As we begin this journey through the book of Revelation, I want you to know that here at Convergence, we believe wholeheartedly that what Paul wrote to a young Timothy some 2,000 years ago still applies to us today.

That includes the Seven Letters written to the Seven Churches in the book of Revelation. In 2 Timothy, Paul uses the unique Greek term theopneustos to make the point that the Scriptures are literally breathed out by god.

The Greek word theopneustos is a compound word. It uses the word theos for God and pneuma for breath or wind. It’s where we get the word for our pneumatic tools. They’re tools that are literally powered by air. In essence, Paul is saying here that God’s word is driven by God’s wind!

God’s word is driven by God’s wind!

Just as He breathed life into Adam and Eve, He’s breathed life into the Word of God. It’s driven by His very breath! And as such, it not only brings life, but it is life!

God's Word not only brings life, itis life.

To use a big theological word, at Convergence we believe in the "infallibility" of the Word of God as we have it today.

Infallible: never failing, always effective, not liable to mislead, deceive, or disappoint

That goes for all of it, from Genesis to Revelation.

God's word is driven by God’s wind.

And nothing stops God’s wind! We might not understand completely how that works, but do you understand what makes a car run? That doesn't keep you from driving it, now does it?

When I first starting driving, my dad set me up with a number of muscle cars because they were big, bulky, and had a lot of power. That's actually a pretty safe thing for a teenager to have. And it's a good thing because my first few years of driving were filled with quite a bit of muscle-car mayhem! I didn't know what to do with all of that horsepower. But I learned over time. The more I drove them, the more I understood them.

Just because you don’t understand what’s under the hood, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take it for a spin!

God's Word has more horsepower than we've ever seen! And so, we’re endeavoring to take the book of Revelation for a spin over the next few weeks. But don't worry, we'll try to keep it in 1st gear. I hope you'll come with us.

Let's begin with a little historical background. James Hamilton gives the book of Revelation 3 different genre categories. He calls it an "Apocalyptic prophecy in the form of a Circular Letter". And we see all of that in just the first few verses.

To the best of our knowledge, the author of the book is the same John who wrote the Gospel of John and the 1st, 2nd, & 3rd letters of John. He was an Apostle, a Jew, and he wrote the letter while exiled on the island of Patmos by the Roman Emperor Domitian. The book was written in typical Jewish fashion, very similar to the letters of Paul.

Secondly, we see in verse 4 that he addresses Seven Churches. That's why Hamilton considers it a "Circular Letter". It was intended to be read aloud in at least the seven different churches. Now, there were indeed more than seven churches in Asia Minor during this time and they too would be aware of these letters. So, as it is with much of Revelation, it's pretty clear that "Seven Churches" is symbolic of the Universal Church at the time, but we'll get into more of that next week. That's 2nd gear stuff.

Thirdly, we have to understand that John was Jewish and over 70% of his letter references some portion of the Old Testament (the Tanakh). In order to really understand Revelation, we need to understand all of scripture, especially the Tanakh. In particular the books of Daniel and Ezekiel. More than that though, we have to understand Hebrew literary styles.

Revelation was written in what is known as a "chiastic structure". The term "chiasm" refers to the form of an X, but in Hebrew literature, it refers to just one side of the X. It's a form that's used in much of Jewish literature and poetry. It's extremely complex and very poetic. In other words, the book of Revelation is not meant to be a historical document or a business letter. It's meant to be a very creative, poetic, and extremely Jewish work of art!

This graphic takes a stance on how they've chosen to interpret it, the first half being historical and the second eschatological, or future, end-times driven... but more on that later. The point is that this book is very Jewish, very creative, and very symbolic. It should be read as such. While it might allude to historical events, its intent is the revelation of Jesus Christ!

No matter how it's regarded, it should be regarded as the revelation of Jesus Christ.

apokalypsis: laying bare, an uncovering, a disclosure of truth, manifestation, appearance.

It's where we get the term apocalypse. Today we understand it to mean, "The end of the world". But the word simply means "revelation"! In particular, John is using it to mean the revelation of Jesus Christ. And so, if we get nothing else out of this letter, it should be the revelation of Jesus Christ. A better understanding of who He is and what He is and will do in the world today and in the days to come.

