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Introduction 2
1. Symbolism in Revelation
a. Revelation is full of symbolism
b. People, nations, and spiritual beings are depicted like animals
i. Jesus = lamb
ii. Devil = dragon
iii. Swarm of locusts = probably demons (others say armies)
iv. Beast with 7 heads and 10 horns that rules the world = something
c. Two Women / Two Cities
i. Bride / Jerusalem
1. Revelation 21:1-2 a clear reference to something which is
symbolically called both a bride and the new Jerusalem
2. Revelation 21:9-10 the new Jerusalem is identified as the wife of the
lamb
3. If the lamb is Jesus, His Bride would be the church so clearly both the
image of the bride and the image of the new Jerusalem are the church,
the people of God
ii. Harlot / Babylon
1. Revelation 17 woman riding on a beast with 7 heads and 10 horns
2. Revelation 17:5 shes identified as Babylon
3. Revelation 17:18 shes identified as the great city that has dominion
over the kings of the earth
4. Clearly the harlot and Babylon are a symbol for something but what?
iii. These images are not literal cities nor literal women one is clearly the
church, and the other is clearly something
d. People and places are given symbolic names
i. A woman at Thyatira is referred to as Jezebel this is likely a symbol and
not her real name. She is called Jezebel because shes similar to Jezebel,
not because thats her real name
ii. Revelation 11:8 - The city where the Lord was crucified (Jerusalem) is
spiritually called Sodom and Egypt
iii. Babylon isnt the literal city of Babylon
iv. New Jerusalem is a symbolic name for the church
e. Frequent references to cosmic and geological disruptions
i. Example: earthquakes, stars falling from the sky, sun going dark, heavens roll
up like the scroll
ii. Similar images used commonly in Old Testament to refer to political
upheavels
1. Isaiah 13:10 In describing Babylon falling to the Medes and Persians
(539 BC), Isaiah says, The sun will be darkened, the sun wont give its
light, the stars will fall
a. Obviously the stars didnt literally fall and theres no record for
the sun not giving light that day its a symbol for political
upheaval
iii. Original readers, familiar with apocalyptic literature and imagery, would have
understood these images as symbols for something else, not meant to be
understood literally
iv. Stars falling to the earth (Revelation 6:13, Revelation 9:1-2, etc.)
1. This is not a physical possibility (stars are bigger than the earth and
incapable of falling into the earth)
2. One of these stars has a key to open a bottomless pit (Revelation 9:12) obviously, a literal star cant have a literal key to open a literal
bottomless pit its a symbol for something
f. Numbers are Symbols
i. 7 = totality, completeness
1. Old Testament used very often symbolically to mean completeness,
perfection, something total (Psalm 12:6, Psalm 119:164, Proverbs
24:16)
2. Jesus likely used it to mean completeness in talking about forgiveness
(Luke 17:4)
3. Revelation
a. 7 judgments means total judgment
b. Jesus as a lamb with 7 eyes means he sees everything
c. Jesus as a lamb with 7 horns means hes all-powerful
i. In the Old Testament, a horn is a symbol of power (Psalm
18:2, Psalm 148:14, etc)
d. The 7 churches in Asia Minor are a symbol for all churches the
letter is addressed to them but it applies to everyone
e. Others: 7 spirits of God, 7 angels of the 7 churches, 7 seals on
the scroll, 7 trumpets, 7 thunders, 7 bowls of wrath, 7 kings 7
Beatitudes (statements that begin with blessed are the)
ii. 1/3 = a significant minority (the largest whole fraction thats less than a half)
1. Old Testament used often to symbolize a large minority of something
(Zechariah 13:8-9, Ezekiel 5:1-12)
2. Revelation The trumpets each affect 1/3 of something (the sea, the
river, mankind, etc.)
3. 1/3 shouldnt be thought of as a literal number when elsewhere in the
Bible its clearly meant to be symbolic
iii. 12 = Gods people
1. Old Testament the sons of Jacob, the tribes of Israel
2. New Testament Jesus had 12 Apostles
3. Revelation
a. 24 elders (12 + 12)
b. 144,000 people who take the mark of God (Revelation 7:4) (12 x
12,000)
c. New Jerusalem has 12 foundations with the names of the 12
apostles
d. 12 gates of the city
g. Times (like numbers) are symbols
i. 1 Hour a very short time
1. 10 kings give their authority to the beast for 1 hour, but it would be
unreasonable to think this means a literal 60 minutes
2. Likely, an hour represents a short time
ii. 10 days a time thats long enough to notice but not unbearably long
1. Church in Smyrna will have tribulation for 10 days (Revelation 2:10)
2. Most likely, this means simply that the church will not have literally 10
days of tribulation, but a time of tribulation thats uncomfortable but
will end before too long
iii. 1000 years a very, very long time, generations and generations
1. Revelation 20 Millennial Reign of Christ
2. Parallelism
a. This is a major part of the Spiritualist view
b. 7 Parallel Sections (many of them with 7 subsections)
i. Ch. 1`-3 7 letters to 7 churches
ii. Ch. 4-7 7 seals
iii. Ch. 8-11 7 trumpets
iv. Ch. 12-14 Persecuting dragon
v. Ch. 15-16 7 bowls of wrath
vi. Ch. 17-19 Fall of Babylon
vii. Ch. 20-22 Spread of Gods Kingdom
c. Parallels in the 7 sections
i. Each refers to Jesus second coming
ii. Spiritualist view says each of these sections shows the whole age of the
church, but using different symbols (churches, seals, trumpets, etc.)
