DIFFERENT LENSES FOR THE BOOK OF REVELATION

As everyone should realize, this last book in the Bible is an exceedingly complicated one. In addition to the myriad of questions readers have concerning individual passages, there is the more important issue of the way the whole book is organized. Determining this is of utmost importance in helping to answer these specific interpretive issues and in helping us to step back and see what the overall themes of the book are.

But it turns out that there is not just one way in which to characterize the overall structure of Revelation. In fact, there are several persuasive proposals as to how we can view it, each of which adds another dimension to our understanding. Here are a few of these “lenses” which we can use to our advantage.

You will note below that among these approaches the simple chronological scheme favored by most popular “end-time experts” is not even included. My own opinion is that such a scheme is among the least likely to have been used by John to order his book (see discussion on Approach #3 especially). As Mounce rightly says, “Had the author intended a precise chronology of the last days, he undoubtedly would have made that plain...He is bound by neither time [see Approaches # 2-4] nor space [see Approach #1] as he moves with sovereign freedom to guarantee the final destruction of all evil and the vindication of those who follow the Lamb.”

1. Alternating Sections

The clearest indication that this is at least one of the ways in which the Apocalypse is organization is seen in the first alternation in the book. After a mysterious voice speaks to John in Rev. 1:9-11, he turns and sees a heavenly vision of Christ standing in the midst of various symbols representing the seven churches (1:12-20). We then leave heaven temporarily in Rev. 2-3 for the letters to those same churches so that we can see how they are operating in an earthly sphere. But Chapter 4 begins with John again hearing the same voice which began the heavenly vision of 1:12-20 introducing another vision of heaven recorded in the rest of Rev. 4.

This proposed ABA arrangement of chs. 1-4 suggests that there may be an overarching pattern in the rest of the book by which heavenly scenes of a more or less positive nature alternate with scenes concentrating on judgment and tribulation directed towards earth. Commentators from E. W. Bullinger to Raymond Brown have recognized such a pattern as a possible organizing principle for the whole of Revelation, but they and others usually identify only eleven or less such alternating blocks in the book. My own analysis indicates at least 16 such alternations. However, there are clear indications that they can be grouped into the same, or similar, seven sections of the book proposed in schemes 2 and 3.

The importance of such alternations may be, according to Phillips, to indicate that the “ultimate purpose of God is to have His will done on earth as it is in heaven.” I would add that an equally important meaning comes from the assurance we are given that despite the apparent chaos we see here on earth, even in the Church, God is working through the mess all the time in order to bring about his ultimate will for humanity.

And the converse is true also since there are indications in Rev. 5:8 and 8:3-5 that the prayers of the saints on earth have the power to affect heavenly decisions as well.

2. Topical Arrangement

Because of the ubiquitous nature of mirror-image literary organizations throughout the Bible, I would have been amazed if it were not also present in Revelation. Thus, if one looks at the overall themes in the seven major divisions of the book, one can see that the structure pictured below shows a reversal of action in its last half as the hints of the first half become reality in the second half and the wrongs of the first half are righted.

                                              Figure 1: Chiastic Structure to the Book of Revelation

I. Introduction (1:1-4:11)

II. Destruction of the Earth and its Inhabitants (5:1-11:19)

III. Judgment on God’s Enemies (12:1-20:15)

A. Demonic Forces on the Earth (12:1-16:1)

B. The Seven Plagues (16:2-21)

A'. The Fall of the Demonic Forces (17:1-20:15)

II'. The New Heaven and Earth and their Inhabitants (21:1-22:5)

I'. Conclusion (22:6-21)

This illustrates pictorially how God's ultimate justice and grace are played out through human history and reveals God's previously hidden plan for humanity.

3. Progressive Recapitulation

Perhaps the most powerful argument against a chronological reading of Revelation is the fact that it cannot make much sense of the apparent duplications of events that result from such an approach.

Then we have the following repeated occurrences:

    Gathering together of enemies for the great battle: 16:12-16; 19:19; 20:8 (but no battle occurs)

    Babylon falls: 14:8; 16:19; chs. 17-18

    Satan is cast down and his influence curbed: 11:2-6; 12:9; 20:2-3

    Satan rises from the pit: 11:7; 20:7

    People suffer torment but do not repent: 9:20-21; 16:9-11

    One-third of the stars are swept from heaven: 8:12; 12:4

John falls down to worship an angel and is chastised twice: 19:10; 22:8-9.

