Before Jerusalem Fell

10 BEFORE JERUSALEM FELL
in 1910 that Darling’s list of English works on the Apocalypse contained
nearly 54 columns.33 With Carpenter’s observation regarding
the literature of the Apocalypse, we are compelled to agree: It is
“peflectly hopeless to touch so vast a subject as this.”3 4
Certainly Revelation has captivated the minds of both the intense
scholar and the part-time student alike. Although presumption and
ima~nation have caused many a commentator to stumble in interpreting
Revelation, nevertheless the book has commanded and will
continue to command the devout attention of those who love God
and His Word.
Interpretive Difficulty of Revelation
As noted, Revelation has historically generated an intensity of
interest unparalleled among any of the books of Scripture. Yet, at the
same time — as evidenced by the extreme diversity of the views on
Revelation – it has been a most dificult book to interpret. Or perhaps
the converse is true: because of the extreme difficulty of interpreting
Revelation, it has created an intense interest! As Chilton has
observed: ‘ (
Many rush from their first profession of faith to the last
book in the Bible, treating it as little more than a book of hallucinations,
hastily disdaining a sober-minded attempt to allow the Bible
to interpret itself – and finding, ultimately, only a reflection of their
own prejudices. “3 5
Too often such a situation is due to the temptations presented
by biblical scholars who gear their works for the popular market.
This seems to be especially true of dispensational theologians. For
instance, Charles Ryrie — an able scholar and probably the leading
dispensationalist theologian of the present day – has written of Revelation:
“How do we make sense out of all those beasts and thrones
and horsemen and huge numbers like 200 million? Answer: Take it
at face value. ”36 Later he gives an example of the usefulness of his
“face value” hermeneutic in seeking the correct interpretation of
Revelation 9:1-12 (the locusts from the abyss): “John’s description
sounds very much like some kind of war machine or UFO.. Demons
33. Scha~ Hastoy 1:826.
34. W. Boyd Carpenter, The Revelation of St. John, in vol. 8 of John Charles Ellicott,
cd., Ellicott’s Comrm-atap on ttu Whole Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, rep. n.d.), p. 532.
35. David Chilton, Paradtie Re$tored (Tyler, TX: Reconstruction Press, 1985), p. 153.
36. Ryrie, T/u Living End, p. 37.