Dr. Steve Lawson preaches on Revelation Chapter 4:

Article by Gary Demar: original source – https://americanvision.org/posts/where-to-begin-with-the-book-of-revelation/

So often New Testament books are interpreted without reference to the Old Testament even though they are written against the backdrop of the Old Testament (e.g., Matt. 24:29–31). Try interpreting the book of Hebrews without reference to the Old Testament. It’s impossible. The same is true for Revelation. Revelation cannot be understood against the backdrop of the 21st century even though it applies to every day, week, month, year, decade, century, and millennium. James B. Jordan writes:

Revelation is not as difficult as you may think it is. It’s only difficult if you don’t know the Old Testament and that’s what makes it difficult for especially 20th-century people. Then in the past, it’s been difficult for that reason because so often New Testament books are interpreted without reference to the Old.

However, Revelation climaxes everything in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, and alludes to every book in the Old Testament one way or another. In a sense, the only way to do justice to Revelation is to study the whole Bible while you’re studying Revelation….

Revelation draws extremely heavily on Exodus…. There’s a whole series of plagues that are the same as the plagues on Egypt. There’s a calling out, there’s a going out, and there’s a destruction of Egypt. There’s an attack by Amalek on the Saints once they’re out of Egypt, just as an Exodus.

The book draws extremely heavily on Leviticus…. [T]he outline of Revelation follows the Calendar of the Feasts in Israel from Leviticus 23, and that’s one of the most basic structuring devices in the book. It alludes to the Song of Solomon. The bride is made ready and the Song of Solomon ends, hasten my beloved, the book of Revelation ends “Come Lord Jesus,” language very similar in context.

There are references to the book of Esther, the deliverance of God’s people from attack. The battle of Gog and Magog. Gog and Magog in Ezekiel is based on the book of Esther. …

At the end of Daniel, Daniel was told to seal up a book of prophecies [Dan. 12:4] that take us right down to where Revelation starts, and in Revelation, that book is unsealed. [“And (the angel) said to (John), ‘Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near’” (22:10).] The book that’s sealed in Daniel is unsealed in Revelation. In a sense, Revelation is part two of Daniel.

Revelation contains citations or allusions to most of the books of the OT, and in some ways all the books of the OT. Depending on how you count, there are hundreds (some say more than 500) connections, most of which are from the prophetic books — Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel in particular. Of the Minor Prophets, references to Zechariah, Joel, Amos, and Hosea are most common. Of the books of the Pentateuch, the greatest use is made of Exodus, and of the poetic sections, Psalms (see on Luke 24:27, 44). Louis Vos writes:

The Apocalyptist’s use of the Old Testament materials is without parallel or equal in the New Testament writings. The Apocalyptist employs not only real testament figures of speech and the symbols but also the very phraseology and wording of the Old Testament itself. This is not to say that the Apocalyptist simply compiled an anthology of current Old Testament visions and sayings. His purpose and intentions prohibited this. The Apocalyptist was not intent on making a collection from the past writings; he was offering hope and comfort for the future in the language of the past.

Although various authors have adduced certain passages of the apocalypse as “quotations” from the Old Testament, it must be concluded that the apocalyptist does not once strictly quote the Old Testament….

Even though there is much Old Testament material in the apocalypse, it is evident from the methodology of John that he is not quoting the Old Testament. Rather he is using it, employing its words and pictures, its terminology and descriptive phrases to present an intelligible account of an indescribable experience in a familiar language. The absence of any formula citandi [words such as “The Lord said,” or “It has been written”] indicates that John does not directly quote any of the Old Testament materials. Nor does he, therefore, give any indication of the source of the material used. This is not, however, necessary because the Old Testament material is never employed to support an argument, to buttress an apology, or to give authoritative basis for the particular teaching. Rather, John merely employs the thought and terminology of the Old Testament as the garb in which to clothe his New Testament vision.[1]

It’s important to note that John is not the author of Revelation. What he sees was revealed to him as a vision. The first hearers (mostly) and readers only had the revealed Word of God as their interpreter. There were no commentaries or access to Ancient Near-eastern Studies. They were aware of an approaching eschatological event that was “near” (James 5:8–9) that would come upon their generation (Matt. 24:34). Their expectation of this soon event was real, and the symbolism was known to them. Consider these parallels with Ezekiel:

