Days of Vengeance - The Preterist Archive

CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION:
THE LESSONS OF REVELATION
If the Book of Revelation is primarily a prophecy to the
first-century Church, is it of any value to Christians
today? As a matter of fact, that question faces us with
regard to every book in the Bible, not just Revelation;
for all Scripture was written “to” someone else, and not
“to” us. But St. Paul stated a fundamental principle of
Biblical Interpretation: “All Scripture is inspired by
God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for
correction, for training in righteousness; that the man
of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work”
(2 Tim. 3:16-17). God’s judgment on Israel for her
disobedience can happen to us as well, if we do not
persevere in faith and works. If even Israel could be
broken off from the covenantal Tree of Life, so can we:
“They were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand
by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; for if God
did not spare the natural branches, neither will He
spare you. Behold then the kindness and severity of
God: to those who fell, severity; but to you, God’s
kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise
you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not
continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in; for God is
able to graft them in again” (Rom. 11:20-23).
The Book of Revelation therefore has continuing
lessons for the Church of all ages. I have summarized
some of these lessons below, providing references to the
pages in the commentary where they are discussed. The
following is not to be taken as an exhaustive list, but as
a rough sketch for topical study and review.
The Interpretation of Prophecy
The purpose of prophecy is not simply “prediction”;
rather, it is a summons to ethical living in terms of
God’s standards (p. 18). It is therefore not “history
written in advance” (p. 25). Our standard for interpreting
prophecy must be the Bible itself (p. 25). The
Book of Revelation is written in “signs,” i.e. symbols (p.
34). Symbolism is inescapable; in fact, everything is
symbolic (pp. 26-27). Symbolism is analogical, not
realistic; it is fluid, not a “code” (p. 27). The primary
controls on undue speculation must be faithfulness to
the Bible’s system of doctrine, and faithfulness to the
Bible’s system of symbolism (p. 29).
The Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation has a contemporary focus; it is
not about the Second Coming (pp. 29-31), but about
the inauguration of the New Covenant era during the
Last Days – the period A.D. 30-70, from the Ascension
of Christ to the fall of Jerusalem (p. 33). Written some
time within the final decade of Israel’s history (pp. 16-
17) in the distinctive form of the Biblical Covenant
Lawsuit (pp. 18-21, 32, 33, 46, 67-68, 98-99, 155-156),
its main prophecies were to be fulfilled shortly (pp. 33-
35). The prophecy was intended to be read in the
liturgical setting of the first-century churches (p. 35),
and so begins with Seven Letters to the churches of
Asia Minor. Each Letter recapitulates the five-part
structure of the historic Biblical covenants (p. 46).
Taken together, the Letters recapitulate all of
Covenant history, from Adam to Christ (pp. 46-47);
and they also foreshadow the entire structure of Revelation
(pp. 47-48). The Seven Seals set forth the period
of the Last Days in general (p. 82); the Seven Trumpets
warn of the Tribulation, up to the first siege of
Jerusalem under Cestius (pp. 108, 121); and the Seven
Chalices reveal the final outpouring of God’s wrath
upon Jerusalem and the Temple in A.D. 67-70 (p. 157).
Revelation is written to comfort and instruct the
churches that are plagued and oppressed by an occult,
gnostic, statist form of apostate Judaism which had
captured the religious hierarchy of Israel (pp. 49, 53-54,
57). St. John calls this movement various symbolic
names – “Nicolaitans,” “Balaamites,” “Jezebelites,” and
“the Synagogue of Satan” – but all these expressions
refer to the same cult (pp. 98, 101-03, 107-108, 113-
114, 127-128).
The meaning of the main symbols in Revelation maybe
summarized as follows:
The Seven-Sealed Book is the New Covenant, which
Christ obtained at His glorious Ascension and
“(opened” during the period of the Last Days, climaxing
in the destruction of Jerusalem (pp. 76-80). (The
“Little Book,” which explains the Seven-Sealed Book,
is the Revelation to St. John: p. 114.) The sealed multitude
of 144,000 are the Remnant, the believing Jews of
the first century (pp. 90-91, 147-148), the core of the
innumerable multitude of the redeemed from every
nation (pp. 94-95). The “Two Witnesses” represent the
faithful Church of the Old Covenant, “the law and the
prophets” exemplified in Moses and Elijah, culminating
in the witness-bearing of John the Forerunner (pp. 117-
120). The Woman clothed with the Sun is faithful
Israel, the Mother of Christ (pp. 124-126). In spite of
the Dragon’s wrath, the Messiah ascends to rule heaven
and earth from the Throne (p. 129). Christ’s defeat of
Satan in His life, death, and resurrection is portrayed by
Michael’s offensive “war in heaven” against the Dragon
(pp. 130-132).
The Beast from the Sea is the Roman Empire,
embodied in Nero Caesar (pp. 135-138); the Beast
from the Land (also called the False Prophet) is Israel’s
religious leadership (pp. 139-142); and the Image of the
Beast is the apostate Jewish Synagogue (pp. 140-142).
Babylon, the Great Harlot-City, is old, apostate
Jerusalem (pp. 149, 168-169, 170). The New Jerusalem,
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