Bible Commentaries
Revelation

I

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION

Two thoughts strive for mastery in considering Revelation.

The first arises from the character of the book, its position in the sacred library, and its relative importance. In rank it equals any other New Testament book, being marvelously great in its doctrines and promises. It is the inspiring book of the Bible. From its composition to this day it has been a quickening book in the experience of the people of God – a book of resurrection power in all seasons of despair. Wherever the light of its doctrines and promises shines, darkness is dispelled, faith becomes heroic, hope revives, and the powers of the world come to rest on those who walk in its light. Whoever, in humble and docile spirit, enters into a prayerful study of its great themes and lays to heart its great promises will set his soul on fire with zeal and become transformed in his experience.

Not merely in date of composition, but in fitness of content it closes the canon of the Scriptures. It finishes. It completes. It perfects. It not only dispenses with all need of further revelation, but is not susceptible of subtraction. Ignorance, impiety, or blasphemy alone would undertake to add to or take from its finality of content. It is the climax of history embodied in prophecy. We may indeed expect new light to continuously break out of God’s Word, but we may not expect a new word.

The second thought imposing solemnity on your teacher is that it is quite possible he will never again have the opportunity and honor to teach this book to a class of preachers. Only once in four years do we come to it – and when this exposition ends he will be sixty-nine years old. Oliver Wendell Holmes insists that nature administers the black drop at threescore and ten, and while here and there exceptions arise in human history of mental vigor and physical vitality extending to fourscore years, yet since the rule and not the exception determines probabilities, it is my purpose to teach the book now as if for the last time.

According to invariable custom in this course, we commence a book with a brief historical introduction, not assuming to forestall the more critical and elaborate discussion rightfully belonging to the department of biblical introduction, but because you need some reliable knowledge on this subject in order to an understanding of the book itself. If a historical introduction be helpful in the case of other books, it is indispensable in this book, since here historical introduction determines the theory of interpretation.

That you may not be altogether dependent on my conclusions, I commend as helpful, and not greatly misleading, two books on historical introduction so far as Revelation is concerned. I might give you a hundred, but these two are among the best. First, the historical introduction in the brief commentary of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown; second, the historical introduction in the "American Commentary," volume on Revelation by Dr. Justin A. Smith. You may not understand me, of course, to endorse all the positions in these introductions taken by either one, but I mean to say that in the main they are very helpful and the least misleading. Where I may differ from them will be sufficiently evident.

I now also commend, out of a great multitude of commentaries, Just two on Revelation for collateral class reading. You will find more rubbish and confusion in commentaries on this book than on any other book of the New Testament, but the two commended are easily accessible, and as you may want to make this the study of your life on this book, read these commentaries as we progress: First, the same Dr. Justin A. Smith in the "American Commentary"; second, a little book, The World Lighted, by Dr. Edward Smith.

There are two classes of commentaries that I emphatically do not recommend. First, the class so carried away by premillennial conception that all interpretations must be stretched out or cut off to fit their procrustean bed. Second, the class so obsessed with the spirit of the radical criticism that they follow their presuppositions in minimizing the supernatural, and particularly strain to eliminate the prophetic element from this book.

THE TEXT
While criticism on the Greek text belongs in general to New Testament Greek rather than to New Testament English, one characteristic of the Greek in Revelation needs explanation here, to wit: Its unlikeness and inferiority as pure Greek to the Greek of John’s Gospel and of his letters. The relevancy of some notice of this matter here arises from the fact that this characteristic of the Greek is pleaded either to disprove the authorship of John, the apostle, or else in support of an early date of the book, which would very largely affect its interpretation. The difference between the Greek of Revelation and the Greek of John’s Gospel arises from a difference in the nature of the two books; John’s Gospel is history; this book is not only an apocalypse, but one run in the mold of ancient Hebrew symbolic imagery – one following the apocalyptic analogues of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Zechariah. Not only so, but its symbols are not limited to the apocalypses of ancient prophecy; they are drawn from all the Old Testament books. It derives its plumage from the paradise and the serpent of Genesis, the plagues of Exodus, the wilderness of Numbers, the Lion of Judah, the Holy City of Jerusalem, the Temple of Solomon, the Jezebel of Israel, Babylon and the Euphrates, just as well as from the apocalyptic Seraphim of Isaiah, the Cherubim of Ezekiel, the locusts of Joel, the horses and witnesses of Zechariah, and the beasts of Daniel. More than all the New Testament books, Revelation is enswathed in Old Testament imagery. While it never quotes directly from the Old Testament, yet it is throughout reminiscent of it. A careful computer of its allusions and references to the Old Testament reckons them at four hundred. So remarkable is this feature of the book that Dr. Broadus, as I have been informed, was accustomed to devote an entire lecture to this feature alone whenever he taught Revelation.

Of course this necessitated Hebraistic idioms rather than pure Greek. Compare the Classic Greek of Luke’s Dedication with the Hebraistic Greek of the first chapters of his Gospel. But with all this external unlikeness in Greek, there must be taken into account one instance of likeness in the Greek of all John’s writings – great Greek scholars have called their student’s attention to it, that is, that a student of New Testament Greek finds John’s Greek, whether in his Gospel, his letters or Revelation, the easiest Greek to learn.