1. THRONE VISION (Rev. 4/Ezek. 1).

2. THE BOOK (Rev. 5/Ezek. 2–3)

3. THE PLAGUES (Rev. 6:1–8/Ezek. 5).

4. SLAIN BENEATH THE ALTAR (Rev. 6:9–11/Ezek. 6)

5. WRATH OF GOD (Rev. 6:12–17/Ezek. 7).

6. SEAL ON SAINTS’ FOREHEADS (Rev. 7/Ezek .9)

7. COALS FROM ALTAR (Rev. 8/Ezek. 10).

8. NO MORE DELAY (Rev. 10:1–7/Ezek. 12).

9. EATING THE BOOK (Rev 10:8–11/Ezek. 2)

10. MEASURING THE TEMPLE (Rev. 11:1–2/Ezek. 40–43)

11. JERUSALEM AND SODOM (Rev. 11:8/Ezek. 16)

12. CUP OF WRATH (Rev. 14/Ezek. 23).

13. VINE OF THE LAND (Rev. 14:18–20/Ezek. 15)

14. GREAT HARLOT (Rev. 17–18/Ezek. 16, 23).

15. LAMENT OVER THE CITY (Rev. 18/Ezek. 27)

16. SCAVENGER’S FEAST (Rev. 19/Ezek. 39)

17. FIRST RESURRECTION (Rev 20:4–6/Ezek. 37).

18. BATTLE WITH GOG AND MAGOG (Rev. 20:7–9/Ezek. 38–39)

19. NEW JERUSALEM (Rev. 21/Ezek. 40–48)

20. RIVER OF LIFE (Rev. 22/Ezek. 47)

The only way to do justice to the book of Revelation is to study the whole Bible while studying Revelation since the Bible begins with creation and the Tree of Life (Gen. 2:9) and ends with a new creation and the restoration of the Tree of Life (22:1–7).

The description of the beast in Revelation 13:1–10 and 17:7–14 is based on the prophecies of Daniel 2 and 7. In Revelation 13:1–2, John describes the beast that comes out of the sea. The sea in Revelation 13 is the same as the one in Daniel 7, which represents the Gentile world. It’s no accident that Jesus described His apostles as “fishers of men” (Mark 1:16–18; Matt. 4:19) and spent time in and around bodies of water. “Isaiah prophesied that Galilee would witness a major part of the blessings of the Messiah (Isaiah 9:1–2). Since foreigners dominated it for centuries, the region was called ‘Galilee of the Gentiles.’” It was in Galilee where Jesus’ miracle of the great catch of fish (Luke 5:1–11) took place. This first fish miracle happened at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, and the second took place near the end (John 21:3–11). Both miracles took place on the Sea of Galilee with Peter as the main character. Peter was later chosen to take the gospel to the nations (Acts 9:36–10:1–48). The Great Commission calls on Christians to “make disciples of all the nations” (Matt. 28:19) in terms of God’s moral standard (28:20) even as persecution and tribulation pushback (2 Tim. 3:10–12; 2 Cor. 11:11–33). “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (Rom. 8:35; Acts 14:22).

Revelation is not describing events in the distant future. A first hearer and reader would never have considered such an interpretation, especially when they were told, “the time is near” (1:3; 22:10).

Article https://www.michaeljkruger.com/how-difficult-was-the-book-of-revelations-journey-into-the-canon/

Article: How Should We interpret the Book of Revelation? by Dr. Sam Storms (original source here)

Perhaps the single greatest controversy surrounding Revelation and the most important issue when it comes to interpreting the book, is the question of its structure. Many, perhaps most, evangelicals read Revelation as if it is describing a short period of time that is still in the future. Those who embrace what may be called the futurist view of the book most often will argue that what we have in Revelation 6-19 is a description of events that will take place in the future in a period of seven years they call The Great Tribulation.

And as you know, there are many who insist that Jesus will return and rapture his people out of this world prior to the outpouring of divine judgment in the “Great Tribulation.” The result is that what we read in Revelation 6-19 has little, if any, immediate practical relevance for a lot of Christians. For them it is fascinating to talk about, but it has little impact on how they live. One often hears: “Praise God that I won’t be here for any of this. Jesus will rescue me so that I won’t ever have to suffer what others endure.”

