind here is that for the most part religious groups today teach a salvation by faith only and some teach that once one enters into a saved state, they can do nothing to lose their salvation.  The recipients of this letter were told they would be blessed if they did the things written in the letter.  The letter tells them that those who persevere and keep the commandments of God will inherit life (Revelation 22:14), and those who worship false Gods will suffer eternal damnation (Revelation 14:11). 

This declaration of a blessing on those who keep the things in this prophecy is not only stated at the beginning of the Revelation but also at the end.  This book from God is opened and closed with the same exhortation:

Revelation 22:6-7
“And he said unto me, These words are faithful and true: and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angels to show unto his servants the things which must shortly come to pass.  And behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book.”

The Revelation is written to Christians.  Many in the religious world today disagree about which Christians in what age it is referring to, but everyone agrees that they are Christians.  Taking into consideration that the Revelation was specifically written to the Christians in the latter half of the first century and bearing in mind that they are going to make the immediate application of it to their circumstances, they were being told they had to do something which is contained in the book.  They are being told they have to persevere and resist worshipping a false God or suffer eternal consequences.  If these Christians were told they had to do something and had to persevere in order to inherit eternal life, what makes any Christian living at any other time in history think they don’t have to as well?  Does this sound like salvation by faith only?  Can the Christian today never lose their salvation but the Christians in the first century could?  Is God then a respecter of persons after having said he wasn’t (Ephesians 6:9, Colossians 3:25, 1 Peter 1:17)? 

The Christians of all ages need to take a long and thoughtful look at the situation the first readers of the Revelation were living under.  Christianity was illegal, the Jews were reporting Christians to the authorities, Christians were being slaughtered for being Christians by the thousands.  History is full of the records of the faithful who died for Christ.  But the worst organized persecution of all time happened in the first century.  The core message of the Revelation, written for “His servants“, from “God“, through “Jesus Christ” and to “John” (Revelation 1:1), is to keep on being faithful unto death no matter what (Revelation 2:7; 10-11; 17; 26; 3:5; 12; 21; 12:11; 21:7).  The Christians of the first century were required to keep the commandments of God, keep living faithfully and resist bowing down to the forces of evil, unto death if need be.  What makes anyone think Christians of today are any less obligated than they were? 

If faith alone was sufficient for the first century Christians there would have been no need for them to die for their faith.  There would have been no need for the Revelation to be revealed in the first place.  Revelation teaches us today, just like it taught Christians 2000 years ago how to die faithfully in Christ if necessary, to receive eternal life.  The Revelation was written to first century Christians with an application for Christians of all ages. 

The Salutation

Revelation 1:4
“John to the seven churches which are in Asia:”  Here is the first usage of the number 7 in a figurative way.  The Revelation was addressed to 7 churches, but the message was for all the servants of God as we saw in verse 1.  There were more than 7 congregations worshipping in this area two of them being the Colossian and the Laodicean congregations.

“Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come;”  This is a reference to the eternal God who exists now, always has existed and is going to come again. 

“and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne”  There were seven spirits mentioned one for each congregation. When Jesus addresses each individual congregation directly he used the words “unto the angel of the church”  The word angel in the Greek means “a messenger”  This is the second use of the number 7 in a symbolic way. It balanced out the churches and the spirits in the text, but there is only one spirit, (Eph 4:4).  The number 7 here is denoting the sevenfold perfection and completeness of the Holy Spirit’s working. 

Revelation 1:5
“and from Jesus Christ, (who is) the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by his blood;“

Several key characteristics of Jesus Christ are illustrated here.  He is described as a prophet, priest and king.  Jesus as the faithful witness, “…Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth…” (John 18:37).  “…I bear witness of myself, my witness is true…” (John 8:14).  Jesus who was “the firstborn from the dead” (Colossians 1:18), and was the “firstfruits of them that are asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20), thereby qualifying Himself to be our “merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” (Hebrews 2:17).  Is now our “King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Timothy 6:15). 

What comfort this must have been to the oppressed saints to be assured that Jesus Christ was the ruler of those who crucified Him, having triumphed over death and risen to reign in heaven beside God the Father thereby guaranteeing victory to the faithful in Him.

Revelation 1:6
“and he made us (to be) a kingdom, (to be) priests unto his God and Father; to him (be) the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”

“and he made us (to be) a kingdom,”
This is a statement here that the religious world advocating millennialism would do well to consider.  Millennialists teach that Jesus is going to return to earth and literally reign an earthly kingdom from Jerusalem for a thousand years.  They fail to realize that the Kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom made up of God’s children.  Jesus told Pilate at his trial that His kingdom was not of this world (John 18:36).  When answering the Pharisees who asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come, Jesus answered: “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo, here! or, there! for lo, the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:20-21).  So we learn from Jesus own words that the Kingdom of God is an intangible spiritual thing that is located within each Christian.  It is the spiritual kingdom of God’s children which is also known as the “Ekklesia” or the “called out” which is translated “church” in the Bible. 