Another general fact should be noted in connection with the inferiority of the Greek: It is the tendency of old age to revert to the idioms and dialect of native speech rather than to become more perfect in the acquired speech of a foreign tongue. So that the inferiority of the Greek proves nothing against John’s authorship nor in favor of an early date.

We now come to the authorship of this book. "Who wrote it?" On these grounds John’s authorship has been questioned: first, the character of the Greek, just explained. The second objection arises from doctrinal bias. Early in the Christian centuries certain men misinterpreted the teaching in this book on the millennium and went into such extravagances that after a while others began to inquire: Is Revelation an apostolic book? There is where it commenced. Just as false interpretations of certain paragraphs in Hebrews 6-7 led men to question its Pauline authorship, so these interpretations on the premillennium line made the book of Revelation odious. A better thing is to show the misconception of the interpretation and hold on to the apostolic authorship.

Evidence on authorship is always of two kinds. First, external, or historical. That is to say, the testimony of witnesses living near to the times of the writer who otherwise had opportunities to know who was the author. It is the traditional or historical evidence of authorship that is regarded as the best evidence. This historical evidence is overwhelming in favor of John’s authorship. Men who had heard John preach have left on record their testimony. You will find the details of the testimony in the two commentaries to which I called your attention a while ago.

The second kind of evidence is internal, that is, what facts does the book itself furnish as to its author? The internal evidence of John’s authorship is absolutely overwhelming. I might classify the main part of this evidence into two kinds: First, what the author says of himself. You will find mainly what he says of himself in the first chapter and the last. In Revelation 1:1 , he calls himself John, and in Revelation 1:2, he identifies the John thus: "Who bare witness of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ." Now, that "bare witness" is in the Greek aorist and signifies completed past action. That is, the servant John to whom this apocalypse was given is the John who had borne witness to the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. I know that some are disposed to evade the natural grammatical force of this aorist by calling it the epistolary aorist. There is no reason to resort to this expedient. In his Gospel John had done just what this aorist affirms, so that Revelation 1:2, not only identifies the author as the apostle John but clearly proves that the gospel preceded Revelation. Moreover, John’s method of certifying his Gospel is the method of certifying Revelation, as you may easily see by comparing John 19:35; John 21:24, with Revelation 21:8.

But there is a more convincing internal proof of John’s authorship: The unique Christology of the Gospel and letters is the Christology of this book. In the Gospel Christ is the Logos, and so in Revelation. In the Gospel Christ is the Light of the World, "the true Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world." The whole sweep of the book of Revelation is based upon Christ as the light of the world. In John’s Gospel alone, Christ is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. In the book of Revelation, all along, Christ is the Lamb that has been slain. In other words, unless a man has a purpose to serve or is biased by doctrinal prejudice, unless he be a slave to presuppositions, he must admit that the argument in favor of Johannine authorship is overwhelming, both external and internal. And I say to you now, no book of the New Testament is better accredited as apostolic than the book of Revelation. We may unhesitatingly accept it as the culmination of God’s inspired Word.

Our next question on introduction is "When?" "When did he write it?" Commentators adopt one of two dates. For obvious reasons, one class say it was written about A.D. 68 in the reign of Nero. Rationalists generally adopt this date in order to eliminate the element of prophecy by applying its statements to the destruction of Jerusalem. The reason that prompts them to push back the date of Revelation led them to push forward the date of Daniel and the latter part of Isaiah. As far as possible, they ever seek to eliminate the supernatural element in prophecy.

My first objection to that theory is that there is no witness in history that so dates it. I know there are men who conjecture it, but I mean a witness. There are enough witnesses to the contrary like Irenaeus. "John saw this revelation just a little while ago at the close of the reign of Domitian." Any reasonable mind must see that the condition of the seven churches of Asia described in this book was absolutely impossible A.D. 68. That is the time Paul wrote the second letter to Timothy, before John had anything on earth to do with the churches of Asia. It is evident from chapters 2 and 3 that there had been a long interval of time between Paul’s work at Ephesus and his letters to Timothy, and the time when John wrote this book. Nero’s persecution was local; he never banished anybody to Patmos. Nero’s persecution while very bitter, both Paul and Peter dying in it, was limited to Rome or the nearby parts of Italy. This persecution which put John in position to write this book is a worldwide persecution that reaches the very outskirts of the kingdom of God. So, when you ask me to set the date, I am perfectly confident when I say to you that it was written A.D. 95 or 96, toward the close of the reign of Domitian, John having been banished to the isle of Patmos, working in the mines in that island – banished from Ephesus, where the persecution reached him. That is the date.

