How to Read Revelation

Today's Reading

Read Revelation 1:1-3: "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near."

Then read Daniel 2:28-29: "But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days."

Reflection

Before we open Revelation, we need to know what kind of book we are opening. Getting this wrong is the source of almost all the confusion that surrounds it.

Revelation is three things at once. It is an apocalypse — a visionary unveiling of heavenly realities using symbolic imagery. It is a prophecy — a word from God addressing the present and pointing to the future. And it is a letter — written by a real person (John) to real churches (seven of them, in the Roman province of Asia) facing a real crisis (imperial persecution and cultural pressure).

N.T. Wright offers a vivid analogy:

"Revelation is written in the language of symbol, not of literal description. It is a political cartoon, not a photograph; a portrait, not a passport picture."

This means that when Revelation describes a beast with seven heads, it is not predicting a literal monster. It is using symbolic language, deeply rooted in the Old Testament (especially Daniel, Ezekiel, and Zechariah), to depict political and spiritual realities. The first readers would have recognized these symbols immediately — just as you recognize a political cartoon without needing someone to explain that the elephant represents a political party.

Notice the opening verse: this revelation was given "to show to his servants the things that must soon take place." The original audience expected relevance to their situation, not a coded timeline for events thousands of years in the future.

And notice the blessing in verse 3 — the first of seven beatitudes in Revelation. This book is meant to be read aloud in the gathered assembly, heard, and kept. It is worship literature, designed to strengthen the faith of persecuted believers.

"The book of Revelation does not describe the destruction of the world but the renewal of the world — the final overthrow of all that defaces God's good creation and the establishment of the new Jerusalem."

Going Deeper

As we work through Revelation over the next two weeks, keep three principles in mind: (1) Let the Old Testament illuminate the symbols — nearly every image in Revelation is drawn from earlier Scripture. (2) Remember the original audience — first-century Christians under Roman pressure. (3) Look for the central message — not charts and timelines, but the Lamb on the throne and the hope of new creation.