No matter how it's regarded, it should be regarded as the revelation of Jesus Christ.

In particular, the revelation that we're about to read was given to Jesus to share with His doulos (bondservants) those things that will quickly take place. The Greek here is a bit confusing, but the word tachos means "quickness, speed". And so it can be interpreted in two different ways.

1. That which will "soon take place" as the ESV translates it.
2. That which will "come to pass quickly" as Young's Literal Translation interprets it.

A brief word on Young's Literal Translation. Robert Young released his Literal Translation in 1862, wanting a pure translation that went back to the original Textus Receptus and Hebrew Masoretic texts. He writes in his preface to the 2nd edition, "THE WORD OF GOD IS MADE VOID BY THE TRADITIONS OF MEN." And we see the beauty of his literal translation more clearly as we read the book of Revelation.

Depending on how you view the book of Revelation; it could be about things that were "about to take place" in the late first or early second century, or it could be about what will "quickly take place" at the end of time.

But no matter how it's regarded, it should be regarded as a revelation of Jesus Christ.

Moving forward, however, in history there have been a number of different ways to regard the book of Revelation. For the sake of time and study, I'll be referring to the following four primary views as taken from Steve Gregg's "Revelation: Four Views".

Preterist: Revelation is a more historic book that symbolically surveys actual events of the first and second centuries. They believe it to have been written before 70AD and that it predicts the fall of Jerusalem among other first-century historical events. From what I've seen, Shane Willard would loosely fall into this camp. This approach is thought to have found its roots in Catholicism's response to the Reformers Historicist approach but can be traced all the way back to the historicist Eusebius from the 4th century.

Historicist: Revelation is a prophetic book that symbolically surveys the whole of church history from the first century up to today. Its adherents are primarily the Reformation Fathers like Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli.

Futurist: Everything after the third chapter is yet to be fulfilled. This is the view that most 21st Century Christians are familiar with thanks to the best-selling "Left Behind" book series written by Tim Lahaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. We've read the books. We've watched the movies. And without even knowing it, we've been indoctrinated with the Futurist perspective which, by the way, is a fairly new perspective. Only coming on the scene about 200 years ago in 1827. Until that point, it had been fully rejected, probably because there were not a lot of newspapers to be read alongside the bible! 😉

Idealist/Spiritualist: This perspective believes that there is really no historical connection to the words written in the book of Revelation. It is entirely symbolic. In particular, it relates the symbolic manifestations in Revelation to the eternal battle that we all face. The struggle between good and evil. As William Milligin puts it, "While the Apocalypse thus embraces the whole period of the Christian dispensation, it sets before us within this period the action of great principles and not special incidents." This too is a fairly new interpretation going back to the 1800s.

Most scholars don't fully adhere to one particular point of view, but rather a hybrid of various views. They regard the book of Revelation as being both spiritual and historical; both foretelling and forth-telling.

Revelation is both spiritual and historical; both foretelling and forth-telling.

But no matter how it's regarded, it should be regarded as a revelation of Jesus Christ.

I want to close today with a look at verse three.

John tells us that we will be blessed if we read this book; if we anaginosko this book which literally means "to recognize, to know accurately, to acknowledge" this book. As well, we'll be blessed if we akouo this book which means "attend to it, consider it, understand it and perceive it". Lastly, we'll be blessed if we tereo the things which are written here. If we "take care of the things written, guard them and keep them as they were originally written."

No matter how it's regarded, it should be regarded as the precious revelation of Jesus Christ.

We should acknowledge it, attend to it, and guard it with our lives because it is the precious revelation of Jesus Christ.

He's given us the keys to the most powerful car on the planet! We may not understand what’s under the hood, but by all means, let’s grab the keys and take it for a spin.

God's given you the keys! Take it for a spin!

I don't know where you're at today with your faith. Atheist, Agnostic, Theist, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, etc. I can tell you this. There's been no more monumental and/or life-changing practice in my life than that of regularly opening God's word and endeavoring to understand it; to acknowledge it as God's inspired, theopneustos, theGod-breathed Word of God. May you attend to it daily, and guard it in your heart. May you meditate on it. It's changed my life! And it can change yours as well. I challenge you, it's better and more powerful than your favorite muscle car, so take it for a spin this week! I promise you'll be blessed!