Our next question: What was the occasion of the book? Here the answer is not only easy, but intensely interesting. John was an old man. He stood alone; all the other apostles had long since passed away. The progress of the gospel, mighty and triumphant in Paul’s day, had been blocked; edicts went forth proscribing every word of New Testament writing, requiring it to be burned. Women were dragged before the legal tribunals and commanded to adjure Christ and worship heathen gods, or be thrown to the lions. The fire burnt throughout all Christendom at this time. Of course, there was great discouragement.

Now, here comes this book. It is to reawaken faith, hope, love, and courage in God’s people. It is to show them that the clouds will pass away; it is to show them that, however heavy the hand or the heel of the tyrant, truth will yet prevail, and that ultimately the whole wide world will be conquered for our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the occasion of the book. It was to flash on the canvas as the last scene of Revelation the facts of the future of the churches, of their triumphs in the struggle in which they were engaged, and of the ultimate glorious victory, and it met the occasion.

As I have told you, ever since it was written it has made the heart leap and the soul exult. Since the book of Revelation was written no true Christian has ever doubted the ultimate outcome of Christianity.

The next thing, what is the book? That being the occasion, what is the book? Follow me closely: Most of it is declared to be prophecy. It proposes to set forth the things that shall be. But we must note this modification – it is apocalypse as well as prophecy. The Greek word "apocalypse" means revelation, unveiling, and if the future be unveiled in that sense it is the same as prophecy, but it has this distinction from ordinary prophecy: Ordinary prophecy is the utterance of the prophet concerning: what God said to the prophet. Apocalypse is a vision that shows the picture of the thing. For instance, this is apocalypse: "In the year that Uzziah died," says Isaiah, "I saw the Heavenly King; I saw his throne lifted up," and there follows a description of the vision of the throne of God – and that was revelation – apocalypse – seen in a vision. In the same way Ezekiel saw the Cherubim and the whole full of eyes, and the faces looking every way. That is apocalypse. That is prophecy visualized.

In the third place, it is not only prophecy that is apocalypse, but it is prophecy that is symbolic. What is prophesied is not presented in plain words, as when Jonah said, "Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown." But it is apocalypse presented in symbol. For instance: "I saw a woman with a rainbow upon her brow, and the moon under her feet." That is a symbol. "I saw another woman clothed in purple and scarlet, sitting upon a seven-headed, ten-horned beast." That is a symbol. Now, when you interpret a symbol, you must not interpret literally, and there is where the most foolish interpretations of Revelation come in. Where it says, "I saw a woman and the man-child she bore," etc., some make it mean a real woman, th& virgin Mary and the man-child Jesus Christ. But a symbolic woman does not mean a real woman. So Paul in an allegory makes Haar the Jerusalem that now is and Sarah the Heavenly Jerusalem. And when this book tells of a beast coming up out of the sea, it does not mean a real beast. You cannot interpret the book of Revelation unless you keep your eye on the fact that it is symbolic apocalyptic prophecy.

But we are not yet through with the question, "What is the book?" If we mean, what is the book in the sense of its theme, the answer is very different. Its theme is determined by its key passages. The key passages of the book of Revelation are Revelation 1:12-20; Revelation 10:7; Revelation 11:15; Revelation 19:6-9. The first is the vision of light, the second and third show "the finishing of this mystery of the kingdom," and the fourth its glorious consummation.

In other words, the book of Revelation is designed to show that the whole world shall be lighted by the churches, which are the light-bearers reflecting the original light of their Lord in heaven; that this worldwide illumination shall be in the Spirit’s dispensation and through the gospel.

The theme, then, of Revelation – God help me to impress it upon you, for your reception or rejection of it will make you a pessimist or an optimist – the theme of this book is) the evangelization of this world, the salvation of every man to be saved in this world, to be brought about by the means of Christ shining, not personally but as reflected in the candlesticks, or the churches; that all the kingdoms of this world shall be brought into subjection to Jesus Christ through the very gospel you are preaching now, and not by miraculous powers attending the final advent.

It does not mean that the world will become worse and worse and worse, and that the gospel will fail and that the Spirit will fail, and that all the original instrumentalities of salvation will play out, leaving salvation to be accomplished by the final advent. Revelation does not signify that at all. I want you to set yourselves afire with that thought of the key passages.

We come now to speak a word on the interpretation of the book. Every man who proposes to interpret a book must have gone through it very carefully and have fixed in his own mind some principle of adjustment, the leading, governing thought as to the book, and we find that all the theories of interpretation are so based. For example: A commentary on Revelation by a radical critic, a rationalist (and there are many of them, not only in the German but also in the English) whose authors do not believe in real prophecy at all, who interpret the whole book according to their presuppositions, limiting all references in it to current history of the author’s times.

So I will call the first theory of interpretation the Rationalist Theory. It is not the first in order of time, but I will put it first in discussion,

The second theory is based upon this principle of adjustment: that while the book is prophecy, all the prophecy refers to the last days, to the culminating days, the second advent days. That is called the premillennial theory of interpretation, and they do just that way with Daniel. They do not allow any Old Testament prophet to prophesy anything concerning the church in the day of the apostles, nor concerning anything in the development of the church, until we come to the culmination, the second advent. Take for example, the marvelous ninth chapter of Daniel: they go on in the ordinary way with all the weeks of the seventy weeks until they get to the last week and they split it in halves, applying the last half to the end of the world. This also is called the futurist theory of interpretation. According to this nothing in the prophetic part of the book has yet taken place.