Jesus prophesied the coming of the kingdom of God within the lifetimes of some of His disciples:  “And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There are some here of them that stand (by), who shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God come with power” (Mark 9:1).  Paul wrote that they had been translated “into the kingdom of his dear Son” (Colossians 1:13) and we should walk worthy of God, who hath called us into “his kingdom” (1 Thessalonians 2:12).  Peter wrote that those who added to their faith the things necessary would have an entrance ministered to them into the “everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5-11 ).   God referred to the Kingdom of Jesus Christ in Hebrews 1:8 and called Him God.  Later in the Revelation John wrote that he was their “brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom” (Revelation 1:9). One cannot be added to, enter into, be called into, or be in a kingdom that does not presently exist. 

When Jesus came, lived, died, was resurrected and ascended, he established something that was not here previously.  He told Peter he was going to build something and he called it a church in Matthew 16:18.  The church is made up of the children of God.  It is the universal collection of Christians across the earth living faithfully in a spiritual kingdom that belongs to Christ, built, paid for and ruled by Him today.  The church of the first century all the way up until today is the spiritual kingdom of God’s children. 

It is noteworthy to consider the KJV translates this verse as “kings” instead of “kingdom“.  The Greek word used here is “basileia” which literally means “kingdom” or “realm“.  Nevertheless, one cannot have kings without a kingdom.   Those who believe and teach millennialism need to realize God presently has a spiritual kingdom He is reigning over from Heaven.

“(to be) priests unto his God and Father”
John later wrote in Jesus made the saints to be “a kingdom and priests; and they reign upon earth” (Revelation 5:10).  Peter wrote, “But ye are a elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for (God’s) own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:” (1 Peter 2:9).  Under Jewish law, only the Levites could be priests.  Under the “law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2), all Christians are priests with Jesus as our true king. 

“to him (be) the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”
This identifies God’s eternal nature to the readers.  All Glory goes to God (Isaiah 48:11).  This is in stark contrast to the emperors of Rome who’s reign ended with their mortal death.  The King of the Christians rules forever and the oppressed Christians were reminded of this.

Revelation 1:7-20 “Behold, he cometh with the clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they that pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over him. Even so, Amen.”

Jesus ascended in a “cloud” (Acts 1:9), His return was said to be in “like manner” (Acts 1:11).  Every Christian on earth had to know He had been pierced.  The Jews and Gentiles both were equally responsible for this.  The Jews requested it of the Roman authority because under law they could not put Jesus to death by crucifixion.  They were so adamant about it that they declared to accept the responsibility of the blood of Jesus to be on them and their their children (Matthew 27:25).  The Romans were the actual agents involved in the driving of the spikes through Jesus’ hands and feet, and it was a Roman soldier that “pierced His side” with a spear to determine if He was dead (John 19:34).

Paul wrote that Jesus’ return would be “from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God:” This is not going to be a quiet peaceful event in any way shape or form.  All the nations on earth are going to mourn His return,  They are going to know what is happening and for the vast majority of the people on earth it is going to be a great day of sorrow.  “Sudden destruction” will come upon them and “they shall not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3)  This is in contrast to millennial teachings that say the unfaithful will remain behind on earth.

Verse 8
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, saith the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters in the Greek Alphabet.  They symbolize the beginning and the end.  Jesus was the active agent in the creation of the universe, (Ephesians 3:9, Colossians 1:16, Hebrews 1:2).  Jesus literally was the beginning of what we on earth can perceive as the creation.

It is significant that Jesus here referred to Himself as the “Lord God” and the “Almighty.”  The words “Lord God” are translated from the words “kurios” which means supreme authority and is used like a title such as “Lord” or “Sir”, and “theos” which is the word for God.  Jesus is therefore one of the distinct personages of the Godhead, thereby sharing the attributes of God the Father.  God, the Father, referred to “the Son” Jesus as “God” in Hebrews 1:8.  When Moses asked God what he should be called, God answered: “I AM THAT I AM” (Exodus 3:14).  In John 8:58 Jesus said to the Jews “Before Abraham was born, I am.”  In verse 8 Jesus referred to Himself as the one “who is” meaning in existence now, “who was” meaning in existence prior and “who is to come” meaning He plans to return which implies He will continue to exist into the future.  Jesus shares the nature of Godhood thereby making Him Deity.  He has always existed and in John 1:1 is described as being the word of God, existing before the beginning as God.  Those in the religious world today who believe and teach that Jesus is a created being need to re-evaluate that belief and bring it into harmony with what the word of God teaches. 


Verse 9:
I John, your brother and partaker with you in tribulation and kingdom and patience (which are) in Jesus, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

John identifies himself again and this time he gives his readership some things they can relate to on a personal level.  He is being persecuted, himself being banished to the island of Patmos.  Patmos is a rugged barren rocky island about 24 miles west of the coast of Asia Minor.  In John’s day it was used as forced labor prison island by the Roman Empire where the prisoners worked in the mines.  History records that John was sent to Patmos by Domitian.  However the internal evidence within the Revelation places the writing during the reign of Vespasian.  If this is accurate, John found himself on Patmos twice in his life.  Much disagreement among scholars has arisen over this and prevents the absolute dating of the writing of the book of Revelation.  John, by inspiration, placed himself on the Island of Patmos and that much is certain. 

