Chapter 2
What it is.
I have decided to tell you what the Revelation to John is. Oh, I know, it is a book in the Bible, but other books in the Bible are examples of specific things.
Romans, for example, is a letter. In fact, it is a specific kind of letter. If you compare it with either First or second Corinthians, also letters, you'll see that it is very different from them. They are both very specific responses from the Apostle Paul to the Christians in Corinth. He is responding to questions they have raised or problems that have been reported to him.
Skim through Romans and you will see that it is quite different. Written in the form of a letter, it is a fairly complete presentation of all that Paul has come to know about being a Christian. It is his theological work. Addressed to the Christians in Rome, it is aimed at all Christians.
The gospels are stories, special ones, of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.
So what is Revelation?
One typical response would be that it is prophecy, and tells us what is going to happen on earth, in heaven, and to humans. While there is truth to this idea, it is incomplete and very misleading.
Another response to the question, "What is Revelation?" is that it is apocalyptic literature, a writing which deals with the end times. While there is truth to this idea, it, too, is incomplete and very misleading.
Over the years I have investigated Revelation by looking to Revelation itself for clues and definitions, while taking into consideration the time and culture in which it was written and to whom it was addressed. This is my first line of defense against "adding to or taking from," what is contained there.
You may ask, "How is that a defense?" I will respond that when we approach Revelation with any preconceived ideas about what it is, we set ourselves up to "understand" it in a certain way, and are in danger of "adding to it." Likewise, any assumptions we have going in will cause us to not see at all many things that are there, like those open gates.
So to answer the question of what Revelation is, I would look to the book itself rather than make assessments about it after having read through it.
At the very beginning, the writer identifies himself, his location and circumstances, AND WHAT HE IS WRITING ABOUT.
While in prayer "on the Lord's day," he had a vision. He writes to describe it to us.
Revelation is John's full description of his vision of Jesus Christ.
While this may seem like an obvious and non-critical observation, I say that it is vital to the understanding of what is being communicated to us from Christ through John.
How does one describe a vision? I've never had one, so I don't know for certain. Accounts that I have read, and conversations I have had with people who have experienced visions, lead me to think that describing a vision has some similarities with describing dreams. But there are some very important differences, too. We need to look at the similarities and the differences to get an insight into John's presentation of the vision he experienced.
When we have dreams there is much that we "know" while we are dreaming. We may interact with someone who we know well in our dream, and wake up to realize that we have no idea who they are. Maybe you have had the same dream experience that I sometimes do. You see something in your dream and do a double-take. You understand things about it that have greatly puzzled you, and you say to yourself, "Oh! Now I understand!" And when you waken you no longer understand, and may not even remember what it was.
Then there is remembering the dream itself. Usually we don't remember much about our dreams. As soon as we wake up, memory and understanding quickly fade.
Here is what happens after having a vision.
You don't forget it.
You don't lose any understanding.
In fact, just the opposite is the case. When we are asleep, we are unconscious, or at least less conscious than when we are what we call awake. But when in a vision state, people are more conscious than when in our normal waking state.
After receiving a vision, people very clearly remember all of its details. They are able to continue to process the information and insights received. In fact, the new knowing that comes along with a vision requires a whole lot of processing once we have returned to our "normal" state.
With a major vision, such as Revelation, the new knowledge which accompanied it is complete, multi-layered, and almost organic in its unity. In trying to tell of a vision, what was seen and heard during it can be shared very quickly. But trying to impart the new knowledge takes much longer.
In telling us of his vision, John was able to quickly describe what he saw (Chapter One) and what he heard (Chapters Two and Three.) But in order to convey to us the astounding knowledge he was given during the vision, knowledge given by Christ, he presented the many layers and glory of it in Chapters Four through Twenty-two.
So now I (finally!) get to the substance of what I might possibly have to add to the general understanding of the Revelation to John.
It all begins with, "After this I looked..." Revelation 4:1.