iii. 7 trumpets and 7 bowls of wrath each affect the same things
iv. Ch. 12 (the birth of Jesus) and 20 (Beginning of the Church) are very similar
v. Ch. 11 (blowing the 7th trumpet) and 19 (rider on the white horse) are similar
iii. Whoever these two witnesses are, they contain incredible parallels to the life
of Jesus
4. Date of Writing
a. Next week, were gonna look in depth at each of the four schools of thought
regarding Revelation. One of those schools depends on an accurate dating of the
book, so lets cover the date now
i. Preterist Revelation is about the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, so if the
book was written after 70 AD, its not about the destruction of Jerusalem
b. Two Opinions
i. Late date: near the end of Domnitians reign, somewhere near 96 AD
1. Most modern scholars hold this view, as did most of the church fathers
ii. Early date: near the end of Neros reign, somewhere before 68 AD
1. Most scholars in the 1800s as well as a number of very early church
fathers held this view
c. Internal verses External Evidence
i. Internal evidence: Statements within the book itself that give us clues to its
date. This is the more authoritative evidence because its from the Bible itself
and without errors.
1. Internal evidence generally supports an early date (Nero)
ii. External evidence: Statements from the early church that give us clues to its
date. This evidnce is open to error, as its not contained in the Bible.
1. External evidence general supports a later date (Domnitian)
d. Evidence for a Late Date (Domnitian)
i. Most well-respected modern scholars hold to a late date for Revelation
ii. Revelation 13 describes emperor worship, which was not an issue until the
time of Domnitian
1. Weakness: John is prophesying, the whole book of Revelation is
prophecy, so it would not be unlikely that he would see something from
the future that was not yet a reality
iii. Extent of Persecution during Neros day, the persecution was only in the city
of Rome, but Johns audience is in Asia Minor it wasnt until Domnitian that
there was persecution of Christians throughout the empire
1. Weakness: Revelation itself never mentions an empire-wide
persecution, which you would expect it to do if it were happening, nor
do the 7 churches addressed seem to be under a universal persecution
(Smyrna and Philadelphia are persecuted by local Jews, Pergamum is
persecuted by local Roman authorities, and several arent persecuted
at all)
iv. The state of the 7 churches how the 7 churches are described doesnt fit
with an early date
1. Laodicea is wealthy
a. In the early 60s, there was an earthquake in Laodicea that
completely destroyed it, so how could John describe them as
wealthy if it was written so quickly after the earthquake?
b. Weakness: Laodicea could have rebuilt quickly even if they
havent rebuilt, whats being discussed is their attitude of pride
and wealth and ease, which may not have changed even with an
earthquake John doesnt specify that hes discussing physical
announced by him who held the apocalyptic vision, for that was
seen no very long time since, but almost in our day, toward the
end of Domnitians reign.
b. Confusion in the statement that was seen
i. Does it mean the vision was seen in Domnitians reign?
ii. Does it mean John was seen in Domnitians reign?
1. This is more likely in my opinion
c. Evidence Irenaeus means John was seen in Domnitians reign
i. History shows that John clearly lived to the end of
Domnitians reign and would have been seen
ii. Earlier in his statement, Irenaeus refers to those who had
seen John, so its not unlikely that he would again be
referring to the same subject
iii. Iraneus refers to the early copies of Revelation as
ancient but to the end of Domnitians reign as almost
in our day
1. It would make no sense for the book to be written
in Domnitians reign (almost in our day) but also
called ancient
2. If the book was written in Neros day (before 68
AD), Iraneus (writing in 185 AD) could call the early
copies ancient and the end of Domnitians reign
almost in our day
iv. Elsewhere in this writing, Irenaeus has some serious
errors, leaving his credibility in question
1. For example, he says htat Jesus was crucified at 50
years old
vi. Summary: Internal evidence isnt very convincing, and the external evidence
could be interpreted either way but leans toward a late date
e. Evidence for an early date (Nero)
i. Many well-respected scholars hold to an early date
ii. Revelation 17:9-10 this is a reference to Nero reigning over the Roman
Empire
1. The verses describe the beast as having 7 heads which represent 7
kings 5 having fallen, 1 is, and the other will come in the future
2. This is very obscure and mysterious, but perhaps helpful
3. Perhaps this is a reference to Roman emperors, in which case John is
saying that 5 had already reigned, and currently a 6 th is reigning, which
would be Emperor Nero
4. Weakness this understanding assumes kings means emperors,
where elsewhere in the Bible (Daniel), kings means empires
iii. Revelation 11:1-2 He measures the Temple and doesnt include the outer
parts because theyll be given to the Gentiles, which seems to imply the
Temple is currently existing but will be destroyed, meaning the book had to
be written before 70 AD
1. Weakness: Its a vision, so theres no guarantee that its historically
accurate
iv. Situation between church and the Jewish community
1. Smyrna and Philadelphia are persecuted by the Jewish populations in
their towns
v.
vi.
vii.
viii.