It has been speculated that John was sent to Patmos prior to Domitian’s reign as a result of his battling the doctrine of the Nicolaitans.  This sect was especially prevalent in Asia Minor and caused a lot of trouble to the faithful Christians.  Briefly the Nicolaitans disobeyed the command issued to the gentile churches, by the apostles to  refrain from the eating of “things sacrificed to idols” (Acts 15:29). Such a restriction prevented the Christian communities from joining in public festivals where meat that had been sacrificed in idolatrous practices was eaten.  This brought upon them suspicion and dislike, but was necessary to prevent a return to pagan worship which was prevalent all around them at the time.  Eventually the Nicolaitans did return to the more base practices of pagan worship and they incorporated all kinds of adulterous and idolatrous actions into their worship. 

As mentioned earlier, John also referred to himself as being in the Kingdom with his readership.  Jesus Christ is the king of this kingdom and ruling it from heaven.  If the first century Christians were in the Kingdom of God, then Christians today are no less in the same kingdom. 

In summary

John’s introduction of the Revelation is marked with some very significant characteristics all of which one would find in any letter of this degree of importance written out of concern to loved ones.  First, it came at a time of intense persecution of which John was a fellow sufferer (V9).  It was addressed specifically to a particular group of Christians at a particular time in history (V4), which means the message must be understood as being to them specifically with an application for all Christians.  This fact is brought out in great detail in later writings on the vision of Jesus Christ and the individual messages to the separate congregations.  

The message originated at the highest source, given to Jesus by God the Father, to relay on to John (V1).  The first readers would recognize that, coming from the beloved apostle John, who said it came from God, meant that this message was of great importance and from a trustworthy source. 

The timeframe of the events in Revelation was said to be “at hand” (V3) and were going to “shortly come to pass” (V1).  The events depicted within were claimed by the writer to be imminent, not projected 2000 years or more into the future. 

The message was symbolized so that it is communicated in signs and visions (V1).  Such a message would look like nonsense to anybody unfamiliar with Christianity and the way God communicated with His people in previous writings.  The enemies of the Christians under their present tribulation would look at the Revelation and be utterly confused as it its content.  This is vital in that the message had to be circulated among the known world in the Roman Empire and if the authorities knew and realized the revelation was a message of perseverance and ultimate triumph over them, it would have been collected and denied to the Christians.  What better way to encode a message than to do so with language only a Christian well versed in scripture would be able to understand?  To those outside Christianity, it was nothing more than a superstition of which they knew almost nothing. 

Being addressed specifically to the Christians in the first century, we today must recognize that the first readers will see to whom the letter is directed, see that it says the timeframe for the prophecy is at hand, and make immediate associations to the things written in the Revelation to their current circumstances.  The entire template for understanding this letter is to do so through the eyes of those to whom it was addressed.  What it meant to them then is what it must mean to us today.  The precepts and conditions that the first readers were obligated to adhere to apply to all Christians for all time.  The Revelation, from God, to Jesus, through the hand of the apostle John was written to them with an application for all.

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Symbolic Objects in Revelation

Symbolic Objects in Revelation

As we go further in our study of the symbolism of Revelation let’s keep in mind that the writer wrote his message primarily for the encouragement and edification of the Christians of his own time. We must make a close study of the church of that day and acquaint ourselves with the moral, religious, social, and political conditions of the day when the book was written and must understand the mind of the people as they faced all the perplexities of a government intent upon their annihilation.

In Revelation the ordinary rules of interpretation cannot be followed. Textural Criticism usually requires that the words of any passage of Scripture must be understood in their plain and natural sense unless there is some reason to take them figuratively. The presumption is always in favor of the literal meaning. If one interprets it otherwise, he must show the cause. This is not the case in Revelation. Because this book is presented in pictorial form, one must assume that the symbols are to be taken figuratively unless there is good reason for regarding them as literal. There are few places where literal language is used in the midst of symbolic language, but these stand out in the context just as Greek words stand out in a context of English.

When we read the Bible story of David and Goliath we see the boy, the giant, the armor, the sling and the victory. This is the entire story and while it teaches us that God was behind David’s victory, the story does not have any symbolic references and is to be taken as a literal battle. But when we read in the seventeenth chapter of Revelation about a scarlet woman, riding on a beast with seven heads and ten horns we must see not just the story but what it symbolizes. We cannot take this as literal information concerning a literal woman on a literal beast, rather we must see that the scene symbolizes some fact or truth in the spiritual life or experience of Christianity. The interpreter who starts out to understand Revelation literally starts in the wrong direction, and the further he proceeds in this direction the less he will understand the book.

The writer uses these symbols to communicate his thoughts to those who will read and understand the symbols and at the same time in order to conceal his ideas from those outside the Christian circle. To us living in the present time this concealment of sensitive facts from outsiders may not appear to be of great importance, but the conditions of the day in which the work was written reveal that it was extremely important and necessary. The meaning of the greater part of the symbolism of Revelation is quite clear to the modern reader who is willing to see it. There are some symbols which are not so easily understood and where there is much room for diversity of opinion. About these one can ill afford to be dogmatic. The wise thing to do is to seek earnestly to find the most probable meaning of the symbol to those who first received the book and consider that as the most likely interpretation.

In order to understand the true meaning of Revelation, we must seek to grasp the visions or series of visions as a whole without pressing the details of the symbolism. It must be noted that many of the details are for the dramatic effect and not for adding to the minute meaning of a passage. The details of a vision may have significance, but in many instances they are used only to fill out the scenery. This same principle applies in the interpretation of parables and often in the books of poetry. For instance, observe verses 5 and 6 of the Psalm 91:

“You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
Nor the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.”

