Hermeneutics comes from the Greek hermeneuo, which in simplicity means “to explain, interpret; the science of Bible interpretation.”[1] The Dispensational hermeneutic incorporates four key principles for interpreting Revelation. Zuck concludes that the normal principles for interpreting Scripture include the context, historical background, grammatical structure, and the literal meaning.[2]  The interpretive conundrum for Revelation involves using the literal interpretation when the book contains the use of many symbols.

There is nothing simple concerning the paramount importance of interpreting Scripture as God intended. Abner Chou provides the following admonition:

Our thinking about hermeneutics does not just stay in the realm of academia but ultimately shapes how we live and whether or not we please God. What is at stake when we study hermeneutics?  Simply put, it is our entire Christian life and ministry. Hermeneutics is not a negotiable issue; it is essential for the Christian walk. God puts a premium on “getting it right” (Ne 8:8; 2Ti 2:15) and condemns those who twist the Scripture (2 Pe 3:16).[3]

The key issue for every student of the Bible is indeed to get it right. Therefore, this article will argue that the Dispensational hermeneutic, which interprets Scripture from the historical, contextual, grammatical, and literal point of view, is the appropriate methodology for interpreting the book of Revelation, in contrast to spiritualizing and allegorizing the biblical text.

 

Apocalyptic Literature

Scholars classify Revelation, and much of Ezekiel, Daniel, and Zechariah, as apocalyptic literature. Zuck concludes that apocalyptic literature has four key components: “(1) it consists of prophecies given in elaborate visions, (2) it includes many symbols, (3) an angel was often seen in the visions and frequently gave interpretations, and (4) it includes messages regarding the distant future.”[4]

 

The Style of Writing in the Book of the Revelation (Greek, apokalupsis)

Scripturally, apocalypticism is the revelation or unveiling of Christ, especially in relation to His second coming by means of visions and symbols that demonstrate the following: 1. The power of God over heaven, earth, and hell; 2. His sovereign outworking of His purposes in the history of the world, especially in the climactic scenes of the end time; and 3. The ultimate victory redemptive grace in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.[5]

Revelation incorporates the use of many symbols, which accentuates the challenge of interpreting the book. Who is the dragon spoken thirteen times in Revelation? Who are the four living creatures, the twenty-four elders, the so-called four horsemen of the apocalypse in Revelation 6, and so many more symbolic concepts used in Revelation? This article suggests that God has one specific interpretation for every biblical text, and it is the Bible student’s responsibility to determine the specific meaning in every text. Therefore, we must follow the Lord’s admonition to study the Scriptures, to show our- selves approved unto God (2Ti 2:15).

 

Revelation’s Chronology

The interpreter of Revelation should determine the chronology of the book in light of God’s prophetic timeline. The Bible provides the basic outline for Revelation in chapter 1, verse 19. The Lord specifically tells the apostle John to “write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.” Warren Wiersbe, a noted biblical scholar, concludes, “The Book of Revelation is the only book in the Bible that contains an inspired out- line of the contents. ‘The things which thou hast seen’ refers to the vision in Revelation 1. ‘The things which are’ refers to Revelation 2–3, the special messages to the seven churches. ‘The things which shall be hereafter’ covers the events described in Revelation 4–22.”[6]

Bible scholars argue over the chronology of the prophetic calendar, which is one of the key reasons why interpreters of Revelation struggle with its content. Daniel 9:24-27 provides God’s prophetic calendar for the Jewish people, not the Church Age saints, and provides the specific chronology for Revelation 4-19. The seventy-week prophecy of Daniel provides the exact dating for pinpointing the date of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the length of the future tribulation period.

In summary, every week of Daniel’s prophecy is a Hebrew heptad describing a seven-year period. Daniel writes, “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks” (Da 9:25). The prophet states that sixty-nine weeks, or 483  years, will elapse between the giving of the decree, and the crucifixion  of the Messiah.[7]  History records King Artaxerxes gave the decree on March 13, 445 B.C., and 483 years later, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ took place as prophesied (Da 9:26).[8]  Daniel prophecies that two events would take place  before the seventieth week of Daniel could begin: the cutting off of the  Messiah (crucifixion) and the second temple would be destroyed, which  occurred in A.D. 70.

The next event which Daniel prophesied will take place is the seventieth week, or the last seven years of Daniel’s seventy-week prophecy (Da 9:27). There has nearly been a two-thousand-year gap since the Romans destroyed the second temple. Why? God paused the Jewish prophetic calendar and inserted the Church Age shortly after the ascension of Jesus Christ, which Acts vividly describes. The apostle Paul provides the explanation regarding the formation of the Church Age, the body of Christ. “The mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:26-27). Paul adds that God, by revelation, made known to him that which God had not revealed in the past, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel (Eph 3:17). Synchronizing Daniel 9:24-27, Ephesians 3:1-7, and Colossians 1:24-29 provides the chronological timeline for the rapture (1Th 4:13-18; 1Co 15:50-54), and the length of the tribulation period, which Revelation 4-19 details. The removal of the Church Age saints must take place before the seventieth week of Daniel’s prophecy, as the church is not a part of the Jewish prophetic timeline (Da 9:24-27).

Therefore, the outline of Revelation provided in Revelation 1:19 becomes clear. Revelation 1 spoke of the things that took place. Revelation 2-3 spoke to the seven churches that existed when John wrote Revelation. Chapters 4-19 include the events that will occur during the seventieth week of Daniel’s prophecy, which Daniel 9:27 confirms as a seven- year period. This stays consistent with the first sixty-nine weeks of Daniel’s prophecy, which history established as a literal 483 years. Revelation 19:11-20:10 discusses the second advent of Jesus Christ and the establishment of Christ’s millennial kingdom on earth, followed by the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev 20:11-15), and the formation of the eternal new heaven, new earth, and New Jerusalem (Rev 21:1-22:21).

