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"Our next breath could be a breath of celestial air"
-- Jim Custer
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The Revelation: Five Keys to Unlocking The Revelation: Five Keys to Unlocking the Mystery
Posted on Sunday, August 21 @ 16:56:39 PDT by Kyle Peterson |
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JoePuckettJr submitted: "Written by Joe Puckett
Key 1: The Time Indicators
Not too long ago I heard of a story that illustrates what I want to do with this series of articles. It’s about a woman who had finished shopping and returned to her car. The story goes as follows: “When the woman came to her car she found four men inside it. She dropped her shopping bags, drew a handgun she had in her purse, and screamed, ‘I have a gun, and I know how to use it! Now get out of the car!’ Those men didn’t wait for another invitation. They got out of the car and ran like crazy.
The woman, somewhat shaken, loaded her shopping bags and then got into the car. But no matter how hard she tried, she could not get her key into the ignition. Then it dawned on her. Her car was parked four or five spaces away! She loaded her grocery bags into her own car and then drove to the police station to turn herself in. The desk sergeant to whom she told the story nearly fell off his chair laughing. He pointed to the other end of the counter, where four men were reporting a carjacking by an old woman with thick glasses and curly white hair, less than five feet tall, and carrying a hand gun. No charges were filled."
What was this woman’s problem? She had the wrong keys to the wrong car. This, I submit, is the reason so many people don’t understand the book of Revelation. They have the wrong keys coupled with a wrong set of presuppositions that results in eisegesis rather than exegesis. And remember the saying that says that when you consistently “eisegesis” you eventually “exit Jesus”. When you consistently “exegesis” you eventually “enter Jesus”.
The fact is that keys are the means to unlocking doors that would otherwise never be opened. Using the wrong key to a locked door will only produce frustration and anxiety that only leads to unexplored rooms. This is one reason many people stay away from studying Revelation. They try to understand it while having the wrong "keys".
In this series of short articles we will attempt to equip the reader with a better appreciation to this oft neglected book. There are five keys that will help open your eyes to one of the most thrilling experiences your will encounter. In Revelation you will come face to face with the God of Heaven who defends His people and keeps His promises. When you see Revelation for what it is, it will literally change your view of the world and transform the way you view life. If you have struggled with studying Revelation, and if you follow these principles, I promise you, understanding it will not be quite as hard as you thought. Revelation is about a mystery revealed not a mystery concealed. If you apply the five keys given in this series, you will never look at Revelation the same again. You might not even look at the Bible the same again.
There are so many different interpretations of Revelation that some people have wondered if one can ever really know what it means. In this series I also hope to do two additional things:
1) I am hoping to show you that Revelation may not have been as difficult as you may have thought. I hope to show you that there are 5 simple “keys” that can help us better understand what this book is talking about. It doesn't have to be as hard as we make it. Of course, those who do not agree with my interpretation will respond by saying that I have not yet come to understand the book correctly. Naturally, therefore, they will say that the claim I have made about the simplicity of the book is based on faulty reasoning. Perhaps they are correct. You will have to decide that. But please do not make a decision until all the evidence is in. If you find that this series is helpful, keep it, and apply the principles to your own study. If you find that this series is not helpful, throw it out, and find principles that are helpful. I only ask that you will weigh the evidence on its own merit.
2) I also hope to encourage you in this series to study the book on your own. Too many people shy away from Revelation. Many who have sought to teach Revelation in churches too often just take a commentary and let it do their thinking for them. I'm not opposed to commentaries at all. I use them. I am just saying that we need to be independent in our search for truth and understanding. In my judgment, a lack of personal and responsible study and a fear of independent thinking has led to a general misunderstanding of this book.
The first key we will look at is the time indicators in the book. With this key, we must ask ourselves if Revelation gives us any clues as to when the events described in it took place. The answer to this question is a resounding “yes”. We also need to ask ourselves how the original readers of Revelation would understand the book (i.e. the seven churches of Asia). After all, it was written to them (2:1, 8, etc.) and they were told to read, understand, and keep the message in the book, 1:3. If it was written to them, it stands to reason that God thought THEY would understand it.