The third theory is what is called the historical theory of interpretation. From John’s time, when he was writing, from the time of those seven churches and their condition, the object of the book is to show the history of the development of the kingdom of God until the end of the world. Not that everything in the history of the kingdom of God would be presented, but the salient points of its future history from John’s time on Patmos until the second advent and general judgment and windup of the world. It is not the history of nations but the history of the kingdom of God touching-the nations, just as the Old Testament is not a history of the nations, but is a history of the development of the kingdom of God among the nations.

I refer again to a point in the interpretative theory. If we adopt the futurist theory, then we will not believe that there has ever yet been in this world a kingdom of God, nor will there be, except as an ideal, until Christ comes. A recent article in the Baptist Standard by a prominent Baptist pastor, one of the ablest expositors of that theory, and a most lovable Christian brother and a mighty evangelist preacher, shows that to him the kingdom of God has not yet been set up. Therefore, this book of Revelation cannot be the history of the kingdom of God. That has not yet come. He does not believe that the stone kingdom, the little stone kingdom that Daniel saw, has ever come. They say that there may be an ideal kingdom now but not a real kingdom, no actual kingdom – from all of which I profoundly dissent.

Now, on the last theory mentioned there may be this divergence among those who advocate it: some of them hold that the events under the seals are to be followed successively and chronologically by what is set forth under the trumpets, and that what is set forth under the vials come after, in order of time, what is set forth under the trumpets. In other words, those of them that hold that view cannot see how anything within the period of time covered by the seals, and that nothing that is set forth under the vials can take place in the time set forth under the trumpets, but that one follows the other.

Now, the other wing of the historical interpreters take this view: that the whole history of the kingdom of God is set forth from one viewpoint under the seals, that the events under the seals bring us to the end, and then, under the trumpets, we go back to the beginning and again we find the whole history of the kingdom of God set forth until we come to the end, under a different viewpoint, and so on with the rest of the book. In other words, the events under the seals, the trumpets and the vials; do not follow each other but they synchronize; they are parallel.

The various titles of this book as found in different manuscripts and versions are all true enough as they are meant, but are not inspired, because they are post-apostolic. For example: the Sinaitic and Alexandrian Greek manuscripts have this head -ing, "The Revelation of John," just as we have it in the American Standard Revised Version. The Vatican Greek manuscript has this heading: "The Revelation of John the Theologian and Evangelist". The Vulgate, or Latin Version, has this heading: "The Revelation of St. John the Apostle", while the common English version, the King James Version, has "The Revelation of St. John the Divine". The word "divine" means exactly the same -as "theologian", and both of them mean this, John’s teaching of the nature of God. Matthew is not called a theologian in the literal sense of the word, Mark, nor Luke, but when John commences his Gospel: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God", he discusses the nature of God, and therefore he is called the theologian.

The heading is not a part of the book, but was put there after the days of the apostle. They are post-apostolic and therefore uninspired, and when they say, "The Revelation of John", they differ from the author who calls it "The Revelation of Jesus Christ." John did not reveal anything, but they doubtless mean, The Revelation received and recorded by John.

QUESTIONS

1. What introductions to Revelation are commended?

2. What commentaries on the interpretation of the book commended and what not commended?

3. What two kinds of evidence determine the author and date of the book and which is the more trustworthy?

4. On what two internal grounds have the apostolic origin and inspiration been questioned?

5. On what ground has it been denied that one man wrote both the Fourth Gospel and Revelation, and what was the reply to the objection?

6. Give (1) the external evidence that the apostle John wrote Revelation, and (2) the internal evidence.

7. Give two theories as to the date of the book and the reasons for accepting the one and rejecting the other, and show how one of these predetermines the interpretation.

8. What was the occasion and purpose of the book?

9. What was the key passages of the book showing the purpose of it?

10. What is the book and what is the distinction between Revelation, symbolic revelation, and symbolic prophetic revelation?

11. Answer in one sentence: Who wrote the book, when, where, to whom, why, and in what language?

12. What three leading theories of interpretation, which do you prefer, and what are your reasons therefore?

13. What is the very remarkable relation of this book to the Old Testament, how does this relation affect the style of the Greek and also the interpretation?

14. What is its relation to the New Testament and to the whole canon of the Scriptures?

15. Adopting the historical theory of interpretation, do the events of the several visions follow each other chronologically, or do they synchronize with each other?

16. What are the various uninspired headings, or titles, of the book?

II

AN ANALYSIS OF THE BOOK

I present to you in this chapter an analysis of the whole book of Revelation. The idea underlying this analysis is, that no man ought to attempt to interpret a book until he has thought through it – all through it – and arranged its matter in his own mind, correlating its parts and signifying their relative importance. The analysis proper will be given at the close of the chapter, but just now I submit some comments on it.