Taken in connection with the whole purpose of the Psalm the details reflect the idea that the believer is always under the protective care of God. While this is true, taking any one of the details by itself and it is not true. Believers do fall in battle, and are ill with contagious diseases as well as others. The details of the Psalmist are not intended that way! They are for the cumulative effect to assure men that God cares for those who trust in Him.

Similarly in Revelation the details are added to make a tremendous impression of the things discussed. In Revelation 6:12-17 we have an overwhelming impression of approaching doom and human terror. This is sufficient without asking the minute symbolism of each falling star, the removal of the heavens, and the moving of each mountain. The safest policy is to consider the overall truth and let the details of the symbolism fit in to complete the picture in the most natural way.

As with numbers discussed previously, there are some objects used in the Revelation which carry with them a symbolic or figurative meaning.  For instance, a lamb is used to represent Jesus Christ.  Revelation 5:12, “…Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.”  Following is a list of several objects used in the Revelation and what they represented in the minds of the first readers. 

Ark of the Covenant:
It is called the “ark of His covenant” in Revelation 11:19.  This is taken from the Old Testament as a symbol of God’s covenant with mankind. In John’s day, as it will be until the end of time, this was a direct reference to the New Covenant; Christianity. 

Babylon:
was used by the apocalyptic Jewish writers to symbolize the seat of government where all evil befalling them emanated.  Peter wrote:  “The church that is at Babylon , elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son.” (1 Peter 5:13).  It is obvious that Peter had Rome in mind when he wrote this.  Mark was mentioned and had been summoned to Rome by the apostle Paul (2 Timothy 4:11).  The first reference of Babylon in Revelation holds clues that positively identify it for the rest of the book:  “And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” (Revelation 14:8).  Under the rule of king Nebuchandnezzar, the Babylon of old forced her citizens to bow down to a statue of the king, thus making all the nations under her rule guilty of spiritual fornication.  The literal Babylon of the first century was nothing more than a military station.  It was certainly not a great city that could force all the nations under her to worship the beast and his image (Revelation 14:9).  Ancient Babylon had been utterly destroyed never to be rebuilt (Jeremiah 50).  The Babylon of Revelation is therefore Rome which, like the real Babylon, participated in the false deification and worship of her emperors.

Beast:
literally a wild savage jungle brute, was used by the Jewish apocalyptic writers to symbolize a ruler or his government. See Daniel 7:3 through 8:4.

Children of Israel:
is an Old and New Testament symbol representing God’s people. The term “children of Israel” occurs 644 times in the King James version of the Bible with three of them in Revelation.

Clouds:
This word cloud or clouds occurs in the New Testament twenty seven times in the KJV.  In all but a few, it is used in some relation to deity or of a divine appearance, often in judgment. 

Color black:
is the general representation of death or impending doom and despair.  “My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat” (Job 30:30).  “Look not upon me, because I am black , because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept” (Song of Solomon 1:6).  “For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black : because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it” (Jeremiah 4:28).  Black is a dark color which is the opposite of light, which represents all that is good.  Things that are described as being black or dark are in contrast with things that are light.  “He that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother, is in the darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is no occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in the darkness, and walketh in the darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because the darkness hath blinded his eyes” (1 John 2:9-11).

Color red:
represents sin (Isaiah 1:18), the severity of death, warfare, and bloodshed. The dragon in Revelation was described as “red”  The red horse in Revelation 6:4 went out to “take peace from the earth“.  The ancient sacrificial worship of the Israelites required that the blood of animals be shed for the sins of the faithful.  Jesus’ blood was also shed for the sins of the faithful of all time.

Color White:
symbolizes purity or victory. In Revelation 7:14 John portrays those who “washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”  Isaiah wrote “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18).  At the mount of transfiguration with Peter, and James, and John, Jesus was “transfigured before them; and his garments became glistering, exceeding white, so as no fuller on earth can whiten them (Mark 9:2-3).

Crystal Sea:
is symbolic of a calm and tranquil setting of hope and assurance amid a storm of persecution and violence.  The seas usually represent violent unrest but the sea of glass or of crystal is just the opposite, being smooth and quiet, representing in the minds of the first century people the peace which surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7).  Revelation 4:6 “and before the throne, as it were a sea of glass like a crystal;…”  This crystal sea or sea of glass is a figurative barrier which stands between God’s people on earth and the throne.  In the end of Revelation, this crystal sea is not envisioned and the saved have a direct and perfect fellowship with God in heaven.  In heaven, the saved do not need a calm crystal sea of assurance and hope amid a world of persecution and violence to stand upon, they stand in the presence of God.

“Defiled with women”:
as used by OT writers carries with it the idea of spiritual fornication which was idolatry. However, the term woman must be taken in context with the symbolism to determine its use because the term woman can be used in different senses.  Throughout the Revelation, the worshipping of false Gods was referred to as “fornication”.  Those who were never “defiled with women” and were “virgins” had never bowed themselves to idolatry.  See Revelation 14:4

Diadems:
The diadem originated with the Persians and signifies royalty.  Monarchs of ancient Persia wore a blue band interwoven or marked with white.  In time a diadem came to be ornamented with gold and jewels and when worn identified one as a monarch or royalty.  Diadems were worn by the figures which represent Satan in the Revelation.  This is not to be confused with the “stephanos” crown of the victor which was worn by those who would win in the end.  Satan never wears the this crown, rather he wears only the diadem because he never wins any permanent victories.

