Seven Myths about the Book of Revelation
Some common misconceptions
The end of the world is near! The prophecies of the Bible are coming true right now! The beast is alive! The Covid Passport is 666! The Great Reset is the one world government! Russia is using Ukraine as a staging ground for invading Israel! The war in Israel is the precursor to Armageddon!
Many current headlines and stories and memes are meant to trigger fear and many use the book of Revelation in the Bible to help stoke that fear.
Can the last book of the Bible bear all of the weight placed on it?
Is the book of Revelation a prophetic prediction book or something else?
Are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse meant to be taken literally?
What are the Seven Seals and the Seven Trumpets and the Seven Bowls?
What’s with the Dragon and the Beast and the great Prostitute or Harlot?
The questions people have about the book of Revelation seem endless and so do the explanations.
The book of Revelation or “the Apocalypse” may be the most difficult book of the Bible to understand, and maybe the most difficult piece of literature ever composed.
The language of Revelation is all around us, but a good understanding of the book is almost non-existent.
Much of what we read or hear about Revelation is untrue.
So the first thing to understand about the book of Revelation is that it can be read the wrong way and often is.
Though there are more, today I explain seven misunderstandings (aka “myths) about the Book of Revelation.
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Myth #1 Prophecy is only about the future (and that future is now).
The vast majority of people think of prophecy as the prediction of the future. The end-times preachers and teachers say that Revelation can only be understood now after 2000 years.
My question is, why have people been reading the book of Revelation in the mean time?
It is a myth that prophecy is only about predicting the future.
Prediction of the future may be part of prophecy but not the main thing.
In the Bible, prophecy is simply speaking or writing words from God. “Thus says the Lord” is one of the common phrases in the Old Testament when a prophet spoke to those around him.
The Book of Revelation is no different.
John of Patmos, the author of the book of Revelation, was simply recording what he saw and heard in his visions. Those visions may be about the future, but they were deemed prophecy because they came from God.
When we read Revelation as prophecy, we realize that John is simply writing what he was told and John wrote it down for his own readers.
The prophecy was for John’s own time, but it has shown itself to be a prophecy for every generation.
Myth #2 Everything in Revelation is literal
Revelation has so many picture elements: Creatures, the Lamb, the Beast, the Dragon, A Scroll with Seven Seals, Four Horses with riders, Stars, Volcanoes and Earthquakes, Locusts, and so many others.
Though John’s situation in the first century was very literal, the elements in his visions were just that: what he saw in his visions, not what he could see or feel physically around him.
Though very different, Revelation can be compared to fantasy novel or a sci-fi graphic novel.
The pictures are bizarre or fantastic, but they have meaning, meaning that derived from his very physical circumstances and his very real faith.
The visions were real like dreams are real—we know we dreamed something, but when we awake, the best we can do is ask, what did I see and maybe what did that mean?
John intends for us to do the same thing with the images in his visions.
Every word of Revelation has meaning, but the meaning is not the images themselves, but what the images point toward.
The Lamb standing as though slain in Revelation 5 was not a literal lamb but obviously an image that characterized the very real crucified and risen Jesus.
Another good example is the Dragon, a mystical creature of power and danger. The dragon in Revelation is fiery red and has seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns.
John of Patmos tells us exactly who the Dragon is—Satan or the Devil, the great power of personified evil in the world. But John also calls Satan the ancient serpent. Was he a seven headed dragon or a serpent? Both. John wants us to consider the characteristics of both this dragon and serpent and apply them to Satan who he also calls the Deceiver of the whole inhabited world.
Underneath the image is something literal, but not the image itself.
Myth #3 Everything in Revelation is symbolical
This myth is the very opposite of #2. A reaction to the literalism of #2 is to claim that everything in Revelation is symbolical.
That is not the case either.
When John wrote Revelation, he knew that Jesus had died literally, that the seven churches were literally there, that some Christians were literally dying for their faith, that he was literally on Patmos.
Though the images in his visions in Revelation may contain symbols and symbolic language, the symbolism itself is grounded in the violence and sin that he witnessed personally, and in the literal incarnation, life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus.