What it is.
I have decided to tell you what the Revelation to John is. Oh, I know, it is a book in the Bible, but other books in the Bible are examples of specific things.
Romans, for example, is a letter. In fact, it is a specific kind of letter. If you compare it with either First or second Corinthians, also letters, you'll see that it is very different from them. They are both very specific responses from the Apostle Paul to the Christians in Corinth. He is responding to questions they have raised or problems that have been reported to him.
Skim through Romans and you will see that it is quite different. Written in the form of a letter, it is a fairly complete presentation of all that Paul has come to know about being a Christian. It is his theological work. Addressed to the Christians in Rome, it is aimed at all Christians.
The gospels are stories, special ones, of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.
So what is Revelation?
One typical response would be that it is prophecy, and tells us what is going to happen on earth, in heaven, and to humans. While there is truth to this idea, it is incomplete and very misleading.
Another response to the question, "What is Revelation?" is that it is apocalyptic literature, a writing which deals with the end times. While there is truth to this idea, it, too, is incomplete and very misleading.
Over the years I have investigated Revelation by looking to Revelation itself for clues and definitions, while taking into consideration the time and culture in which it was written and to whom it was addressed. This is my first line of defense against "adding to or taking from," what is contained there.
You may ask, "How is that a defense?" I will respond that when we approach Revelation with any preconceived ideas about what it is, we set ourselves up to "understand" it in a certain way, and are in danger of "adding to it." Likewise, any assumptions we have going in will cause us to not see at all many things that are there, like those open gates.
So to answer the question of what Revelation is, I would look to the book itself rather than make assessments about it after having read through it.
At the very beginning, the writer identifies himself, his location and circumstances, AND WHAT HE IS WRITING ABOUT.
While in prayer "on the Lord's day," he had a vision. He writes to describe it to us.
Revelation is John's full description of his vision of Jesus Christ.
While this may seem like an obvious and non-critical observation, I say that it is vital to the understanding of what is being communicated to us from Christ through John.
How does one describe a vision? I've never had one, so I don't know for certain. Accounts that I have read, and conversations I have had with people who have experienced visions, lead me to think that describing a vision has some similarities with describing dreams. But there are some very important differences, too. We need to look at the similarities and the differences to get an insight into John's presentation of the vision he experienced.
When we have dreams there is much that we "know" while we are dreaming. We may interact with someone who we know well in our dream, and wake up to realize that we have no idea who they are. Maybe you have had the same dream experience that I sometimes do. You see something in your dream and do a double-take. You understand things about it that have greatly puzzled you, and you say to yourself, "Oh! Now I understand!" And when you waken you no longer understand, and may not even remember what it was.
Then there is remembering the dream itself. Usually we don't remember much about our dreams. As soon as we wake up, memory and understanding quickly fade.
Here is what happens after having a vision.
You don't forget it.
You don't lose any understanding.
In fact, just the opposite is the case. When we are asleep, we are unconscious, or at least less conscious than when we are what we call awake. But when in a vision state, people are more conscious than when in our normal waking state.
After receiving a vision, people very clearly remember all of its details. They are able to continue to process the information and insights received. In fact, the new knowing that comes along with a vision requires a whole lot of processing once we have returned to our "normal" state.
With a major vision, such as Revelation, the new knowledge which accompanied it is complete, multi-layered, and almost organic in its unity. In trying to tell of a vision, what was seen and heard during it can be shared very quickly. But trying to impart the new knowledge takes much longer.
In telling us of his vision, John was able to quickly describe what he saw (Chapter One) and what he heard (Chapters Two and Three.) But in order to convey to us the astounding knowledge he was given during the vision, knowledge given by Christ, he presented the many layers and glory of it in Chapters Four through Twenty-two.
So now I (finally!) get to the substance of what I might possibly have to add to the general understanding of the Revelation to John.
It all begins with, "After this I looked..." Revelation 4:1.