I give you first of all the brief analysis given by our Saviour himself. In Revelation 1:19: "Write, therefore, (1) the things which thou sawest; (2) the things which are; (3) the things which shall come to pass hereafter." The things which John saw, refers to the vision, (Revelation 1:12-16) inclusive: "I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And having turned I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the candlesticks one like unto a son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about at the breasts with a golden girdle. And his head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; and his feet like unto burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace; and his voice as the voice of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength." That is what he saw.

The second division was "the things that are." "The things that are" are set forth in Revelation 2-5. These are the things that are, and consist of two subdivisions: First, the state of the churches, not as they seem to be to themselves, but as God saw them to be. That is the earth scene of the things that are, and a very discouraging view it is.

In Revelation 4-5, among the things that are, is a heavenly scene – it reveals the throne of grace, with all of its agencies and activities in behalf of the imperfect churches – and that is an encouraging view.

Then the things that shall be hereafter commence at Revelation 6 and extend to the end of the book. That is the prophetic part of the book.

Now, that is the Saviour’s analysis. It is my purpose to give you my own elaboration of his analysis – not an improvement, you understand, but an elaboration of it. And even as fully as I give it to you, there will be, when we come to the interpreting of the book and develop the analysis, a number of subdivisions that cannot be put down in an outline.

The first part of my own outline is the author’s introduction to the book. In a general sense the whole of the first chapter is devoted to that. It commences first by giving the title of the book, its origin, its medium of communication, its nature, how certified, to whom certified, and its value. That is presented in verse

The second part of the author’s introduction is the greetings to the churches, from Revelation 1:4-8. Following the method of nearly all New Testament writers’, he commences with a salutation, or thanksgiving, or invocation.

The third part of the author’s introduction commences at Revelation 1:9, and tells you how, when, under what circumstances, he came back to write this book. This includes the voice that he heard and the vision that he saw, and the effect on himself of that vision, and the explanation of the vision by Him who gave it. Now, that is the author’s introduction to the book.

The book consists of a series of revelations, each one distinct from every other one, and the first revelation commences at Revelation 1:12, and extends to Revelation 1:16. That vision is a revelation of our Lord in his glory, and in his relation to the churches and pastors, with an indication of the mission of the churches and the pastors. That is the first great revelation of the book. The revelation of our Lord, not in his humiliation, not in the state that he was in before he came to the earth, not in the state that he was in while on the earth, but in his glorified humanity. We have before us a vivid picture of Jesus as the one who was dead, but is alive to die no more. This first revelation is intensely interesting – a revealing of Jesus as he now is in his glorified state, and in his relation to the churches and the preachers that are to reflect his light in the world.

In thinking about Jesus many people use the memory only, as in Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. They think of him as born in Bethlehem, as cradled in a manger, as a little child in the Temple, as being baptized, and through the Spirit inducted in his earthly mission, as the teacher of parables and the worker of miracles. Or they think of him on the cross, or in the grave – all in the past. How intensely important to us, then, is a vision of Jesus now.

The second revelation – Revelation 2-3 – is an earth scene of the state of the churches just as Jesus sees them – not what they suppose themselves to be, but what they are in the white light of omniscience and holiness. We call this part of the book the letters to the seven churches, but these letters simply give to each church a view of itself as God sees it. For instance: one church had a name to live, but God saw it to be dead; one church thought it was rich and mighty and had need of nothing, but God saw it to be miserable and poor and blind and naked. One church supposed itself to be exceedingly orthodox, and yet God saw it was compromising with the worst form of idolatry.

You are not to understand – beg you not to understand – that these letters to the churches are prophecies. You must not understand them as seven prophetic periods, the first period in which Christendom is in the state of the Ephesus church, and the second in the state of the Smyrna church, and the last period in the state of the Laodicean church. Some contend that these seven churches represent seven periods of Christianity – that is a premillennial misconception. What these seven churches were at that time you will find churches to be just now. All of them will not be like the Ephesus church but some of them will. All of them will not be like the Philadelphia church, but some of them will. All of them will not be like Laodicea, but some of them will. I say the result of that revelation is exceedingly discouraging when viewed with the first revelation. The first revelation shows the world lighted by the churches, the next revelation discounts it by the defective condition of the churches.

The third revelation, the second of the things that are, is a heaven scene, Revelation 4-5, the throne of grace in heaven, with a vision of a Triune God and the Cherubim, and all the angelic activities that are to aid the churches to do their work. I would not throw out Revelation 4-5 of Revelation for all the gold in this world. Every time I get blue over the study of the state of the churches, I turn these pages over, open to Revelation 4-5 and read of the throne of grace in heaven. That puts hope into the work of the churches.

The fourth revelation commences at Revelation 6:1, extending to and including Revelation 8:1. That is prophecy – the opening of the seals. The book that was sealed is the book of future events, and now the Lion of the tribe of Judah will break its seals and let you see the successive future events. What the seals represent, from a single viewpoint, extends from the time John wrote to the climax of the book, and the end of time. It is a complete view. It will be explained to you that the horses that come forth represent the different receptions given to the gospel as it is preached, and you are to understand that that view is a complete view, except the climax, which is reserved until you get to the end of the book. If you want to know, in general terms, the result of preaching the gospel until the great climax comes, you have it symbolically outlined in the opening of the seals, from Revelation 6:1-8:1. That verse is misplaced – it ought to be the closing verse of Revelation 7.

