|
Speaking of
Brother West’s book, I thought this section of this paragraph
was worth sharing with you from the book. Again, it talks
about both the misunderstanding, and the idea of the book being
difficult, and also some of the misinterpretation or misuse of the
book. Brother West writes in his book and says, “It
does appear that the study of the book of
Revelation is the most neglected of all the books
of the Bible. There are at least two reasons for this
neglect: Number 1, the misuse and abuse of the study, and,
Number 2, the incomplete understanding of the nature of the
book. There is probably no book of the Bible as abused and
misused in its study, interpretation and application as the book of
Revelation. Many would-be students of the
book become discouraged when they go to the commentaries on
Revelation and find that seldom do two
commentators agree as to the meaning of a passage. There are
so many different interpretations of the passage that the inquiring
student wonders if the commentators are commentating on the same
passage in the same book. Often a commentator, or someone
else, will go to a passage to prove what he or she already
believes, and not to learn what the passage teaches. Some
would-be students move John out of
Revelation and move themselves in.
The technical term for this [moving one’s self in] is
“eisegesis,” as opposed to “exegesis,”
which is to learn what the passage teaches, and not what the
eisegete [the person who moves himself/herself in] wants to
teach. In reality, the eisegetical commentator has moved John
out and moved himself in. The important thing to know is:
What do John and the text say? The best way
to study the book of Revelation is through first century
glasses, a phrase the writer of this book [and that
is Brother West] coined decades ago. The late C. H. Dodd of
Cambridge University, a New Testament scholar of world-renown,
stated that, in essence, the first responsibility of the student,
teacher or preacher of the New Testament is to sit with the author
of any New Testament passage to learn what he had in mind, and then
sit with those to whom he wrote and see what they understood the
author to say. This is the bottom line in studying and
teaching the book of Revelation.”
Well, I
thought that passage was worth sharing. The phrase,
“through first century glasses,” is, as a matter of
fact, the title of Brother West’s book on
Revelation—Revelation Through First Century Glasses.
In other words, we should be looking at the book with the
perspective of those who would have read it in the 1st
Century. We are going to attempt to do that as we go along
here.
There are
SIX REASONS WHY WE SHOULD STUDY THE BOOK OF
REVELATION.
FIRST of all, it is the Word of
God. That, in and of itself, should give us enough reason to
read, to study, and to understand. The book of
Revelation is unique and
it is powerful in the way it claims divine
authorship for itself, and, therefore, it deserves
our sincerest study. This can be seen in the very way that
the book begins. “The Revelation of Jesus Christ,
which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must
shortly take place. [And He sent and signified it by His
angel to His servant John,…]”
Revelation 1:1.
SECOND, the book of
Revelation promises a blessing to all
who will hear and take its message to heart.We
see this promise emphasized a number of times throughout the book,
and it stresses our great need to study its message
carefully. Note in verse 3,
“Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the Words of
this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for
the time is near.” Then over in chapter
22, verse 7, are the Words of Jesus Himself:
“Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the
Words of the prophecy of this book.”
THIRD, the book of
Revelation is God’s last Word to
the church that one reads about in the Bible, and,
therefore, it becomes an invaluable Message. Think about
that—God’s last Message to
the church!
FOURTH, the book of Revelation
has a Divine Message for all those who suffer for the
sake of Christ and His church. Much of the
theme of the book of Revelation is about
suffering, and the victorythat
will belong to the faithful child of God. Such a Message was
needed for that generation there in the 1st Century, but
it is a timeless Message and is still needed for us even today in
the 21st Century and beyond.
FIFTH, the book of Revelation
reveals the end of
history. I think that is an
interesting thought because we think about and we talk a great deal
about history. But here is revealed the end of
history, and it shows that God’s enemies are defeated!
It also shows the Heavenly blessings that await those who remain
faithful—those who are faithful in Christ Jesus,
Revelation 2, verse 10 [“Do not fear any
of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the
devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be
tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful
until death, and I will give you the crown of
life.”]. It reminds me of that song that goes,
“I read the back of the book and we
win!” Here is the back of the book!
We know how the story ends because of what we read in
Revelation!
The
SIXTH reason for studying the book of
Revelation is that it reveals the
glory of God, the glory of Christ, and the glory awaiting us in
Heaven. It tells us—gives us a
glimpse—“unveils,” if you
will—“pulls back the curtain” a little
bit about what Heaven will be like. We read more about
Heaven, and we can understand more about Heaven, from the book of
Revelation than in any other book in the
Bible.
| | | | |
