Good Commentaries On the Book of Revelation?

[texian]

Good Commentaries On the Book of Revelation?

A woman asked me to tell her if there are any good non-dispensationalist Bible commentaries on the Book of Revelation.

I have not used a commentary more recent than that of Adam Clarke (1762–1832).

Lets look, for example, at what John Gill (1697 – 1771) says about
Revelation 13: 3:

"as it were wounded to death;
when the Roman empire was like a burning mountain cast into the sea;
when Rome itself was taken, sacked, and burnt, more than once,
particularly by Totilas; when Augustulus, the last of the emperors,
was obliged to abdicate the throne; when Odoacer called himself, not
emperor of Rome, but king of Italy, and retired from Rome to Ravenna;
and when Adolphus, another Gothic king, thought to have changed the
name of Rome, and given it that of Gothia: this seemed to be a deadly
wound to Rome, to the empire and emperors.

And his deadly wound was healed;
by the setting up of ten kingdoms in it, the kings of which gave them
to the beast, to antichrist, the pope of Rome, and so the empire came
to have an head again, a governor, though of another kind: some choose
to understand this of the wound which antichrist received at the
Reformation, by Luther, Calvin, and others, which has since been
healing, Popery recovering itself again in some countries where it was
driven out, and which, it is thought, will be entirely healed before
his destruction: "

The Calvinists saw the bad guys in the Book of Revelation as being the
Catholics, the Pope, and Rome. Thats not entirely wrong for their
time.

The prophecy in Revelation is written in broad strokes. Everything is
not spelled out like a good college textbook. The Bible does not spoon
feed those fed on milk, and does not spoon feed the unwise virgins.

And - there are two beasts in Revelation 13. One of the keys to
understanding the first beast of verses 1-3 is the reference to
leopard, the bear and the lion in verse 2, which are empires found in
Daniel 7.

OK. The Book of Revelation is not prophecy for the time before the
Cross, but for after the Cross and especially for the last days after
the Cross.

So, which empires are the lion, bear and leopard empires in the modern timeline?

These are the empires that contribute to the first beast. The first
beast has traits of these three empires. But in verse 3 there is a
head of the beast who received a deadly wound that was healed. The
image of the beast is made to the head of the beast whose deadly wound
as healed (verses 14-15).

Verse 12 says the second beast causes people to worship the first
beast whose deadly wound was healed.

There are some cues which can be used to determine what the second
beast is. In verse 11 he has two horns like a lamb but speaks as a
dragon, or like the dragon.

He is a wolf in sheep's clothing, the office of the false prophet,
representing many false prophets.

Since prophecy here is written in broad strokes, it could have more
than one layer. The second beast might also be the church after the
falling away of Ii Thessalonians 2; 3-4 and after the leavening of the
churches in Luke 13:21. And false prophets become worse and lead more
astray during the falling away and leavening of the churches.

Prophecy in Revelation should be consistent. Revelation 17: 1-11 deals
in metaphoric language with false religion, which would include
several, such as early Babylonian religion, or Babylonian mystery
religion, Talmudic Judaism, Roman Catholicism and protestantism in
apostasy.

Then Revelation 18: 4 calls God's people out of Babylon, which
represents the false religion of the modern times or the end times,
after the falling away and the leavening.

To be consistent with Revelation 17 and 18, the first beast whose
deadly wound was healed that the False Prophet causes people to make
an image to or to copy should be something involved with the falling
away and the leavening.

That is, Christians make their own copy of that beast whose deadly
wound was healed. What if that copy is a Christian theology which
honors the beast whose deadly wound was healed. The False Prophet
causes people to worship that beast.

That beast whose deadly wound was healed is something different from
the Christian churches. John Gill thought it was Roman Catholicism.
What other religious system has a protestant theology honored?