Door:  Used symbolically in Revelation 3:8; 3:20 and 4:1.    “Behold, I stand at the door , and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20). The symbol “door”  is expressive of Christ’s patient, persistent and affectionate appeal to men.  The overall symbolic meaning of the word is the means by which something worthwhile is obtained or opportunity.

Dragon:
Symbolized of Satan, the devil. This is one of those figures that is identified within the Revelation in more than one place.   “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Revelation 12:9).  “And he laid hold on the dragon , that old serpent, which is the Devil , and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,” (Revelation 20:2).  The dragon was never anything but Satan in the Revelation.

Eagle:
was used by the ancient mystic writers to represent two different concepts – (1) swiftness or speed (see 12:13; Lev 11:13) and (2) as a bird of ill omen (see Jeremiah 49:22; Hosea 8:1).

Earthquake:
is a familiar Old Testament figure used to describe God’s judgment against the enemies of His people.  Against the enemies of Judah, God said, “Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake , and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire” (Isaiah 29:6).  Joel said that “the heavens and the earth shall shake”  when God, “shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem” (Joel 3:16).

Fire:
Represented a number of things in scripture.  Predominantly it was used as a purification process.  There were the burnt sacrifices, the incense was burnt.  In Zechariah 13:9 fire is used symbolically to refine or to purify like silver is purified.  Fire also is a symbol of divine wrath in destruction or punishment (Genesis 19:24, Exodus 9:23).  Fire in the Old Testament is especially associated with the divine presence (Genesis 15:17, Exodus 3:2, Exodus 13:21, Exodus 19:18)

Frog:
as seen in seen in Revelation 16:13.  “The unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.”  Verse 14 goes on to explain what the unclean spirits were.  It is significant to note that it was not frogs that came out of the mouths of satan and his servants.  The subject of this vision is the unclean spirits.  The Jewish people under the old law were commanded to view frogs as an abomination.  “These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat.  And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you:” (Leviticus 11:9-10).  Anything that would be described like a frog would be loathsome to a Jew who lived in the first century, therefore the unclean spirits would have been an abomination to them. 

Gog and Magog:
are of Old Testament derivation (Ezekiel 38 ) and were used by the Jewish apocalyptic writers as symbolic of enemies of the Messiah. The terms were used primarily to identify someone who rallied with the devil and contaminated the worship of the saints.

Horn:
symbolizes power or authority. The common figurative use of “horn” is taken from the image of battling animals as seen in Daniel 8:7 to denote aggressive strength. In Zechariah 1:18-21 “horns” stand for power in general. In Habakkuk 3:4 the “horns coming out of his [God’s] hand” represent His power.  When, in Daniel 7:7-24; 8:3,8-9,20-21; Revelation 13:1; 17:3,7,12,16, many horns are given to the same animal, they symbolize successive nations or rulers. But the seven horns in Revelation 5:6; 12:3 denote the completeness of the malevolent or righteous power. In Revelation 13:11, however, the two horns of the lesser beast point to power, but not to the degree of the power of the greater beast, nor of God. 

Horse:
represents strength, war or the consequences thereof. The horse is referred to figuratively in Zechariah as well as Revelation.  A chariot and horses of fire take Elijah up to heaven (2 Kings 2:11 f). In Psalms 20:7; 33:17; and 76:6, the great strength of the horse is recalled as a reminder of the greater strength of God. In Job 39:19-25 we have a magnificent description of a spirited war-horse.

Incense:
Figuratively, incense was a symbol of ascending prayer. The multitude were praying while Zacharias offered incense (Luke 1:10), and in Revelation 5:8; 8:3, the incense in the heavenly temple is connected and even identified (5:8) with “the prayers of the saints.“

Isle or Islands:
The islands represented to the 1st century people the outer reaches or most remote lands and far away possessions of a nation.  At the fall of Tyre, God said the islands would shake, “Thus saith the Lord Jehovah to Tyre: shall not the isles shake at the sound of thy fall, when the wounded groan, when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee?” (Ezekiel 26:15) “Now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall; yea, the isles that are in the sea shall be dismayed at thy departure” (Ezekiel 26:18)

Keys:
The key or keys in scripture imply power and authority, either within the subject individual or delegated by another.  Each time keys are claimed or used, they imply the exercise of power from without, or may be used to open from the outside.

Lake of fire and brimstone:
is a New Testament symbolism for hell. Used in Revelation as the “lake of fire burning with brimstone” (Revelation 19:20).  Later in Revelation 20:10 we learn that this lake will be a place of torment “forever and ever”, and will be where the devil, the beast and the false prophet will spend eternity.  Death and Hades will be cast into the lake of fire, (Revelation 20:14).

Lamb:
is a religious symbol representing absolute purity or goodness. The lamb is used in the New Testament to symbolize Christ.  “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29).  Jesus was compared to a lamb in prophecy, (Isaiah 53:7) with this particular prophecy being explained to the Ethiopian Eunuch by Philip, (Acts 8:32). 

