REVELATION: a Beast of a Book!

This Saturday at my church [St Helen's Bishopsgate in
London] we had a day long introduction to the book of
'Revelation' for the the Bible Study leaders [aka "SLOBS"!].
I am one of the small-group leaders and this was our
opportunity to collect our thoughts before launching
into this series of studies. Personally I have some misgivings
about using this book for a participatory Bible study but
that is the challenge I guess.

Revelation is a 'happy hunting ground' for all sorts of strange
teachings and cults.....and some despair of ever truly under-
standing it. The best advice I can give is, get the 'big picture'
before being drawn into discussions about particularities.
The key to any Bible book is often found in its broadest
perspective. The book of Revelation suffers from folk
rushing in to interpretation and application without first
getting a grasp of the broad structure of the book.....which
reduces it to a Christian version of 'Nostradamus'. Revelation
has a repeating cycle of sevens using symbolisms which
would make perfect sense to the first century readers.....
why else would John have written it? The themes the book
explores are relevant throughout history......why else did God
include it in the canon of scripture? The only substantial future
event yet to unfold is Christ's Return. We must guard against
the temptation to believe that our generation and our
nation has a exceptional role to play in this drama.

Can I recommend a couple of books? "Revelation Unwrapped"
by John Richardson: ISBN 0 9524894 2 2 (UK) or ISBN
0 646 28287 5 (AUS). This is only 74 pages long but it provides
a good handle on 'the big picture' and critiques less helpful
interpretations by well-meaning but off key Bible teachers
who are often certain and seldom right! Bible believing
Christians affirm "primary literal inspiration of scripture" but
some good hearted people assume that this must also require
literal interpretation of the text. This invariably causes
problems when we need to understand symbolic or figurative
language - of which 'apocalyptic' literature is full - and leads
to a wooden literalism which often misses the point the Bible
is teaching.

My personal view [which should not be thought of as having
any official status with my church] is that it is unfortunate that
some Christians are content to take their theology from pulp
paperback prophecy rather than draw it from the source of
God's Word.......this results in a 'group think' which is hard to
justify when put to the test. I do appreciate that there will be
people out there whose trust in the Bible is founded upon a
supposed correlation between the Bible's apocalyptic books
and specific contemporary world events; however I am compelled
to say that such naivety will not pass the test of time. Can I urge
you to look deeper within the Bible text for its real meaning?
If not, you risk founding your faith upon shifting interpretive
sand and not on the bed rock of God's Word. Be wary of
teachers who effectively take the Bible away from you and
render you dependant on their insights rather than help you see
God's Word for yourself.

Another book I would recommend is Graeme Goldworthy's
"The Gospel in Revelation". Again another surprisingly short
book [not to be confused with his similarly titled tome] which
is pure gold! ISBN 0 85364630 9. As a rule of thumb the very
best Bible commentaries are not written by academics for
academics, but by those with a pastoral background for pastors;
the Bible is pastoral theology when all is said and done!

Anyway if you fancy following along our studies in Revelation
these coming months you can access the material at
www.centralfocus.org.uk Better still if you are around London
why not sign up with one of our groups? Details can be found at
www.st-helens.org.uk Studies start 4th October with an
introductory talk by John Richardson - author of "Revelation
Unwrapped"!

tagline: The Beast, the Whore, the Lamb, the Mark, the Bible,
Revelation, revelation.

postscript: 6 Nov 06. I should have also recommended the
excellent BST commentary by Michael Wilcock "The Message of
Revelation" published by IVP. ISBN 0-85110-964-0.
Some people find Paul Barnett's "Apocalypse Now and Then"
helpful; published by Aquila Press ISBN 1 875861 41 6.