How to Read Revelation
Originally published on March 7, 2021.
Last Updated on December 26, 2022.
Reading Revelation with understanding and following the instructions is given to us as a blessing.
Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
Revelation 1:3
Revelation also ends with a couple of blessings and a promise.
Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Revelation 22: 7, 14 and 20
Accept the blessings. Read Revelation and ask God for understanding. He will use His Holy Spirit to show you what he wants you to know. It’s really not that mysterious once you get away from the nonsense that churchianity has placed into God’s Word.
To begin: Understand the Who, When and Why.
First of all (and most importantly,) the main purpose of Revelation is found right there in the 1st verse.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass …
Revelation 1:1
It is the revelation of Christ set in the future. While there have been some partial fulfillments of some prophecies, the bulk of this book has yet to happen. Jesus Christ has not come back yet. Every eye has not beheld Him. The earth has not yet seen the wrath of God. This is a futuristic book. The events found here have not happened yet.
It is the revelation of Jesus Christ, not the Jews as some would have us believe. It is not about finding the lost tribes of Israel. The main topic is not even about punishment, even though the majority of the book is taken up describing the judgements. It’s about Christ coming back to the earth in power and might and how He will set up His kingdom here. It is HIS revelation.
God wants us to be watching for His Son’s return. (See Matt 24:42, Mark 13:33, Luke 21:36, 1 Thes 5:6, 1 Peter 4:7. Look these up … we are to be watching for His return. It’s been told to us over and over again.) So, if we are to be watching, we need to know what we should be looking for. This is what Revelation reveals to us.
Literal vs Symbolic
Not everything in Revelation is symbolic. Much of it is meant to be literal.
Some will tell you that everything is symbolic and can only be understood when you know the code … which only they know and can reveal to you. This is Satanic and based in the belief that there is some higher purpose that God is keeping from you. It is the basis of the original lie by the original liar. God is not keeping secrets from us. He gave us Revelation to be understood. He is not trying to trick us or keep us in the dark. He wants us to take the whole of the Bible and see how everything fits together by summing it all up in Revelation.
So, when reading Revelation, simply assume everything is literal unless it is obviously symbolic. (Not the other way around.)
When you read that hail and fire mingled with blood rained down on the earth and that 1/3 of the trees and all the grass were burnt up (Rev 8:7,) you can assume this is literal and true. This has happened before (as a judgement on Sodom and Gomorrah.) It is possible, and you can be assured it will literally happen again.
When you read about something that uses the words ‘as’ or ‘like,’ you can assume that something is being described using an adjective (descriptive term.) The thing is not the adjective but is something LIKE the adjective. For instance, ‘His head and his hairs were white like wool’ (Revelation 1:14.) You can assume that they are white and possibly looked like wool but were not actually wool. Or, ‘his voice as the sound of many waters’ (Revelation 1:15.) This is not about water. It’s not some mysterious symbolic thing. It is simply a description of what His voice sounded like. (To me, this would be like a roaring waterfall, reverberating and thundering.)
Finally. When something is a physical impossibility, you can safely assume it is symbolic of something. ‘And out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword’ (Revelation 1:16.) Jesus is not walking around with a sword growing out of His mouth. This is symbolic of the power of His voice. It is clearly symbolic as it does not make sense as a physicality.
Chronology
Jumping around and grabbing bits and pieces has been a favorite technique of those who try to find hidden meaning in everything … secrets that only they can know. More Satanic influence.
When you read ‘after this’ or ‘after these things,’ these are chronological markers. Don’t assume God is trying to fool you. When He says something will happen after something else, believe Him. When He numbers things, you can assume this is also a chronology; an order of events.
Don’t try to put chronology into Revelation where there is none to be found. A favorite of Dispensationalists is to make the letters to the 7 churches to be some sort of chronology of history and that each letter is describing a ‘church age’ (not a biblical term.) It’s trying to fit God’s Word into a man-imagined system. Don’t do it. Don’t read into God’s Word something that is not there. The letters to the 7 churches are just that: letters. There are no chronological words or markers from church to church.
Gods Order and Divisions in Revelation
There are a couple of two-part divisions in the book of Revelation.
Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;
Revelation 1:19
This is the order that God instructed John to put Revelation into:
- Past = has seen
- Present = things which are
- Future = things which shall be hereafter
What’s interesting is, when we take this order of instruction, we find it as a pattern that was repeated twice in Revelation. This is the first ‘two-part division’ that we will look at.
Chapters 1 to 11 follow the past, present, future pattern and then beginning at Chapter 12 we find Revelation beginning with the past again. So, if you read Revelation with this in mind you will find that you have the same past, present and future written twice but with different emphasis and varying details.
The 1st division (Chapters 1 to 11) have a greater amount of detail on the present. The letters addressed to the 7 churches would have been John’s present time and there are 2 chapters dedicated to these.
In the 2nd division (Chapters 12 to 22) we find details of the future events after the final Vial and Trumpet judgements. These details are not found in the 1st division.
When you understand this division, you can begin to flip back and forth and get a fuller picture of what is happening at the same point in time in each section.
The next two part division we should note is: the book of Revelation details a period of about 7 years which are approximately divided in half. The major event about half way through (3 1/2 years in,) is the ‘Day of the Lord.’ We know this is at approximately the half way point from other Scriptures, specifically Daniel.
The Day of the Lord is characterized by Jesus’ coming back to earth in the clouds. Every person on earth will see him. On that day, the sun will be darkened, the moon turn red and stars will fall. Anytime you read of these events happening, you can know this is referring to the Day of the Lord and that it is approximately half way through the seven year period of Revelation.
The 1st 3.5 years of Revelation is properly referred to as ‘the tribulation’ (see Matt 24 for detail on this,) while the 2nd part is called the Wrath of God.
The events of the 1st half of the seven year period on earth are primarily the opening of the seven book seals of judgement on man and are providential in nature. That means they will be ‘natural.’ Wars, famines, disease, etc.
The events of the 2nd 3.5 years on earth detail the trumpet and the vial judgements. These appear to run concurrently and are mostly un-natural events. These are the wrath of God executed by Jesus and are put on the unbelieving people who are on earth. This will not be a good time for any still here.
OK. Read Revelation.
With these few basic understandings about what the book is about and how it is divided up, begin reading.
I would advise that you read the whole book through one time to get a feel for how it is written. Then read it again, but take the time to begin to compare the two parts. Flip back and forth as you read and picture what is being described.
A third reading can then be done with a notebook in hand. Note how the same events are written twice looking for the commonalities between the two parts. Compare and blend the descriptions together to get a fuller picture of what is happening.
Finally, with these notes, you’ll be able go through the other Scriptures that detail the events of this time period and know exactly what they are talking about and where they fit into the timeline.
Would love to hear your thoughts and comments.