Page 175 - Advanced Biblical Backgrounds Revised

God’s people, the Jews, were left wondering why He hadn’t sent Messiah. When would God act to bring
about His promises? God’s people, the church, were frustrated as well. They were enduring fierce
persecution from the Roman emperors because they affirmed a different god and king from the
emperor. They were waiting on Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, to return, deal with the evil
empire, and set up the promised Kingdom. John, a Jewish Christian, uses the stories of the faithfulness
of God as he explains the visions God had given him regarding how God would bring all things under
Christ. He employs apocalyptic language of cosmic battles, heavenly hosts, and world renewal under the
Messiah. He speaks of the coming Kingdom followed by the eternal state. Jesus will reign from
Jerusalem. He prophesies how the events will unfold as God brings about the promise. Some use the
apocalyptic imagery to dismiss the overarching message of the literal coming Kingdom followed by an
eternal state. They make it a literary device rather than part of the assured future. The early church,
until Augustine, did not understand it this way. Augustine, 300 or so years after Christ, asked the
question of why Jesus hadn’t come. His response was to reinterpret Revelation as allegory rather than
stay faithful to the dominant view in the church up to his time. Many views of Revelation have
developed since that time. You would do well to study them as they provide a fascinating alternative
interpretive methodology for understanding Revelation.

Let’s Practice…

1. What is prophecy and what is apocalyptic in Jewish literature?

2. What was the early church view of Revelation as a future called?

3. What is an allusion?

4. Why did John use citations and quotes? How does it help us understand Revelation?

5. What is an echo?

6. What is the main point of Revelation?

7. Why did Augustine reinterpret Revelation?

8. What situation prompted God to give John his prophecy of what God would do?

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