Lightning, voices and thunders:
Are terror-striking signs showing the latent power of the individual to which they are attributed. See Exodus 19:16.  Lightning and thunder are representative of the power of God and His might. “The thunder of his power who can understand?” (Job 26:14); “The God of glory thundereth” (Ps 29:3). God’s foes were “visited of Jehovah of hosts with thunder” (Isaiah 29:6). Thunder was regarded as the voice of God “God thundereth with the voice of his excellency” (Job 37:4), and God spoke to Jesus in the thunder (John 12:29).

Revelation 11:19
“And there was opened the temple of God that is in heaven; and there was seen in his temple the ark of his covenant; and there followed lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an earthquake, and great hail.”

Lion:
represents great strength, boldness and bravery.  Lions are mentioned in the Bible for their strength (Judges 14:18), boldness (2 Samuel 17:10), ferocity (Psalms 7:2), and stealth (Psalm 10:9; Lamentations 3:10). It is said of certain of David’s warriors (1 Chronicles 12:8) that their “faces were like the faces of lions.” David’s enemy (Psalm 17:12) “is like a lion that is greedy of his prey.” “The king’s wrath is as the roaring of a lion” (Proverbs 19:12). God in His wrath is “unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah” (Hosea 5:14). “The devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

In Revelation Jesus is represented as the “Lion of the tribe of Judah” (Revelation 5:5).  The beast in Revelation 13:2 had the “mouth of a lion” which represented great strength and boldness.

Moon:
carries two symbolic meanings. It indicates a ruler or magistrate of lesser rank than the major authorities, less than a star, but still significant (Revelation 12:1, Ezekiel 32:7).

Mountains:
were a symbol of permanence and unmovable strength.  They represented the very foundation of the earth.  To the Biblical writers they are symbols of eternity (Genesis 49:26; Deuteronomy 33:15; Job 15:7; Habakkuk 3:6). They are strong and stedfast, but they too are the creation of God, and they manifest His power (Psalms 18:7; 97:5; Isaiah 40:12; 41:15; 54:10; Jeremiah 4:24; Nahum 1:5; Habakkuk 3:6).  Daniel called God the “holy Mountain” in 9:20.

One hour:
was used by ancient mystic writers to indicate a short period of time. Today, we would use the expression “in a little while” or “in a minute” to portray this same idea.

Palm leaf:
Seen in Revelation 7:9, this is an Old Testament symbol taken from the Feast of Tabernacles and represents the joy resulting from deliverance and the peace which comes from assurance of future preservation.  The feast of the tabernacles was the most joyous of all Jewish festivals.  This feast occurred in the fall of the year after the harvests of fields and fruits.  It followed the annual atonement when the sacrifices were offered for the sins of the people (Leviticus 23:26-32, 39-44).  On the first day of this week, the people were to take the branches of palm trees and boughs of other trees, and “rejoice before Jehovah your God seven days” (Leviticus 23:30).  

Rainbow:
represents hope or mercy. God used a rainbow to signify He would never again destroy the earth with a flood in Genesis 9:13-17.  God told Noah that when he saw the rainbow, he “will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.” The foundation for the interpretation of the bow in this way seems to be that while His bow is hung in the sky God must be at peace with His people. The glory of God is likened to “the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain” (Ezekiel 1:28).

Sea:
In the tradition of the early Jewish people, the sea represented uncontrollable chaos. The sea represented something that could appear calm but from which could come terrible storms and unpredictable bad circumstances.  The sea came to signify the powers of evil and the powers of darkness.

Seal:
represents that the item under question belongs to the one who sealed the item (2 Corinthians 1:22). In some instances a seal is used to indicate that which is hidden from view as in the sealed scroll in Revelation 5:1-4. 

Sickle:
was a old testament symbol for judgment. Seen in Revelation 14:14-19.  Explained in Joel 3:13; “Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.”

Star or stars:
Occurring fourteen times in Revelation represented a major ruler or authority. In Isaiah 13:9-11 we read of God coming in judgment on the evil world.  He says that the “stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light:”  (Isaiah 13:10).  The stars are not literally going to stop giving light, obviously the rulers or authorities are in view here.  This same imagery is used by Jesus when warning His disciples of the impending destruction of Jerusalem in Matthew 24:29.

Throne:
Represents something from which emanates power, authority and majesty.  It symbolizes:
(1) The exalted position of earthly kings, rulers, judges, etc., their majesty and power (of kings: Genesis 41:40; 1 Kings 2:19; Job 36:7)
(2) The majesty and power of God as the true king of Israel; He “is enthroned above the cherubim” (1 Samuel 4:4); Solomon’s throne is really God’s throne (1 Chronicles 29:23).
(3) The rule of Jesus in everlasting glory and righteousness. He “shall rule upon his throne” (Zechariah 6:13)
(4) The matchless glory, power and absolute sovereignty of God (and Christ); Micaiah “saw God sitting on his throne” (1 Kings 22:19).  Isaiah and Ezekiel had similar visions (Isaiah 6:1; Ezekiel 1:26); compare also Daniel 7:9 and Revelation 4:2 (and often); in trying to depict the incomparable greatness of the King of kings, the Bible tells us that His throne is in heaven (Psalms 11:4, etc.) and, moreover, that heaven itself is His throne (Isaiah 66:1; Matthew 5:34).