The "time indicators" are phrases that tell us when the prophecies in Revelation would come to pass. When they are examined it can be seen that Revelation was written to tell the seven churches of Asia things that would "shortly take place", 1:1. Just in case we missed the point in verse 1, John said that "the time is near" in verse 3. If we didn't catch it in the beginning of the book, chapter 22:6 says that these prophecies and visions would "shortly take place", and that the timing of the fulfillment of Revelation was "at hand", 22:10. Let me ask you this: If you were in the assembly at Ephesus or Smyrna in the first century, and you read these verses and were told that you were "about" to suffer some things (2:9-10) but that your persecutors would "soon" be destroyed (18:20, 22:7, 12, 20) would you think that this letter was talking about events in a far distant future, hundreds or even thousands of years away?
Some say we should take these time indicators figuratively. It is true that with God there is no "time". But when God gives us a timeline as to when a particular prophecy would be fulfilled He is revealing time from man’s perspective not from His own. He wrote to PEOPLE when He said that these things would happen "soon". He wanted HUMANS to understand that what He was saying was "shortly" to take place. He wrote to persecuted, time bound, saints when He said that their enemies' destruction was "at hand". There is no reason for taking these statements figuratively. God wrote Revelation to people, not to Himself. With Him there is no time but with us there is.
Also compare Daniel 8:26 and Revelation 22:10. Daniel was predicting things that would happen about 400 years after he wrote, yet the angel tells him to "seal up" the vision for it refers to "MANY DAYS" in the future. Note: Daniel says that 400 years is "many days". John was told by the angel "do not seal" the vision for it is "at hand". So "at hand" must mean significantly less than 400 years. I believe the prophecies of Revelation were fulfilled in the first century (we’ll deal with Revelation 20 in another article) and not in our time nor, as some suggest, at the fall of the Roman Empire hundreds of years after the Book was written. In the next article we will consider when the book was written and why this is significant. But for now I merely wanted to point out that those who take the prophetic message of Revelation to refer to events in our time would do well to consider these the original audience’s expectations when reading this book. We often read the Bible as if it was written to us but it was not. It was written FOR us but not TO us.
The above analysis of the time indicators in Revelation is consistent with the overall theme and thrust of the New Testament. Time indicators flood the New Testament in every turn. Threading these indicators together forms the harmonious portrait of covenantal eschatology that could otherwise appear to be confusing and disconnected. Let’s look at the New Testament to see exactly what the first century Christian was expecting.
According to John the Baptist and Jesus, the Kingdom of God was “at hand”, Matthew 3:2, 4:17. Jesus was going to “come” before the disciples would finish going through the cities of Israel, Matthew 10:23. He was going to “come” in His “kingdom” with His angels within the lifetime of many of those who were standing with, and listening to, Jesus, Matthew 16:27-28. He would “come” on the clouds of heaven with “power and great glory” before that generation passed away, Matthew 24:31, 34. Jesus aid that the High Priest, Caiaphas, would see “the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven.” Matt. 26:64. When the disciples would see the signs Jesus gave them to watch out for, He said that they would “see” the “coming” of Jesus and that they would know that the kingdom was “near” and that their generation would not pass away before this all happened, Luke 21:25-33. They were living in the “last days”, Acts 2:17, they knew that their salvation was “near”, and that that day was “at hand”, Romans 13:11-12. They expected Satan to be crushed under their feet “shortly”, Rom. 16:20. They expected to be “confirmed” until the “end” by the miraculous gifts of the Spirit (1 Cor. 1:5-8) which would continue only until that which is complete comes (1 Cor. 13:10) which also would come during the first century time frame (Eph. 4:13). They knew they were living in the “ends of the ages” (1 Cor. 10:11) and that the time was “short” (1 Cor. 7:29) with regard to the “present distress” they were enduring (7:26). The Lord was going to give them relief from the persecution they were going through when Jesus “comes” to judge those who were persecuting them, 2 Thess. 1:7-9. His “coming” would also destroy the “lawless one” whose work was in the process of going on when Paul wrote, 2 Thess. 2:7-8. They knew that the Lord’s coming would come in a “little while” (Heb. 10:37) and that they could see the “day” approaching, 10:25. They were to be patient because “the coming of the Lord” was “at hand” and that the judge was “at the door”, James 5:7-9, Matthew 24:33. Peter told them that God was ready to judge the living and the dead, and that the end of all things was “at hand”, 1 Pt. 4:5-7. By the time John wrote 1 John, they were live in the “last hour”.