 

Church Age Saints Removal

The Old Testament Jewish prophetic timeline never discussed the formation of the Church Age. Revelation contains two verses that suggest that the Lord will remove the Church Age saints before the tribulation judgments commence.  “Because you have kept My command to per- severe, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth” (Rev 3:10). John wrote this promise to the church which existed in Philadelphia in Asia Minor. The prophecy indicates that there is coming a trial, or tribulation on the earth, which will incorporate all of the judgments described in Revelation 6-19. The promise is the Church Age saints will not experience the tribulation, as Jesus will remove them prior to the tribulation’s inception.

The apostle John provides a second verse that indicates that the Lord will remove the Church Age saints before God pours out His catastrophic wrath during the seven-year tribulation. “After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, ‘Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this’” (Rev 4:1). John indicates that the Lord will now reveal the third point of Revelation’s three-point outline regarding the prophetic future (Rev 1:19). The Lord called John to “come up here” before the narrative begins. Pretribulation scholars suggest that John’s upward move corresponds to the catching up of all Church Age saints at the rapture (1 Th 4:17). Revelation 1-3 uses the word church nineteen times. However, Revelation does not use the word church again until chapter 22 verse 16, where it states, “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”

 

Judgments in Revelation (Rev 4:2-19:21)

John reveals that four sets of judgments will take place on the earth during the seven-year tribulation: the seal, trumpet, thunder, and bowl judgments. Each judgment describes a specified outcome.  However, Revelation describes multiple judgments in symbolic terms, such as the first four seal judgments, where white, red, pale, and black horses pro- vide a colorful picture of the wrath of God that He will pour out on the earth. Scripture reveals that over fifty percent of the earth’s population will die in just two of the recorded judgments (Rev 6:9; 9:18). Matthew 24:22 concludes that if the Lord did not confine the time of the tribulation to the seven-year period, no person would survive. This provides a terrifying scenario for those who reject Christ during the Church Age and will enter the tribulation.

Yes, God used symbols to describe His literal judgments. Attempting to spiritualize the judgments simply leads to confusion and discounts the warnings God provided. Altering God’s warnings by spiritualizing the text is anathema.

 

Christ’s Second Advent & His Kingdom

Three main positions exist regarding the concept of the kingdom of God on earth including the premillennial, amillennial, and postmillennial positions.  One of the most popular views is the amillennial view, which spiritualizes the concept of Christ’s kingdom on earth.  Cairns summarizes the amillennial position as follows. Amillennialism is “the theory that there will be no thousand- year period of great spiritual blessing before the Lord Jesus returns, and no thousand-year reign of Christ on earth after His return. Thus, in Revelation 20 the multiple references to the thousand years are spiritualized to convey the idea of completeness or perfection.”[9]

A second, and less accepted, position is postmillennialism. Cairn provides a simple explanation of the position. Postmillennialism is “the belief that Christ’s second coming will be preceded by the Millennium, a golden age of gospel blessing upon the ministry of the church. At Christ’s coming there will be the general resurrection, the general judgment, followed by the creation of the new heavens and the new earth, and the eternal state.”[10]

The position that incorporates the literal interpretation is the premillennial position. Premillennialism concludes that the second advent of Jesus Christ occurs at the end of the seven-year tribulation (Rev 19:11-21) and before Jesus Christ inaugurates His millennial kingdom on earth (Rev 20:1-10). This position is the only one that takes the plethora of prophetic Scriptures regarding Christ’s kingdom on earth literally.  Premillennialism makes passages such as Isaiah 11:6–9, which speaks of literal peace on earth, possible. “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”

 

Eternity Future

Will there be a new heaven, new earth, and a New Jerusalem as pro- claimed by the prophet Isaiah and the apostle John (Isa 65:17-25; 66:22-24; Rev 21:1-22:5)? Peter reveals, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.  Therefore, since all these things will be dis- solved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness” (2 Pe 3:10-11). The future destruction of the present environment mandates the need for its future literal replacement.

Spiritualizing the Scriptures leads to a manmade interpretation of God’s infallible word (2Ti 3:16). The apostle  John warned that adding to or taking  away from God’s word carries a significant judicial penalty: “For I testify to  everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these  things, God will add to him the plagues  that are written in this book; and if any- one takes away from the words of the book  of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy  city, and from the things which are written in this book” (Rev 22:18-19). During the Church Age, the Holy Spirit seals those who received the gift of eternal life by placing their faith in Jesus alone for salvation (Eph 4:30). However, the admonition is clear. The interpreter of Revelation is not to spiritualize God’s word. God said what He meant and meant what He said. The Bible student must determine the literal meaning God intended when He wrote the original texts. Here we stand. We cannot, we must not be moved.

 

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ENDNOTES

[1] Alan Cairns, Dictionary of Theological Terms (Greenville: Ambassador Emerald International, 2002), 207.

[2] Roy B. Zuck, Basic Bible Interpretation (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 1991), 76-77, 241.

[3] Abner Chou, The Hermeneutics of the Biblical Writers (Grand Rapids: Kregel Academia, 2018), 13.

[4] Zuck, Basic Bible Interpretation, 243.

[5] Cairns, Dictionary of Theological Terms, 34.

[6] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2 (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1996), 570.

[7] Gleason L. Archer, Jr., Daniel, vol.7, The Expositors Bible Commentary, ed. Frank E. Gabelein (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1985), 112.

[8] Sir Robert Anderson, The Coming Prince (Grand Rapids: Kregel Classics, 1957), 128.

[9] Cairns, Dictionary of Theological Terms, 16.

[10] Ibid., 334.