The main difficulties lie in the fact that the meaning of the book in communicated in terms of symbols which are alien to our culture hence makes it difficult for us to interpret because we don’t have the background. The symbols seem to us bizarre and fantastical and easily lend themselves to misinterpretation. These symbols are also presented in a series of visions which we will naturally take as a chronological sequence of historical events but we run into difficulties as these visions comprise of repetitive symbols. The last difficulty is how do we correlate these visions with events in history for it to make sense and relevance to our daily lives?

Hence when we read the book and come across a “beast” in Revelations 14 or the 4 “horsemen” in Revelations 6 are they literal or symbolise some entity?

When we hear the saints suffering for 3 1/2 years or 40 months are these literal time frames or are the numbers symbolic of some time period yet unknown to us. When we read of white robes “washed in the blood the lamb” how on earth can a robe made of white cloth be washed clean by red blood???

How can Jesus be both a Lion and a Lamb? How much of the writing is to be taken literally and how much of it is symbolic?

Then how do we interpret the symbols? Do we use our contemporary understanding or do we try to take a historical perspective of the first recipients of the letter in AD 90?

These symbols will seem bizarre to us as we in today’s world are totally unaccustomed to these every day imagery of life which happened 2-300 years ago. The error of many authors is to have re-interpreted these ancient symbols by noting their corresponding similarity to images and events of today’s modern world. This is not how Scripture is to be interpreted as doing this will be anachronistic.

Let me give you an example
Paul writes in Romans 1: 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation.

The Greek word for power is “dunamis” hence a modern interpreter will easily think Paul is referring to “dynamite” and then will understand the gospel in its explosive power for salvation. This is not accurate because when Paul wrote the letter he had no idea of what dynamite is and did not choose to use that word with that meaning in mind. We will have to therefore find out in historical record what Paul understood “dunamis “ meant in his world and his time. Our interpretation of “dunamis” as dynamite is anachronistic.

So the difficulties we have encountered through the centuries is reading it within the framework of our current culture and time frame and coming up with all sorts of fancy interpretations and predictions of the future which can be both scary and misleading to many of our readers.

The other issue is directly assigning events of history to the events predicted in the book of Revelations. John was never specific in his referencing of these events but some authors have taken the liberty to assigning the various events of the Tribulations to events of history either the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem in AD 70 or events in Reformation history where the beast referred to in Revelations was understood as the Pope at the time . Hence some authors have taken the liberty of directly correlating events in history to specific symbols in the books of Revelations and caused confusion and crazy predictions of what will happen in the end times.

These attempts have either cause people to shy back from reading the book and being blessed by it or on the opposite end of the spectrum have bought into these imagine timelines and events with tragic effects when the end of the world has not materialised as envisaged by these authors.

Lastly, are all the event portrayed by the symbols like the 7 seals, 7 trumpets and 7 bowls consecutive historical events or are they recurrent themes of the same event ? How one approaches this question will also alter how one should read the book.

The main difficulties with the book of Revelations come from its nature. It is an apocalypse …which is a direct revelation of God as to things and events that have so far been unknown to the church. It is the unveiling of a mystery…in Greek “musterion” which is something not previously revealed. It is not something one can deduce or guess or discover on one’s own like Sherlock Holmes in the modern understanding of the word mystery…but “musterious” needs to be revealed.

Paul uses it in Eph 3 :(ESV) 6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. What was not previously known but now revealed to Paul was that the Gentiles would share in salvation and all of God’s promises with Israel through Jesus as shown in the gospel.

The key Old Testament example of apocalyptic prophecy is in Daniel and revelations is anchored in Daniel 2.

Daniel 2: 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: 29 To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. 45 just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”

Just as in Daniel King Nebuchadnezzar received dreams about the future which could not be understood but had to be revealed to him by Daniel to be interpreted. The dreams came in bizarre imagery with beasts and statues which in Daniel’s case were symbols which required interpretation which is why the poor king could not make head of tail of them nor could any of his courtiers. He required the prophet Daniel to unveil what was God trying to reveal to the king.

In the same way the difficulties in the book of Revelations are the same of Daniel as the book is full of symbols

Revelations 1: 1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw

The Greek is Semaino ..translated as “made it known” which is the same word used in the Greek version of the passage in Daniel 2:28-29 The word can also be translated as “communicated or symbolised “

So the nature of Revelations is similar to the nature of the book of Daniel and many of the symbols or imagery is repeated here. How we are to interpret the imagery is to go back to the similar kind of literature in the bible and use these as keys to interpreting Revelations rather than to use modern examples

There are about 278 out of the 404 verses in the book of Revelations have a reference to the Old Testament. The apocalyptic prophecies of Daniel, Ezekiel , Haggai, Zechariah, Joel and second half of Isaiah provide a rich background for which the symbols of Revelations can be read and understood as the first recipients of John’s Revelations would have been familiar with these books as it was their bible at the time and hence when John writes about the beast they would have immediately been familiar with the beast in Daniel. When John writes of the “Son of Man” the recipients would have immediately been familiar with Daniel 7 the Son of Man receiving dominion from the Ancient of Days.

