2.

REVELATION SERIES:
Understanding the Book of Revelation

This series of Bible Studies on the Book of Revelation interprets the Book of Revelation
based upon a ‘parallelism’ understanding of the book. This understanding is based upon
sound Biblical interpretation, as will be seen throughout the series. The Book of
Revelation is made up of seven sections, each section being parallel and spanning the
entire Gospel dispensation. What this means is that the Book of Revelation covers the
period from the first coming of Christ to His second coming - and even beyond this.

Each section is intended to portray the same period of time but from varying
perspectives. Yet, as each section is reached, there is a definite movement in thought.
There is a progression in the development of themes and focus toward the very end of
the dispensation. For instance, the final judgment is barely mentioned in the beginning
of the book, yet it becomes a more clearly developed theme as you move through the
book towards the very end.

2.1 OUTLINE AND SURVEY OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION

The following is a suggested outline for, and brief survey of, the Book of Revelation.

A. THE EARTHLY PERSPECTIVE (1:1-11:19)

1. Christ in the Midst of the Lamp stands (1:1-3:22).

The lamp stands represent the seven churches (1:4,11,20), to which John is to write.
The number seven is to be taken as symbolical of completeness and fullness
(1:4,12,13), as it is throughout the Book of Revelation. What this means is that the
seven churches are symbolic of the whole church throughout the gospel
dispensation. With this in mind, each church is to be seen as typical of conditions in
individual churches at any given time throughout history (2:7,11,17,29; 3:6,13,22).

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 2. Heaven and the Seven Seals (4:1-7:17)

This section describes the One who is sitting upon the throne in heaven, the
worship toward Him by those surrounding Him and the book sealed with
seven seals (7:1) in His right hand. The Lamb takes the book, receives
adoration and opens the seven seals one by one. Between the sixth and
seventh seal we see the 144 000 who are before the throne.

That this section also covers the entire gospel dispensation is seen by Christ
having been slain and now ruling from heaven (5:5,6), the mention of the
final judgment (6:16,17) and the position of believers in the presence of the
Lord (7:16,17).

3. The Seven Trumpets (8:1-11:19)

This section describes the seven trumpets that affect the world. What
happens to the church is described in chapters 10 and 11. Note that the
section closes with a clear reference to the final judgment (11:15,18), again
indicating the parallel nature of Revelation.

Notice that this section describes the same period of duration as that of the
persecuting dragon (11:2,3; 12:6,14) and also the same thing as that of the
seven bowls (15:1-16:21).

B. THE SPIRITUAL PERSPECTIVE (12:1-22:21)

1. The Persecuting Dragon (12:1-14:20)

This section describes the woman and the Man-child persecuted by the
Dragon and his allies. Note the birth of Christ (12:5), the dragon persecuting
the woman (12:3), the dragon using the two beasts and the harlot in his
quest to destroy the church (13:1,11,12; 14:8) and Christ’s second coming
and judgment (14:14,16). The actual fall of the dragon and his allies is
described in two different sections, the two beasts and the harlot in that of
the fall of Babylon (17:1-19:21), and the dragon in that of the final
consummation (20:1-22:21). All this indicates parallelism in the seven
sections.

Notice that this section describes the same period of duration as that of the
seven trumpets (11:2,3; 12:6,14).

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 2. The Seven Bowls (15:1-16:21)

This section describes the seven bowls of wrath and concludes with a clear
reference to the final judgment (16:14, 20), again indicating parallelism.

This section describes the same thing as that of the seven trumpets
(8:1-11:19).

3. The Fall of Babylon (17:1-19:21)

This section describes the fall of Babylon and the judgment executed upon
the beast and false prophet. Notice the reference to Christ coming in
judgment (19:11ff), indicating parallelism.

4. The Great Consummation (20:1-22:21)

This section describes the threshold of the new age, with the present age
coming to an end (20:8ff).

2.2 OTHER UNDERSTANDINGS OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION

A. PRETERIST

This understanding of the Book of Revelation and the end times seeks to interpret the
book from the standpoint of its first century setting. It limits the fulfillment of the
prophecies of Revelation to the period of the first century.

The strength of Preterism is that it seeks to understand the book in the light of its
original setting, however, it has gone too far in doing so.

B. HISTORICIST

This viewpoint more or less implies that the Book of Revelation had little value to the
first century church. For the Historicist, Revelation is an outline of history, providing a
glimpse to the unfolding of history.

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C. FUTURIST

This viewpoint understands Revelation to refer to the brief period of time at the very
end, as seen in Pre-Millennialism.

NOTE: The above summary of the viewpoints mentioned is very basic at best – I recommend a more
thorough study of these positions in order to understand them more fully.

3. UNDERSTANDING THE BOOK OF REVELATION

The Book of Revelation has a reputation as being a difficult book to understand and it is
a rightly earned reputation. However, the bulk of the difficulty in understanding the
Book of Revelation is the necessity of wading through countless interpretations that
have been bandied about for centuries and the requirement to move away from favored
interpretations of men in order to settle for the sound self-interpretation of the
Scriptures. Like all Scripture, the Book of Revelation should be interpreted with the light
of other passages and it must stand within the context of the overall message of the
Bible. This is not a book that stands alone, for it stands as part of the united revelation
of God to man and should be so interpreted.

It is necessary to understand that the Book of Revelation was first written to persecuted
Christians in the first century and as such had a message for those persecuted believers.
Seen in this setting, many of the illustrations can be more readily understood. The
symbolic language was written in such a way that these first century believers would
understand the message of the Book of Revelation and be helped in their own setting.

It needs to be remembered that when interpreting the Book of Revelation, there is a

need to not get too bogged down with individual pictures within a passage. It is
necessary to go with the flow of the overall picture being developed and not to get stuck
with the detail of the picture. It is far too easy to get lost while trying to find a meaning
for each and every detail of a picture or vision in the Book of Revelation, instead of
grasping the overall symbol and developing message of the passage.

© All Bible Studies by the author may be freely copied, printed and distributed. We ask only that they
remain unedited (unless approved by Kevin Matthews) and contain the Aussie Outpost name and website
URL: http://particularbaptist.com This Bible Study is by Kevin Matthews. It is asked that this notice be
included as is. Thankyou.

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