You have to take one prophecy at a time in Revelation and yet each one must be consistent with the others. Scripture does not contradict
itself. There are no commentaries that can be relied on to tell us
exactly what each prophecy in the book means. The Holy Spirit is that
source, but he opens the book one prophecy at a time, but to someextent opening one can help open another.

 

[enochson]

Jesus had it right "How can I tell you of heavenly thing when you don't understand the earthy things."

 

[texian]

Over-Allegorization or Over-Literalization of the Book of Revelation. These are the two dominant methods of interpreting the metaphoric book.

Origen made use of broad allegory in interpreting Scripture, and Augustine followed his lead, saying the thousand year reign of Christ in Revelation 20: 1-8 is an allegory of all the church age. Catholics and traditional Calvinists do the same and also say the 144,000 of Revelation 7 and 14 are merely the saved people of the entire church age.

But Origen was part of the Alexandarian school of the 3rd century, and was influenced by Greek philosophy, especially Plato,and the Platonist Philio of Alexandria. Some say that while Origen opposed the Gnosticism of Alexandria, he also saw value in it.

So Origen the follower of Plato and maybe to some extent of Gnosticism, developed a systematic theology which tended to be more abstract that the theology taught by the successors of the Apostles in Antioch, Syria. It may be that this tendency to abstract thinking - which is not exactly the approach of Christ and his apostles - is what led Origen to allegorize scripture the way he did, and to influence Augustine to allegorize.

In Augustine's interpretation of metaphors, visions, and symbols in the
Book of Revelation an event that is predicted to happen in the future
is made into a broad sweeping timeless allegory. In the Amillennial
view the sealing by the Lord of the 144,000 right before the "four
winds" are allowed to blow (Revelation 7: 1) is made to represent all
the saved people of all ages. So for Augustine,and Calvin following him,
the 144,000 can have no function
during the period Christ called the great tribulation in Matthew 24:
21. In fact, in strict Amillennialism, there is to be no period of
the tribulation. In Revelation 7: 1 the "four winds of the earth"
represent the tribulation period.

The use of broad sweeping allegorical interpretations of Scripture is
important in the change from the Historical Premillenialism of the
early church fathers to the Amillennialism of Augustine and the
Catholic Church. This is because the allegorical method of Bible
interpretation originated with the Alexandra, Egypt school,
especially in Origen.

The method of
over-allegorizing was applied to much of end time Bible prophecy,
making it into broad timeless teachings. In the Book of Revelation
there are many specific metaphors, such as the serpents and lucust-scorpions
For example, for Origen the
seven heads of the dragon of Revelation 17: 7 became the seven deadly
sins.

Origen had no interest in identifying the time or the place of the
battle of Armageddon (Revelation 19:11-21), since he claimed that the text
dealt with the triumph of God over sin.

On the 144,000 Origen says ". It is clear,
therefore, that the hundred and forty-four thousand who have not
defiled themselves with women must be made up of those who have come
to the divine word out of the Gentile world. In this way the truth of
the statement may be upheld that the first fruits of each tribe are
its virgins." Although Origen here does not expound on the Amillennial
idea that the 144,000 are saints from all ages, later Amillennialists
have interpretted Revelation 7: 1-8 and 14: 1-5
in this way, which would see no role for these people during the
Tribulation period.

On the other hand, dispensationalism starts from the postulate that the Bible
must be interpreted literally and each verse given a meaning consistent with plain
language. In other words, dispensationalism wants no metaphoric interpretations.

The site http://www.graceonlinelibrary.org/es...william-e-cox/

says "Dispensationalists boast of literal interpretation of
Scripture, and cast aspersions at those who ‘spiritualize’ some
passages of the Bible. Charles C. Ryrie, President of The Philadelphia
College of the Bible, says: (Bibliotheca Sacra, Vol. 114, July, 1957,
p. 254), only dispensationalism provides the key to consistent
literalism."