Myth #4 Revelation is best read with CNN or end-times preachers
TV preachers and “prophecy experts” are notorious for getting in front of their audience and proclaiming that the prophecies in Revelation are unfolding before our eyes. They often give a specific date for the return of Jesus.
Again and again, these purveyors of the end-times proclaim that the wars and disasters on the front page of the New York Times or the rolling CNN headlines in the airport are triggering the final events of Revelation.
In my 60+ years on this earth, I’ve heard it countless times—from various wars with Israel, to the gas-lines of the 70s, to the Iranian revolution, to the founding of the European Union, to the first Iraqi war, to 9/11, to Russia invading Ukraine (and Crimea before that), and now to another war in Israel, preachers have predicted that the end-time clock has begun!
Guess what?
They have all been wrong.
But the next time something happens, they are back at it.
Next time you hear one of them, turn it off.
The book of Revelation has a lot to say about current times, but only when you understand that Revelation has always had a lot to say, not just for today.
Myth #5 Revelation is meant to scare people
John of Patmos was actually doing the opposite.
John was writing to seven churches in Asia Minor (modern day western Turkey).
His purpose was to give them assurance that no matter how bad things might get, God already knows, and He will be victorious over evil in the end.
John wrote that those of faith were already sealed by God, not with the mark of the beast.
Revelation is a book of hope.
Of course, for those who were not Jesus followers, the news was not good; there is a clear message of judgment for those who followed the Beast.
If they were scared, then John would have been glad because they might repent, but his main purpose was one of hope now and for a heavenly home in the future.
Myth #6 Revelation is a code that must be unlocked.
Animals, numbers, monsters; all are a part of Revelation.
Many interpreters tell us that there is an elaborate code connected to the Old Testament (the 39 books of the Hebrew or Jewish Bible), especially the prophets Daniel and Zechariah.
If you understand the code then you can understand what is coming and when.
Granted, John knew the Old Testament backwards and forwards and he used it in many ways.
But there is no secret code, only the symbolism of the book itself.
That symbolism is easy enough to understand, and I will write on the symbols in this series on Revelation.
Take most of the charts and time-lines you’ve seen with a grain of salt.
The basic ideas of Revelation were introduced by Jesus in his teachings and passed on by others like the Apostle Paul. That is a better place to start.
Myth #7 Nobody can understand Revelation until today.
Hogwash.
When John of Patmos sent Revelation to the Seven Churches of Asia, he expected his readers and listeners to understand what he wrote, and they did.
The Roman Empire was the Beast, just like Babylon had been the beast hundreds of years before.
Since then many beasts have appeared—every time some leader thinks he is God and wants to conquer and control others.
The beauty of the book of Revelation is that it has spoken to every generation because John of Patmos saw how the world works, and gave people hope that God would deliver them from all the evil that the Devil could throw at them.
We can understand the book of Revelation today, but it is silly to think that we are the only ones who can and that no one prior to us has.
Revelation in Plain Sight
Though some or even many may not agree with my “myths,” I believe the way to understand the Book of Revelation is to take it for what it says it is: an Apocalypse, a Letter, and a Prophecy.
I will address each of these in the days ahead and much more.
I love the book of Revelation.
I love reading it, thinking about it, teaching it, and using it to make sense of our world today and I have much more to say about this amazing last book of the Bible.
I hope you will join me on this journey.
A word about free and paid subscriptions.
If you have found In Plain Sight to be insightful and useful to you, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription. As a self-employed individual, I depend on every penny that comes in from my various writing, teaching and woodworking gigs, including income from this Substack. And again, thank you to you who have done so.
As with the Sermon on the Mount, much of what I publish here on Revelation will be available for all—I want as many people as possible to understand Revelation.
But for paid subscribers I will not only continue with substantive comments on the Greek text of Revelation, but add more information on various approaches to Revelation, for instance, millennial views or views on the rapture. I also plan to give background material on apocalyptic literature and other New Testament text that speak to the same ideas as Revelation. Some of these will come in separate posts.
As always, please feel free to comment on any post. I love to debate too!