Thunder:
“And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder…” (Revelation 14:2).  Thunder signifies authority, power and volume.  “Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand” (Job 26:14).  See also Exodus 19:16.

Trumpet:
was used as a symbol for announcing important events or actions.  In Revelation 1:10 Jesus was said to have a voice “as of a trumpet”.  It was clear, it was audible, easy to hear and it signified a call to attention.  Something important is about to be spoken.   “And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice” (Exodus 19:19).  The first century Christians familiar with Moses and the reception of the Levitical law would associate the sound of a trumpet as heralding the voice of God. 

Waters:
was used to represent peoples or nations.  We see this in Isaiah 8:7-8; 57:20, Revelation 17:1 and 15. 

Winds:
are an Old Testament symbol which was symbolic of the action of God or divine retribution. See Jeremiah 4:11-12;18:17;49:32,36; Ezekiel 5:2; 12:14; Psalm 106:27; Job 38:24; Isaiah 41:16.  As the wind is invisible and effects things, God is likewise invisible and effects things on earth.  Passages such as John 3:3-8, Revelation 7:1 and Isaiah 29:6 support this.  In Exodus 10:13,19; 14:21; 15:8,10, we see God using wind in bringing judgment on Egypt.

Winepress:
was an old testament figure of a method of punishment by God where He was said to tread His enemies out in the winepress of His wrath. “I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment” (Isaiah 63:3).

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Understanding Revelation

Understanding Revelation (Lesson 1)

When I was a young boy growing up I used to send my friends letters in code. We dreamed up elaborate encryptions for disguising our messages back and forth so that nobody but us could understand our communications. There were plenty of spy kits kids could get with the same thing in differing variations. I can still remember my secret decoder ring, ordered from a coupon off a box of breakfast cereal, it was used to translate coded messages into something understandable. Nobody else but us was allowed to know the real meanings of those top secret communications. I remember fondly the times when entire legions of imaginary troops would be dispersed in life and death struggles based on those communications with civilization as we know it hanging by a thread. Those were fun times to be sure. But what we need to take away from this is that first, my friends on the other end had the key to understanding my messages to them and vice versa. We knew how to de-code the encrypted language. And second, the coding of the message was for the purpose of concealing our messages from certain people. Those who did not know how to understand the messages would be utterly baffled as to the meaning and we could carry out our escapades of adventure and conquest right under their noses without them knowing anything about what was going on.

If we are going to have any hope whatsoever of unraveling the mystery of the Revelation, we are going to have to understand that it was written to an audience that would know what the message was and understand it the same as they did. God would no more write a letter to His children they could not understand than we would to our secret spy buddies in the spy games of our youth. The conditions surrounding the first readers of the Revelation were far more serious than any of those around which we as up and coming 007 spies had to contend with in the days of our youth growing up.

The first readers of John’s Revelation were engaged in a life and death struggle against the forces of evil who were committed to their annihilation. Backing up and looking at this great book from a distance reveals that it is obviously a book of encouragement, perseverance and hope to an oppressed people. the general theme of the book is the bad guys lose and the good guys win. The book paints very vivid and horrific pictures of the fate that awaits the bad guys while likewise portrays the joy and happiness that rewards the good guys. Time and again, we are taken on a rollercoaster ride through the book with numerous scenes of God’s wrath on His enemies and then His blessings and vengeful protection of his faithful children who are assured time and again that they will be victorious in the end and their enemies will suffer His eternal wrath.

The type of language used to write the Revelation is called “Apocalyptic”. This word comes from the Greek word apokalupto (ap-ok-al-oop’-to), and simply means a “revealing” or to “reveal”. This is where we get the word “Revelation”. The book of Revelation is certainly not the only time God used this kind of language. The books of Daniel, Zechariah and others are instances where God used this kind of language in order to “reveal” what He wished to communicate. The words used in this kind of language have a symbolic meaning in the minds of the readers of the letter. For instance the word “Horn” is used in both Revelation and Daniel. To the Jews, the horn was an emblem of power (1 Kings 22:11). Samuel wrote, “and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed” (1 Samuel 2:10). David wrote, “But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn” (Psalms 92:10). The Jewish Christians who had converted from Judaism would be familiar with this and when they heard the word “horn” they would associate it with “strength and power” in their minds. So we see that the many words used as symbols in the Revelation have significant meanings to the people who would first read the letter. The symbolic meaning of the word “horn” would not be easily known to anybody who was not familiar with the Old Testament scriptures so those reading the letter would not be able to understand what it meant to the first readers of the letter. To you and I, a horn simply means the horn on some kind of animal like a rhinoceros or a water buffalo. So if we are to understand the Revelation, we must learn what the symbolic language contained therein meant to a particular group of the people who read the letter in the first century.

Why was Revelation written the way it was?

Language is symbolized in order to conceal it’s meaning to all but to whom it is intended. The Christians at the time Revelation was written were undergoing severe persecution from their enemies. Just about everybody that was not a Christian was their enemy. Their enemies were viciously brutal and their lives hung in the balance on a daily basis. It was a crime against the laws of the government under which they lived to even be a Christian and the penalty for transgressing this law was often death.