So knowing that Revelations is apocalyptic in nature allows us to safely interpret the symbols with some accuracy and some historical basis.

There are other feature of Apocalyptic books.
They provide a God’s eye view of events on the ground. It’s like walking in the midst of mid town traffic overwhelmed by the noise and hustle and confusion of life in the trenches and then we climb up the 60th floor of the tallest building in KL and we see the same scene but from a bird’s eye view and the way we see things will come from a different perspective. The apocalyptic books endeavour to give us a God’s eye view of life and its problems.

The Visions in apocalyptic books are fantastical and unreal. The view of the future is often seen as something new brought by God directly as opposed by other biblical books like Esther where God is cast as deliberately silent but not absent because the seemingly impossible sequences of co-incidences ultimately point to the hand of God who is apparently silent but not absent. Revelations and apocalyptic books are completely opposite where God’s hand is seen directly behind human events.

Apocalyptic books are generally pessimistic about current conditions and place all hope in divine intervention and thus they encourage Jews during difficult times so the preserve their hope of the glory of their nation.

They also contain elements of judgement of surrounding nations and in the Old Testament like in Ezekiel they prophesy about the return from exile and Jews to rule from Jerusalem of all nations Apocalyptic books tend to be straight forward in its judgments of people and events it is either black n white not nuanced. The people have either the mark of the beast or the seal of God on their forehead whilst narratives like Genesis takes are deep dive in to the back ground of its characters like Abraham full of faith but deeply flawed, like Jacob the father of the 12 tribes of Israel but had a dubious character. What about David described as a man after God’s heart but was also a deeply flawed adulterer and murderer.

We should endeavor to study because it is the Word of God and meant directly to be communicated to His church and is relevant to us even today despite some of the difficulties involved in gaining a complete understanding of it. The book allow us to unmask the rival powers at work in our world to gain some insight into the turbulent nature of our world affairs and politics. We will understand that despite the gargantuan forces that rule the world and crush all opposition persecuting the church, God is still firmly in total sovereign control. Hence the book reassures us gives us comfort in difficult tumultuous times.

Imagine living in Cambodia years ago when Pol Pot ruled and being marched off in to the countryside in his crazed back to year zero policy and witnessing wholesale genocide all around and the disappearance of all semblance of civility. The book of Revelations will suddenly seem so relevant because each tribulation unleashed by the Beast and his cohorts us understood as being permitted by God for a purpose and that He seals and protects His own despite the carnage. The book reveals what God means by sealing and protection and this gives comfort.

The book gives us understanding of what true victory is in life that it is not overcoming by the might of intellect or force of arms it is overcoming by the blood of the Lamb which is the Centre of God’s world. Our victory is patterned and based on what the Lamb did. The worship of Jesus in Rev 5 highlights this as Jesus is portrayed both as the Lion and the Lamb.

Finally the book gives us a wonderful glimpse into the world to come , the new heavens and new earth and the final destination for both sinner and saint which is vital to ground the way we live today because if we do not have this hope firmly entrenched in our minds we will not be able to live victoriously and make our live count today.

It is Apocalyptic book

Revelations 1: 1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw

The word is “Revelation” is apocalypse which means it is the unveiling of something that has not yet been known by the church but now revealed by God. The technical term is apocalypse hence the book lies within the genre and traditions of other similar books in the bible from which we can use to help understand this book

Daniel 2: 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: 29 To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. 45 just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”

The nature of apocalyptic books is that is is comprise of symbols that will need to be carefully interpreted and it tells of events in the future.

It is prophecy

John writes (ESV) 1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

The disclosure or apocalypse of these mysteries is also a prophecy in the sense that they will reveal events future to its readers in John’s time

It is a pastoral letter

Rev 1: 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

Rev 1: 4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne

As you can see from the passage it takes the form of a letter as John writes to the seven churches. The greetings of “grace and peace” are the usual of many of Paul’s letters and the letter is meant to bless the churches.