The analysis next presents the fifth revelation – the sounding of the trumpets. That also is a complete view from the beginning to the end, as were the seals. It does not follow in its events the seal events, but it goes back to where the seal events commence, and parallels it – it is a synchronous, not chronological, view of the gospel of Jesus Christ as it is prayed. The key passage Isaiah 8:4-6. That chapter shows every trumpet sound is a response – not to a sermon as in the case of the seals – but to a prayer. It is one of the most instructive parts of the book. It shows that the world’s evangelization is not to be accomplished exclusively by preaching – that praying has a great deal to do with it. Whenever a trumpet sounds, it is not a reply to a sermon, but it is a reply, maybe, to some poor widow that prayed while you preached.

The sixth revelation is another complete view from beginning to end, synchronous with the others, and it represents an institution under the symbol of a woman, the true church, as opposed to the false church under the symbol of another woman. The true church and the false church viewed as opposing institutions, is the biggest part of the book. It extends from Revelation 12:1-19:10 the true church and the apostate church viewed as institutions. The Bible knows nothing of a universal time church, whether visible or invisible. There are churches, and there is a church as an institution. It is always churches in Revelation, but the church as an institution is symbolized by this woman. She has the radiance of the sun, crowned with the stars, the moon is under her feet. But the other woman is dressed in scarlet and purple, and is seated upon a beast that in his original appearance came up out of the sea. He had seven heads and ten horns, and the woman sits on him. She is the counterfeit church. The symbols of the vision are three distinct things – a sea beast, an earth beast, and a woman. This section includes the seven vials, or bowls, of wrath. The events including the seven bowls of wrath do not wait until the seal events are passed away and the trumpet events are passed away, and then follow successively, but it is a complete view from the beginning – from the time John wrote until Jesus comes. Here is a view of the true church as an institution and the counterfeit church as an institution, and the conflict between them.

The seventh revelation commences at Revelation 19:11 and extends to Revelation 20:10. That ought to be put into a separate chapter, for it is an’ entirely distinct revelation. It is split up by arbitrary chapter divisions. It, too, goes back to the beginning and reaches to the end. It is not the true church as an institution and the apostate church, as in the last case, but in it Christians are presented as soldiers under the leadership of Jesus Christ in a holy war. And that holy war is waged against the false prophet, the beast, and Satan. In this war Satan is bound, the millennium comes, and then the revival of evil after the millennium and the last great battle. That is the holy war, and the center part of it is the millennium.

To show you that these events are synchronous, the same white horse that came forth when the first seal was broken, appears now with the same rider leading in a conflict between good and evil. It is a war waged between Christ and his soldiers and the devil and his soldiers, and the war song is Psalm 110. That is the holy war song: "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Rule them with a rod of iron, as thy word goeth forth from Zion, and from the day that thou leadest out thine armies, thy young men shall be volunteers, and as multitudinous as the drops of the dew in the dawn of the morning."

So far, four revelations have been synchronous. Each one came nearly to the climax and stopped. Now we come to the eighth revelation (Revelation 20:11-15), the coming of the Lord and the general judgment. This chapter is not only the climax of the preceding one, which was the fourth synchronous view, but it is the suppressed climax of all preceding views. The seventh seal is followed by silence – the last thing is not told. The seventh trumpet is about to be sounded, but it does not sound. It only says that when it is sounded the mystery of the kingdom of God will be finished; and every other view comes right up, but not quite, to the climax. Now, the climax is the eighth revelation, or the coming of the Lord and the general judgment.

Let me impress the thought by repetition. All the other views approach this climax and stop. The seventh seal is followed by silence (Revelation 8:1). The seventh trumpet comes to the world conquest and announces the judgment at hand. The bowls of wrath find an end after the war of Har-Magedon, before the judgment. The true church is brought within sight of the marriage of the Lamb, which is an unfinished picture. The climax of all of them is this eighth revelation, or the coming of the Lord ’and the general judgment.

The ninth revelation is the state of the saints in glory after the judgment (Revelation 21:1-22:5). This is the grand climax. The coming of the Lord was the climax, but the final state of the redeemed is the grand climax. The first climax ends all the four synchronous views, and this grand climax rounds up the whole book, showing the final estate of the redeemed in glory, and of the wicked in eternal punishment.

The eleventh item of the outline, the certification of the whole book, with its closing invitation and warnings (Revelation 22:6-20). This section tells us three things: The certification of an entire book, which you will find the most solemn attestation this earth has ever known, and after the certification is the invitation: "The Spirit and the bride say, Come, and let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." It closes with the warning: "Whosoever shall add to or take from this book," etc.