In the book of Revelation, the Christians are told they will be victorious in the end and their enemies will be crushed in defeat. They are also told by God not to give in to their enemies and worship who they want them to worship, but to worship God and only God. The persecuting powers under which the Christians were living wanted them to give up the one true and living God and worship their false god. Along comes a letter from one of the most beloved leaders of the Christians telling them just the opposite and in addition to this, it spells out in detail the downfall, destruction and ultimate fate of their enemies. One must ask, what would have been the consequences faced by the Christians if this letter fell into the hands of the authorities and they could understand it? The persecution of the Christians would have become worse and all copies of the letter would have been denied to them. The authorities who were oppressing the Christians don’t want them to have any hope. They wanted them to give in and worship who they wanted them to worship. John’s message of hope, perseverance and victory would have been rounded up and destroyed before it was copied and distributed all across the known world. One could only imagine how horrible it would have been for a Christian to be found in possession of such a letter.

The Revelation had to be copied and distributed freely across the known world in order for it to be effective. In order for this to happen, it’s meaning could not be easily understood by the oppressing authorities of the time. So with that in mind, the message of Revelation was “symbolized” or “signified” as we see it in the very first verse of the book so that its true message was revealed in such a way that it could only be understood by those to whom it was intended. How did God do this? By using language that meant things only a Christian with knowledge of and access to the rest of scripture could possibly know.

Someone who was not a Christian, who had never studied the scriptures, whether old or new, would never understand the message of Revelation. To them it would be a meaningless mass of nonsensical writing that only confirmed in their minds that the Christians were a bunch of loony fanatics who followed after a mystical and hard to understand God that posed no real threat to them and their way of life. The Christians were given a message of hope, perseverance and ultimate victory over their enemies that only they could understand and that would not bring any added persecution to them because of it.

How effective was it?

The message of Revelation exists today. It was copied and distributed throughout the known world as directed by God. While many Christians were slaughtered for their faithfulness, Christianity as a whole survived and flourished and is still alive and vibrant today and will, as we are taught in scripture, continue to the end of time. History teaches us that persecution of Christians was no by no means limited to the first century. For thousands of years, Christians have been slain for their faithfulness by those who would force their way of life on others. Even today in some of the Muslim countries a proclamation of faith in the one true and living God is the equivalent of a death sentence.

Many denominations today have their own understanding of Revelation and it becomes painfully obvious rather quickly that they do not all agree. The real meaning of the Revelation was purposefully symbolic and hard to understand when it was written and it’s obviously hard today in view of all the many interpretations of it from numerous writers of all times, especially in modern times where we see the emergence of the millennial beliefs and teachings.

What we need to take away from this study is that the Revelation was a message of hope, perseverance and triumph, written to a specific group of people at a specific time in history. The Revelation, being intended for them, was successfully understood by them. It was written in such a way that Jewish Christians of the first century familiar with the Old and New Testament scriptures would be able to understand its meaning.

In Summary

So with that said, we are going to look at the Revelation through the eyes of the first readers. We are going to examine their lives and the conditions under which they lived. We are going to discover and learn what all the figurative language meant to them through a thorough study of the rest of scripture both Old Testament and New. We are, to the best of our ability, going to learn how to look at John’s Apocalypse through their eyes and understand it how they did. If we are to understand it correctly today, we must realize that what it meant to them at the time it was written is what it must mean to us today.

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The Hope of Spring

It’s winter. The wind is blowing, the roads are covered in ice, and the temperature hasn’t been above freezing in a month. Forecast: More snow, more wind, more cold for weeks. The days are dark; there many clouds, little sun, and many suffer from ice scraper’s elbow. Yet, despite how bleak the situation appears to be, hope is alive. Winter will make room for spring at some time – God said so!

Genesis 8:22 – “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”

God has created an amazing world for man. Not only is there beauty and recreation in God’s creation, but there is the provision of clothing, shelter, and food. Though God has provided all of the above, He provided the most important thing of all, His Son, for the salvation of mankind.

Unfortunately, some men struggle with the hope of Christ’s salvation. They close their eyes to the leadings of His creation:

Romans 1:18-21 – For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hinder the truth in unrighteousness;  because that which is known of God is manifest in them; for God manifested it unto them.  For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse: because that, knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened.

They close their ears to the pleadings of the Word:

Acts 7:57 – But they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed upon him with one accord;

For them, the world seems to be a dark winter of a place with no hope of spring. They see only eternal winter where man relies upon himself alone. The world gives pain, struggle, sadness, persecution, frustration, and when a man is down he cannot rejoice. He does not see the hope of the coming of the Son, because he doesn’t know God and His promises. Pray such a man will seek Christ. The Christian is encouraged to have hope of Christ’s coming:

I Peter 1:13 – Wherefore girding up the loins of your mind, be sober and set your hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

 I Thessalonians 2:19 – For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of glorying? Are not even ye, before our Lord Jesus at his coming?

Hebrews 10:19-25 – Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by the way which he dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having a great priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience: and having our body washed with pure water,  let us hold fast the confession of our hope that it waver not; for he is faithful that promised:  and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works; not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye see the day drawing nigh.

 He knows the son will break through the clouds and will take him to a new season.

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