If you put these verses together with the time indicators in Revelation you will see that the same basic subject is under consideration, i.e. the end of old Jerusalem and the glorification of the New. It is imperative that, in order to get a firm grasp of Revelation one must understand the importance of Revelation’s time indicators. While many of life’s principles can be gleaned from Revelation without understanding the relevance of its first century fulfillment, the historical context, prophetic message, and many of the spiritual blessings contained in it will be sacrificed in the long run. Respect for Bible authority will not allows us to be content with such an outcome.
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Re: The Revelation: Five Keys to Unlocking the (Score: 1)
 by davecollins on Sunday, August 21 @ 18:52:41 PDT
(User Info | Send a Message) | Great starting "key" Joe! I believe lots of our amillenial brethern would understand the first century fulfillment of Revelation easier and sooner if some "expert scholars" would not have dogmatically declared an authorship date of AD95.
It is baffling that able, spiritual discerning teachers can completely miss the clear meaning of this great letter. Thanks for taking the time to help clarify. |
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Re: The Revelation: Five Keys to Unlocking the (Score: 1)
by Kyle (peterson.kyle@gmail.com) on Monday, August 22 @ 07:39:45 PDT
(User Info | Send a Message) | Joe,
For some reason the submission process cut off part of the title. If you could reply with the full title, I will fix it.
-Kyle |
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Re: The Revelation: Five Keys to Unlocking the (Score: 1)
by ThomasS on Monday, August 22 @ 08:26:39 PDT
(User Info | Send a Message) | | You will, of course, have to prove that temporal markers like "soon" always has a literal meaning within an apocalyptic framework. |
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Re: The Revelation: Five Keys to Unlocking the (Score: 1)
by Reformer on Monday, August 22 @ 08:58:17 PDT
(User Info | Send a Message) | Dear Joe,
I hope in one of your remaining four "keys" you will deal with the relevancy of Revelation for us today. Just vaguely claiming they are "life principles" is not sufficient in my opinion.
At TruthVoice2005, I made a presentation on this greatly minimized aspect. I maintained that Revelation's prophecy is JUST AS relevant for us today as it was in the 1st Century for its fulfillment. I draw you attention to it. Where am I wrong?
Also, I must respectfully disagree with your assertion that the miraculous gifts of the Spirit have ceased. I have not found preterist arguments on this to be convincing. But this is another issue for another time.
Blessings.
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Re: The Revelation: Five Keys to Unlocking The Revelation: Five Keys to Unlocking the (Score: 1)
by ajh on Thursday, October 27 @ 14:30:19 PDT
(User Info | Send a Message) | I too disagree with cessation. In you previous torpedo you laid out that not all of creation is in its pre-fall state. Why then would the gifts have ceased? That doesn't make much sense to me. Sprirtual salvation was perfect from the resurection of Christ. The destruction of the OC was certainly not a perfection of Christ's redemptive work, rather the fulfillment of prohecy. If salvation was completed at the cross, then completeness must refer to something else, ie your unfinished business.
Whether this happens as a future return of Christ or through His Kingdom expanding to subdue all things, if you beleive that there is unfinished business, it seems you can't beleive in cessation.
Andy
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