Every one of these multiple occurrences (and others) disappears once one stacks the seven repeated cycles on top of one another. Thus, one is left with only one second coming rather than a “secret” coming and a public one; there is only one kingdom of God on earth at the end of time rather than it being preceded by an interim millennial kingdom; only one last judgment, etc., etc.

But that does not necessarily mean that the author simply repeated the same future scenario from start (Jesus' birth) to finish (establishment of the new heaven and earth) seven times. Because in addition to this repeated movement there is a forward movement as each new section proceeds with somewhat less emphasis on the earlier events and more details regarding the final chapters in the earth's history.

And, in case you may feel that this sort of order, often labeled as “progressive recapitulation,” is a

strange way to write a book, the identical scheme is used to compose the other apocalyptic writings in

the OT, including Ezekiel 38-39, the whole book of Daniel, and Zechariah 1-6.

But we are still confronted by the question: Why all the duplications? One possible way to explain the

phenomenon comes from a much earlier vision described in the Bible – the dual dream given by God

to Pharaoh in Genesis 41. Two completely different images are given to him that have exactly the same

meaning. Joseph explains it by saying, “The dream of Pharaoh is one...And the doubling of Pharaoh's

dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.” So it is no surprise

that in the final revelation in the Bible, many of the events are actually recounted using completely

different imagery as many as seven different times, seven being the biblical number indicating

completeness or perfection.

Also similar to Pharaoh's two dreams is the fact that the last vision is much more literal and clearer than

the first. We something of the same thing as we approach the end of Revelation and gone are the strange

compound monstrosities and shape-shifting rulers of the earlier chapter. We are finally only left with 

the glorious vision of God's glory in communion with His people.

Another rationale for such an unusual order of presentation may have something to do with Jesus' 

words in the “Little Apocalypse,” Matthew 24:3-8,36; 25:13. In those teachings, He warned against 

those who would attempt to read the signs of the times as a sure-fire indication that the time had come. 

A scheme such as progressive recapitulation seems custom designed to frustrate any such futile 

attempts to come up with an exact time line for the future.

4. The Final Act of the Bible

Another way to view Revelation is as the culmination of the whole Bible, especially the Old Testament, in which earlier scriptural themes are recapped and transformed, prophecies are fulfilled, wrongs are righted, the common expressions and grammatical rules of the Hebrew language are duplicated in Greek, and whole books of the OT are used as structural models for the organization of individual chapters. These many echoes of the OT go far beyond the rather simple-minded attempts of some futurist interpreters to match up individual OT prophecies with passages in Revelation in order to construct a foolproof scenario of the future.

The strongest indication that Revelation is intended to wrap up the loose ends of human history, especially its beginning in Genesis 2 and 3, is found in Rev. 20-22 in which:

    The old heaven and earth of Gen. 2:1 is replaced by the New Heaven and Earth.

    The light of the sun and the moon is replaced by the glory of God.

    The rivers which water the land in Gen. 2:10-14 become transformed into waters of life.

    The gold and precious stones of Gen. 2:12 are now so common as to be used as building materials.

    The preparation of a marriage partner for Adam in Gen. 2:20-24 becomes a type of the heavenly Jerusalem as a bride adorned for her husband.

    The deceiving serpent of Gen. 3:1-5 is thrown into the lake of fire.

    The once unhindered access of man to God which was spoiled in Gen. 3:8-10 is now renewed.

    The cursed existence of toil and trouble of Gen. 3:17-19a is turned into a blessed existence with no more tears.

    Mankind's limited lifetime (Gen. 3:19b) becomes a life without end.

    The makeshift clothing with fig leaves (Gen. 3:21) will be replaced with spotless white garments.

    Humanity will once again have access to the tree of life from which they were banned in Gen. 3:22-24.

    Unlike the barred entrance to Eden in Gen. 3:24, the gates of the heavenly city will never be shut.

Thus, the harmony that was intended by God in the first place for mankind but spoiled by sin is ultimately restored. However, as Jacques Ellul points out, there is one major difference between the Garden of Eden and the New Jerusalem. The first location was a rural one whereas our final destination will be in a more urban setting. Thus, God is not merely wiping out all the trappings of human civilization and plunking us in a garden again (as taught in Islam), but He has given us the dignity of taking our accomplishments over the years and utilizing them to create our final dwelling place. Not that mankind has brought about anything of our own doing, but only those things which God gave us the capacity to create in the first place.