Revelations.... true meaning?

[clinzey]

THe Book of Revelation itself claims to be a book of prophecy: Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this PROPHECY...." - John

Obviously some scholars can't hear.

Faithful1

2 things - 1) prophecy is not simply foretelling the future and 2) it can still foretell events in a general nature and not be specific. Will believers be persecuted in the future - undoubtedly. Will God triumph in the end - undoubtedly. Will there really be a woman drunk with the blood of the saints (Rev. 17:6) - no.

 

[Covenant Heart]

...prophecy is not simply foretelling the future.

Thank-you for reminding us of this, Clinzey. Here are a few other thoughts on this powerful and enigmatic book.

The first verse uses the word "apocalypse" (revelation). The third verse uses the word "prophateia" (prophecy). But Revelation 1:3 also uses the word, "anaginosko" which is translated "read" but most often referred to the public reading such as occurred in church. But verses 4-6 identify the Revelation as a letter. As such it follows form conventional in that day. This suggests that the Revelation is an apocalyptic prophecy in the form of a circular letter to the seven churches of Asia. That it was to be read publicly implies that the Revelation has a strongly liturgical function.

Also not to be missed is the fact that the explicit command of vs. 11–that what is revealed to John (what he "sees") he is to write and send to the seven churches–applies to all the visions and revelations that follow. With vs. 4, this shows that the habit of referring to Revelation 2-3 as the seven "letters" to the churches is misleading. The whole book of the Revelation is one circular letter to the seven churches. That seven messages are addressed to each church individually takes nothing from the fact that the opening verses call for the reading of the whole book to all seven churches.

This means that however one reads this book, we must do justice to the three categories of literature–apocalypse, prophecy and letter–into which the Revelation seems to fall. And always, we must keep in view the liturgical function that the whole book had in all of the churches. The theology of this book is profound. Attempts to limit the Revelation to one narrow line of thought are sure to fail to the impoverishment of the church. This also belies the shallowness of the expositor’s vision. Blessings!

Covenant Heart

 

[parousia70]

That is preciscely what I am saying. You also know this is true. The beginnings of many of the books are specifically addressed to individuals or churches that died thousands of years ago. Understand, just because I see the Bible as not written to us does not mean that I believe it is meaningless to us. It does mean that we have to dig deeper and harder to find out what was going on in that time, what the writer was trying to address, how the writer was trying to address it, and how the original audience would have understood it. The Bible is not some simple book that can be read at surface value. Even though it was not written for us it is still valuable for us. It is God's word - but his word to specific times and places.

Bingo!