Hence however way we read the book it is not about fancy speculations of the future but what is written has a specific purpose for its readers then and now to bless us which will happen then its readers hear it and act on it. The blessing does not come it is speculated on to titillate the imagination or to start endless debates and controversies splitting the church. The blessings come when its readers take heed of this warnings and act on it. Place the hope of future events in their hearts and the silent unseen sovereignty of God behind world events as spiritual comfort.

Hence the book of revelations is a book which is a revelation from God of things previously not known, it is a prophecy in the sense that it will tell us of what will happen in the future which will be relevant to the church firstly the seven churches in Asia Minor and also to the church today. It is a letter in church the aim is pastoral to strengthen the faith , to correct and put on the right path God’s people as they face the onslaught of persecution.

Prologue (Rev 1:1-20)
Letter to the 7 churches (Rev 1:21-3)
The Majesty of God (Rev 4-5)
The Seven Seals (Rev 6-8a)
The Seven Trumpets (Rev 8:6-11:19)
Deeper Conflict (Rev 12:1-15:4)
The Seven Bowls (Rev 15:5-16-21)
The Final Judgment (Rev 17-19)
The Millennium (Rev 20)
The New Creation (Rev 21-22:5)
The Epilogue (Rev 22:6-21)

The visions given in the book of revelations are given in a definitive sequence but because many of the elements of these visions are repetitive it would be hard to conclude that the sequence of the visions is meant to indicate the sequence of events in chronological order. Each of the symbols used like the seals and trumpets and bowls indicate divine judgment and calamity but their nature is similar so they tend to be repetitive but the extent and severity is gradually ratcheted up with each progressive symbol when we move from the seals to the trumpets to the final devastation of the bowls.

The pale horse in Rev 6 :8 And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth. He kills 1/4 world.

The 6th trumpet in Rev 9: 18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths.

By Rev 9 1/3 mankind is killed off.
The 7th bowl Rev 16: 19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found.

The devastation is far more severe in this final bowl.

The picture of judgement is repeated in Rev 6-7,14, 16, 17-18 19, 20 it cannot be sequential as there will not be anyone left to judge.

Look at the judgment of Rev 14 (ESV) 19 So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.

The blood of the killed flows out in a river 5 feet deep for thousands and thousands of miles and yet there is more judgment in Rev 17-18 19

It is more likely that the visions are a recap of judgement seen from different angles with a progressive ratcheting up of severity with each new symbol.

Another clue is the dynamics of the beast as it is introduced as rising out of the sea in Rev 13 but in Rev 11 it is already present attacking the church hence the sequence of visions cannot be the sequence of events Lastly Babylon is introduced in Rev 17 as a woman sitting on a scarlet beast but in Rev 14 and 16 it is destroyed. If the visions were to indicate chronological sequence then the beast should be introduced first not in Rev 17 but before Rev 14 and 16.

Once we have decided that the visions are a series of re-capitulation then we are relieved of the burden of trying to pin down the various judgments to real world events. Other wise we would be tempted to say the horsemen were operating in World War 1 and the Great Leap Forward by Mao must have been the 7th bowl of judgment.

The first is the futurist position which states these events of the judgment of the 4 horsemen, trumpets and bowls are in the future and they are a much more intensification of the trials we have already experienced. There are those who believe in the Rapture where Christians will be caught up in the clouds with Christ before the Tribulation and be spared the suffering and those who believe the Rapture will occur after the Tribulation and hence will have to suffer side by side with non-believers.

Those who take the first view of this position will bear comfort in being spared the suffering of the Tribulation by the Rapture but the trouble is one can easily see from the course of human history that suffering and persecution is very much part of the landscape of the Christian life and a view that isolates the Christian from such an expectation would place the believer in a vulnerable position when suffering does occur.

The second position is that these events have already taken place in the past historically with the main event with the fall of Rome in the first millennium after Christ and we are living way past the tribulations.

This again like the previous view would place the believer in a vulnerable position when suffering does occur. The third position is that we are now experiencing the tribulations of Rev 6-19 with some believing that the various events in church history have already played out as predicted in Revelations and the antichrist or the beast was the Pope. The other position is in the same vein is that the tribulations of Revelations 6-19 are continually being played out throughout history with atrocity after atrocity being ratcheted up as man kills man in an ever industrial scale. The message is the same throughout every age that is to persevere and trust that God is in control and Revelations has shown that it is in accordance to His plan and we have to wait for Him to act with finality with the final coming of Christ.

The first view of this position poses difficulties as there is no certainty with which we can safely pin point historical events to the various symbols of judgment in Revelations hence this view is not helpful any may even cause believer to spend endless hours speculating and even being involved with political activities to bring about these events though political means.

The second view is much better as it will fulfill the pastoral purpose for which revelations was written to prepare and preserve His people in the tribulations of this world