SUMMARY OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION
The Book of Revelation is a circular letter addressed to 7 early Christian churches in Asia Minor. Its purpose was to both examine their spiritual condition and challenge them to faithfulness in the face of the possibility of a renewed time of persecution by the Roman Empire that is referred to as Babylon. Because it contained a dangerous message, some have suggested that it was written in code so that only the initiated could grasp its message. The code was taken from the Old Testament. As one classic interpreter said, “Without a knowledge of the Old Testament one cannot interpret Revelation successfully. The book is a mosaic of allusions, quotations and images taken from the Jewish Scriptures, and it interprets [I would say reinterprets] these in terms of the person [and work] of Christ.”
In addition to the use of OT imagery, the message of this letter is informed by a central theological emphasis of the OT that can be described as “creational monotheism.” What does this mean? The emphasis on monotheism is not theoretical but practical and is embodied in the prayer devout Israelites prayed twice a day. It is referred to as the Shema and is found in Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your Heart, and with all your soul and with all your might.” This means that worship is at the heart of Revelation, in fact it is what the letter is all about. Not worship as liturgy or simply verbal praise, although there is plenty of that, but the exclusive love and loyalty to the Lord God that excludes primary allegiance to, in this case, the empire and its emperor who demands worship because he claims to be divine. In a word, it guards against idolatry, which is the primal sin.
When John is ushered into heaven in order to experience the heavenly perspective on earthly events, he is immediately confronted with a worship scene. Around God are creatures and elders, representing all creation and human nations, who are giving honor and allegiance to the one true God. It is a scene of perpetual worship expressed in terms of who God is as Creator. Thus, we are immediately confronted with the second aspect of the central theological theme that informs Revelation.
To understand Revelation we must recognize that as Creator, God had a purpose in creating the cosmos and that purpose was his intention to take up residence within his creation among His people. We see it in the Genesis Creation story, which pictures the divine creativity as constructing the cosmos as a temple in which God intends to “rest,” which means to take up residence. Unfortunately, human idolatry distorted and thus aborted that purpose. God’s purpose reaches a climax in Exodus 40 with the finishing of the tabernacle (which is constructed as a replica of the cosmos) and the entrance of the Shekina glory and then the temple (see 2 Chronicles 7). The whole plan appears to be abandoned when Ezekiel sees the glory vacate the Temple and leave Jerusalem to its fate of continuing exile. (Eze/ 10) But the rainbow that John sees surrounding the throne of God, like the rainbow in Noah’s day, is vivid testimony that it is never God’s intention to abandon or destroy his creation but to redeem it and restore it to His original purpose. What John is now about to see is how the sovereign Creator is going to go about His restoration process.
In chapter 5, which contains the key to the central message of the letter, John’s vision is directed to a scroll in God’s hand that is sealed with seven wax seals. The scroll represents God’s redemptive plan, anticipated by the Old Testament post-exilic prophets, by which He intends to bring to reality the original purpose of creation.
The problem at the moment is that no one appears to be qualified to open the scroll. John weeps with disappointment because the hope of God’s action appears to be indefinitely postponed for lack of an agent through whom God may act. His tears are checked by what he now hears and sees. It is always worthwhile to examine closely the connection between what John hears and what he sees. He initially hears of the one who can open the scroll. It’s “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” and the “Root and offspring of David” (Gen. 49:9; Isa. 11:1). These are classic Old Testament descriptions of the messianic King who would establish God’s Kingdom through military conquest. That’s what John hears, but what he sees is not a lion-king but a sacrificed, bloody Lamb who is alive again, standing ready to open the scroll. By this one stroke of brilliant artistry John has given us the key to God’s plan of salvation. Throughout the abundance of Old Testament images in the chapters that follow, almost without exception, the only title for Christ is the Lamb, and this title is meant to control and interpret all the rest of the symbolism.
John is saying that God’s future Kingdom was inaugurated through the crucified and resurrected Messiah. He is saying symbolically what Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are saying in narrative form as they tell the story of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. Jesus died on behalf of his rebellious creation as the true Passover lamb so that like Israel in the Exodus all creation could be redeemed. His death on the cross was his enthronement and his defeat of evil. This means that not only shall the redeemed be ultimately saved but also that all evil would be destroyed and thus be eliminated forever from the creation that, we learn at the conclusion of the letter, is to be renewed as a new heaven and new earth as Isaiah had predicted. Thus, God’s plan anticipates a dual consummation. The vision in chapter 5 concludes with the Lamb alongside the Omnipotent One on the throne, and together they are worshiped as the one, true Creator and Redeemer: “Then [wrote John] I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, forever and ever!’ The four living creatures said, ‘Amen.’ And the elders fell down and worshiped.” The slain Lamb then begins to unseal the scroll, a symbol of his divine authority to guide history to its conclusion.
In the unsealing of the scroll, God will reveal to John how He proposes to trace the whole operation of His plan from its beginning in the cross to its triumphal culmination in the New Jerusalem. In a nutshell, its message was about how God’s Kingdom would come on Earth as in Heaven, the ultimate answer to the Lord’s Prayer.
In the final consummation, God’s original creation purpose becomes a reality, which is summarized in two succinct statements in chapter 21:1-4: That evil has been fully and finally overcome is embodied in the simple word, “there was no more sea,” that brings a theme throughout scripture to completion and the full realization of creation’s original purpose is embodied in the words of verse 4, “the home of God is among humans.” And that is what Revelation is all about.