Although I held to this view for many years, I don’t any longer. Now, please understand that I do believe what we read in Revelation 6-19 applies to the end of the age, just before and including the Second Coming of Jesus. But I think it also applies to and describes what happens throughout the entire course of church history, including our own day and age. In other words, I believe Revelation 6-19 (actually 6-20) portrays for us the commonplaces of history spanning the period from the first coming of Jesus all the way through to his second coming.

Think about it this way. You are at a college football game and have been given the privilege of recording on camera the entire game from a variety of different vantage points. So, you place one camera on the 50 yard line, about 10 rows up. It is the perfect vantage point from which to view the game. Whether with your I-phone or some other form of video camera you begin recording everything that occurs, from the opening kickoff through the end of the game.

Now imagine that you are able to record or video tape the same game but from a different place in the stadium. This time your seat is located in the north end zone, about 50 rows up. Instead of viewing the game horizontally, from left to right, or right to left, you record everything vertically, as the action moves away from you, from one end zone near you to the far end zone at the other end of the field. You video tape the same game, the same plays, but the camera in the end zone provides you with a different perspective on how the game unfolds. You see the players spread across the field and can see much more accurately how a play will unfold.

Now imagine that another camera is in the opposite end zone, at the south end of the field. From this vantage point you can see the game moving toward yourself, as your team takes the ball from the far end of the field and gradually moves it toward the end zone directly in front of where you are sitting.

Now, for one more example, suppose another camera is placed in the Goodyear Blimp, hovering overhead and providing an entirely different perspective of how the game unfolds and develops. You are still watching the same game. But from this vantage point, overhead, you will have a recording of how the teams run and pass and eventually move from one end of the field to the other. From this angle in the blimp you can see both teams equally well. You can observe movements of players in a way that no one sitting anywhere in the stadium can.

Now, in each of these positions you would be watching and recording and eventually describing the same game and the same plays and the same events unfold. But your explanation of how the game started and ended would sound somewhat differently every time. But it’s still the same football game, with the same events unfolding, with the same players on both teams, leading to the same outcome.

This would actually greatly enhance your understanding of what happens in the game. You get to watch it from different perspectives, from different vantage points. Each of the cameras provides its own unique contribution to the same game. One camera focuses almost exclusively on the offense, while another focuses on the defense. Yet another camera hones in on only one player, recording every move he makes. And then there is a camera that sets its sights on the coaches and how they interact on the sidelines with their players.

I want to suggest that this is basically what is happening in the book of Revelation. The technical term for this is recapitulation. John the Apostle is, in my opinion, describing the events of this entire present age in which we live. His description covers the expanse of church history from the first coming of Christ in the first century to the second coming of Christ in some later century, perhaps our own. Sometimes he provides a panoramic view of the entire age of church history. At other times he focuses in on one major event or a series of developments. On occasion he may concentrate on telling us about one person or movement in the course of history. Continue reading →

Article by R.C. Sproul (original source I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Rev. 3:20). Usually the evangelist applies this text as an appeal to the unconverted, saying: “Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart. If you open the door, then He will come in.” In the original saying, however, Jesus directed His remarks to the church. It was not an evangelistic appeal.

So what? The point is that seeking is something that unbelievers do not do on their own. The unbeliever will not seek. The unbeliever will not knock. Seeking is the business of believers. Jonathan Edwards said, “The seeking of the Kingdom of God is the chief business of the Christian life.” Seeking is the result of faith, not the cause of it.

When we are converted to Christ, we use language of discovery to express our conversion. We speak of finding Christ. We may have bumper stickers that read, “I Found It.” These statements are indeed true. The irony is this: Once we have found Christ it is not the end of our seeking but the beginning. Usually, when we find what we are looking for, it signals the end of our searching. But when we “find” Christ, it is the beginning of our search.

The Christian life begins at conversion; it does not end where it begins. It grows; it moves from faith to faith, from grace to grace, from life to life. This movement of growth is prodded by continual seeking after God.

In your spiritual walk, are you moving from faith to faith, from grace to grace, from life to life? Are you continually seeking after God?