Hal Lindsey, for example, makes use of the dispensationalist literalist
interpretation of prophecy in suggesting in his book, New World Coming
(1973), that the locusts of Revelation 9: 3, are an advanced
kind of helicopter. See page 8 and page 141 for a reference to
Lindsey's Cobra helicopters.

Revelation 9: 3 says "And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the
earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth
have power."

In Revelation 9: 2 it says "And he opened the bottomless pit; and
there arose a smoke out of the pit..." The fifth angel in verse 1 is
said to have been given the key to the bottomless pit. The bottomless
pit is mentioned in the Book of Revelation several times. In 9: 11 a
king as the angel of the bottomless pit is said to be Abaddon and
Apollyon.
In 11: 7 the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit is to make
war against the two witnesses, whatever this image represents. Then in
17: 8 it says the beast was, and is not, and shall ascend out of the
bottomless pit. The six, seven, eight cycle involving the beast, one
of the two beasts of Revelation 13, teaches that he was, and is not, and even he is
the eighth and is of the seven. Then we find in 20: 1, 3 an angel
from heaven having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in
his hand. This angel binds Satan for a thousand years, and throws the devil into
guess were, the bottomless pit.

This is all about spiritual events. However, because this is first of
all about spiritual events that are to go on, it does not mean that
there cannot be physical happenings as a result of these spiritual
happenings. But the say that Revelation 9: 3, with its language
about locusts and scorpions which are to torment those who do not have
the seal of God, is about just helicopters is to try to begin to reduce all this to the level of
the physical. That is, it tries to replace the spiritual with the physical, rather than
teaching that physical manifestations as events may follow what is happening in the spiritual.
To try to replace the spiritual with the physical does harm to the work of the Holy Spirit
in giving this all to John. It also focuses the attention of the followers of dispensationalism
on interpretations that hinder their understanding of the prophecies. But then, many of them
have not been given ears to hear.

Look at the literalist take on II Thessalonians 2: 4, "Who opposeth
and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is
worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing
himself that he is God." The literalist insists this temple is a
rebuilt temple in Jerusalem and a one man political figure, their comic book version of the
Anti-Christ, is to sit in that literal rebuilt temple. In fact,
literalist dispensationalists use this text to say that the Jews will
rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.

But again, II Thessalonians 2: 4 is about a spiritual happening. Paul
teaches in I Corinthians 3:16-17 that "Ye," meaning believers, are now
the temple of God. In I Corinthians 6: 19 he teaches that the body of the Christian is the temple of the Holy Spirit. When Paul is talking
about the believer being the temple of God, he uses the Greek word
naos for temple, not hieron. And in II Thessalonians 2: 4 he again
uses naos, not hieron, which he would have likely used had he been
talking about some guy sitting in the physical rebuilt temple in
Jerusalem. What Paul is saying is that false prophets (Matthew 24:
11) have taken over the minds and hearts of those who claim to be
God's people. They are sitting in the temples where Christ should be
in the minds and hearts of the people who claim to be of God. "Let
this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2: 5)."

 

[Repentantnut]

Indeed all we need is in the living Word. And the living Word explains itself by itself. Jesus never said or any apostoles to imagine anything. But I did hear about Samsung making a mirror that talks back. So whatever the image is, anything that you must bow to or die if you didnt is the image. Soit might be hightech or totalwitchcraft. (Uses the verb pneuma) to say amimate the image. so.


.. just dont bow, and just ddont seek to imagine, what God want to show he shows, the rest...

lets just stick to the Word.

 

[Shilo]

booked marked to read later

 

[GraceBeUntoYou]

You can get the entire BB Warfield collection with a complete volume dedicated to the Book of Revelation for roughly $40USD (used, but very good condition). If you're looking for something a bit more recent, I'd probably suggest Richard Bauckham's work on Revelation, though he doesn't commit to a posttrib or amil position.

I myself do not sway one way or the other in regards to eschatology... there's bigger fish to fry in the sea. Until that day of His glorious return, I march.