The twelfth and last item of my analysis is the closing salutation. This is the last verse of the book (Revelation 22:21). I have put this general view of the book before you at the start: I would not attempt to interpret a book that I had not thought through, and not be like one beating the bush to flush meanings or conjectures – that go off at a tangent like birds when flushed. This analysis enables you to mark down each bird, and bring them all again into one covey.

The theme of the book is the mystery of the kingdom of God. It shows that this whole world, every continent of it, every foot of it, all the places that are on it, lost through the first Adam, will be reconciled through the Second Adam, and the instrumentalities by which the gross darkness that is on the world through the usurper Satan is finally dispersed, are the churches reflecting Christ the Sun of Righteousness, and the preachers here on the earth empowered by the Holy Ghost.

Let no man impress your mind that salvation, at the latter part of the world, is to be brought about by a different instrumentality from that at the beginning of the world. God never had but one plan of salvation. Settle it as a fundamental point of your theology that the plan of salvation has always been one plan. Every man on earth that has been saved to date, and every man that will be saved on this earth, will be saved by the blood of Christ preached by the gospel and applied by the Holy Spirit. Not a soul, not one, will be saved after Christ comes. In his first advent he came as a sin offering unto salvation. In his second advent he comes apart from salvation, or apart from a sin offering to salvation. He comes to wind up the affairs of the world, raise the dead, and judge the world. He who, in his theory, seeks to point the people of God to some other way of enlightening the world than by the original plan – Christ’s light reflecting in the churches under the guidance of the Holy Spirit – is to my mind in his theory (bless God, not often in his practices!) opposed to the plan of salvation. There is to be no saving dispensation after the Holy Ghost dispensation, and the Holy Ghost dispensation lasts while Christ is on the throne up yonder and the Holy Ghost is here on the earth, a vicegerent, testifying about Christ, testifying through the churches and the preachers, and the people of God.

If I thought that the gospel trumpet was of some base metal, iron or brass, to be succeeded by a more precious trumpet of silver, gold or diamonds, under some other dispensation, should lose my present high respect for the gospel.

Another general remark, when we come to the details of the exposition, I will stop at certain points in the series of discussions and give a special discussion on certain special themes. For example, the symbolic numbers of Revelation, as the seven in the seven churches, the seven Spirits of God, the seven seals, the seven trumpets, the seven bowls, and other numbers. Then there will be a special discussion on the antichrists of the Scriptures, and there have been a number, and the confusion of commentaries is in mixing the antichrists. Then it will be necessary to have a special discussion on the millennium. What are its precursors; what is it; what follows it? Then a discussion of the final advent of our Lord. You may rest assured that the same Jesus that died, was buried, and was raised again, and who ascended into heaven, whom the heavens must retain unto the time of the restoration of all things, will himself finally come to his people here on earth, visibly, audibly, palpably, personally, and no doubt of it. As his first advent was the highest peak in the view of the Old Testament, so his final advent is the highest peak in the view of the New Testament. But, it is to be hoped that you will not beguile yourself with supposing that every time a coming of the Lord is referred to it means his final advent. Of this fact I hope to convince you in these discussions. In a certain sense, and every time in a scriptural sense, there are many comings of the Lord.

SYNOPSIS OF ANALYSIS

Our Lord’s own brief outline (Revelation 1:19) Write:

1. "The things which thou sawest" (Revelation 1:12-16). The vision of the glorified Lord, source of all light, in his relation to the churches and pastors, and their consequent mission as the light-bearers of the world.

2. "And the things which are": The state of the imperfect churches and pastors as God sees them, an earth scene tending to discouragement (Revelation 2-3). (2) The throne of grace, with all its agencies and activities, helping the imperfect churches and pastors (Revelation 4-5), a heaven scene, tending to encouragement.

3. "And the things which shall come to pass hereafter" (Revelation 6-22), showing that by the heavenly helps the imperfect lower lights shall ultimately illumine the whole world.

THE TEACHER’S ELABORATE ANALYSIS

The author’s own introduction to the book (1)

The title of the book, its nature, origin, medium, by whom signified, to whom, for whom its value (Revelation 1:1).

The human author identified (Revelation 1:2).

To whom addressed first clause of Revelation 1:4, and Revelation 1:11.

The author’s greeting and doxology (Revelation 1:4-8).

The author’s account of how, when, where, and under what circumstances he was commissioned to write (Revelation 1:9-20). This includes the voice and the vision, the effect of the vision on him, and the Lord’s explanation of it.

I. The first revelation – what John saw (Revelation 1:12-16).

Or a revelation of the glorified Lord himself, now shining as the Sun of Righteousness, source of all spiritual life, in his relation to the churches and pastors on earth, the lower lights, commissioned to reflect the heavenly light and so illumine the whole world.

II. The second revelation (Revelation 2-3).

The state of the churches and pastors, not as they themselves, nor as the world sees them, but as they really are in God’s sight. This is an earth scene of "the things that are," and, on account of the imperfections of these agencies for world illumination, tends to discouragement.

Note 1. The real condition of no two churches is the same.

