“The Book of Revelation is Not About the Rapture, ” by Richard Gilbert, posted July 30, 2018 at <www.corechristianity.com>, adapted from “Christ & The Book of Revelation” in Modern Reformation, Mar/April 1993.
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Revelation 22:18 — I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book.
Every time something big happens in the news, especially if it involves the Middle East, it seems a new set of books, reinterpreting the book of Revelation, is published. It is, therefore, no surprise when the reader begins to get the impression that the book of Revelation is a very dark, mysterious book that is difficult, if not downright impossible, to understand.
- Revelation is about Jesus.
The basic message of the Scriptures is clear to anyone who can read them. This does not mean that every part of Scripture is equally clear. Some passages are, indeed, difficult to understand and it helps to have the consensus of the Church through the centuries to correctly interpret them. But the basic message of what man’s condition is, who Jesus is and what He’s done for us, and how I can be saved, is perfectly clear.
The Scriptures are about Christ. This is no less true of Revelation than it is of any other book of the Bible. Again, this is not to say that everything in Revelation is as plain as the Gospel of John, nor do I claim to understand everything in it perfectly. After all, the book of Revelation is part of the genre known as apocalyptic literature, that is to say, it is full of symbolism. It employs numbers and images that were very familiar to 1st century Jews and Christians to get its message across. To understand the book of Revelation it is essential to have some knowledge of what these numbers and images represent.
Most people are familiar with some of these already: 3 is the number for the triune God, 4 is the number for creation, 6 is the number for man, 7 is the number for perfection, 12 represents the tribes of Israel or the apostles, 1000 is a number for completeness; so when a number like 666 is used it means always coming short of perfection, or a number like 144,000 is 12 squared times 1000 meaning a great multitude, everyone who’s meant to be included is, with no one left out.
But Revelation, like the rest of Scripture, is about Christ, and any interpretation that ends up with something else as central has not only missed the entire message of the book but, to put it simply, is wrong. By, “about Christ”, I mean that it is about His person (He is both fully God and fully man), and His work (His life, death, and resurrection) on our behalf, and not merely about His second coming. (continued…)
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Revelation 14:1 — Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion,and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.
Revelation 22:12-13 — (Jesus said), “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
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Revelation 22:20b:
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
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