Note 2. The varied provisions for remedying imperfections adapted to each special need.

Note 3. The various adversaries all directed by one leading adversary.

Note 4. The hope lies in Christ’s "walking among the candlesticks" in constant supervision and continually speaking through the indwelling Spirit.

III. The third revelation (Revelation 4-5).

This is a heaven scene of "the things that are." It is a revelation of the throne of grace with all its agencies and activities employed to help the imperfect churches and pastors illumine the world. This scene tends to encouragement. It is the sure promise of ultimate triumph.

"The things that shall come to pass hereafter"

(The prophetic part of the book: Revelation 6-22).

IV. The fourth revelation, or the opening of the seals (Revelation 6:1-8:1).

This section begins the prophetic element which continues to the end of the book. Its design is to foreshow the various effects of the gospel as preached. It is a complete view from this angle of vision from John’s day to the end of things, suppressing only the final climax for the time being (see Revelation 8:1: which properly is the last verse of Revelation 7), with the temporary silence on the opening of the seventh seal, which silence will be broken when at the end of the book the climax is supplied.

V. The fifth revelation (Revelation 8:2-9:19).

The sounding of the trumpets, or the gospel as prayed.

Note 1. The key passage of this section (Revelation 8:3-6), that every trumpet sounded is a response to prayer, and not to a sermon. This also is a complete view from that day to the end of time, hinting at but suppressing the final climax, as did the seals.

Note 2. That while it is a complete view, like the seals, it is from a different angle of vision.

Note 3. That its events are not successive to the seal events, but synchronize with them. The two views are parallel.

Note 4. The remarkable episode (Revelation 10:1-11:14) following the sixth trumpet which gives a distinct but subordinate revelation, and which includes six of the seven thunders and two of the three bowls, the little book, the measuring of the Temple, the death and revival of the two witnesses.

Note 5. Connecting Revelation 10:7, with Revelation 11:15, we see not only a key to the meaning of the book but this view is synchronological with the seals.

VI. The sixth revelation (Revelation 11:1-19:10).

The true church as an institution, symbolized as a glorious woman (Revelation 12:1), and the later apostate church as an opposing institution symbolized as a harlot (Revelation 17:1-6).

This also is a complete view from John’s day to the end of time, only from a new angle of vision, and is parallel with the preceding synchronous views of the seals and the trumpets, and, like the others, lacks only the final climax.

Note 1. That the one great dominant adversary is Satan (Revelation 12:3; Revelation 12:9).

Note 2. That his persecutions through world governments drive her into the wilderness – obscurity – for a long time (Revelation 12:6).

Note 3. That when he had failed to destroy her by heathen world power, he causes to rise among the nations a new world power, i.e., a union of church and state, "spotted like the leopard," which makes war with the saints (Revelation 13:1-10). Then develops from this union a papal head (Revelation 13:11-18), who assumes all power civil and religious, and from these two develop an institution – the apostate church (Revelation 17:1-6).

Note 4. In this symbolism: (a) A woman represents the church, true or apostate, as an institution, (b) The sea represents the nations, (c) A sea beast, as in Daniel, represents a world power over the nations, (d) A spotted beast, a world power dominated by apostate Christianity, (e) The earth beast, in the guise of a lamb, but with the voice of the dragon, represents an assumed earthly head to both church and state.

Note 5. In this section come the seven plagues, or seven bowls of wrath poured on the apostate church, and the great war of Har-Magedon.

VII. The seventh revelation, or the holy war between the saints and the emissaries of Satan (Revelation 19:11-20:10).

This is also a complete view from John’s day to the end of time, and, like the three preceding, needs only the climax. It, like the rest, has its own angle of vision. As Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John present the life of our Lord in four parallel views, each complete from its angle of vision, so here are four complete synchronous views of his kingdom, each from its own angle of vision, to wit: (1) The seals, or the gospel as preached. (2) The trumpets, or the gospel as prayed. (3) The true church as an institution, opposed by the apostate church as an institution. (4) The holy war, and the salvation of the Jews.

Note 1. The progress of the conquest of the western nations, culminating in the millennium (Revelation 19:11-20:6).

Note 2. The progress of the conquest of the eastern nations, Gog and Magog (Revelation 20:7-10).

As this section is a distinct revelation, complete in itself, it should not be broken by arbitrary chapter divisions, but should make one distinct chapter.

VIII. The eighth revelation (Revelation 20:11-15).

The final advent of our Lord, the resurrection of all the dead and the one general, final judgment fixing the eternal destiny of saint and sinner. This climax caps all the four synchronous views.

IX. The ninth revelation, or grand climax of the book (Revelation 21:1-22:5).

Paradise regained.

X. The tenth revelation (Revelation 22:6-21).

The divine and human authentication of the book, with assurance, promises, threats, invitations, and the author’s closing salutation.

QUESTIONS

1. Give our Lord’s brief analysis of the book, and what parts of the book belong to each division.

2. Give the teacher’s elaborate analysis.

3. According to this analysis, how many revelations, and how many synchronous views, giving terminal points of each?