The first word in the original Greek in the book of Revelation is apokalupsis, which means an uncovering, an unveiling, a disclosure, a revelation. Our church currently meets in a school multipurpose room which has a stage covered by a large, mustard-yellow curtain. While the curtain is closed, it hides the items behind it. But when we draw the curtain open, everything behind it is disclosed or revealed. This is the idea behind the word, apokalupsis or apocalypse. Dennis Johnson writes in his commentary on Revelation that we must understand apocalyptic “… in the ancient sense of ‘unveiling, disclosing’ in vivid, visual form the invisible realities and forces that drive and therefore explain the course of observable historical events.”3 In
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The answer is no, for apocalyptic literature was at its peak of popularity from between 200 B.C. to about A.D. 150. There are many examples that we can read today of Jewish apocalyptic. We must be careful because these writings were not the inspired Word of God. Nevertheless, the form of apocalyptic literature was fairly standard, and its use of symbolic language is kin to the book of Revelation. In fact, some common elements in apocalyptic literature included the battle between good and evil, the presence of the kingdom of God, the call to repentance to escape judgment, and the future victory of God and His people over His …show more content…
In fact, we should not draw too sharp of a distinction between prophecy and apocalyptic as apocalyptic is a heightened form of prophecy. We must remember two key characteristics of prophecy in Scripture—it is both foretelling and forth-telling. Often, it is the first characteristic, foretelling, that fills our minds when it comes to prophecy. And surely, there are many predictions in both Old and New Testament prophecy. But while prophecy can look into the future, it can also look into the present. In fact, much prophecy consists of prophets speaking to the people of their own time, often telling them of the real state and condition they are in before God, often resulting in a call to repent and believe the LORD. It is no different when we come to the book of Revelation, since there are parts which predict what will happen at the end of the age. But we cannot let this overshadow the fact that the book also speaks to the condition of the original readers. I do not intend to restrict this point to the first three chapters of Revelation only. I wish to propose that the entire book of Revelation is for the entire church age. This is true in the sense that the events described apply to the present state in which we are living, just as it applied the present state of the original audience 2,000 years
The answer is no, for apocalyptic literature was at its peak of popularity from between 200 B.C. to about A.D. 150. There are many examples that we can read today of Jewish apocalyptic. We must be careful because these writings were not the inspired Word of God. Nevertheless, the form of apocalyptic literature was fairly standard, and its use of symbolic language is kin to the book of Revelation. In fact, some common elements in apocalyptic literature included the battle between good and evil, the presence of the kingdom of God, the call to repentance to escape judgment, and the future victory of God and His people over His …show more content…
In fact, we should not draw too sharp of a distinction between prophecy and apocalyptic as apocalyptic is a heightened form of prophecy. We must remember two key characteristics of prophecy in Scripture—it is both foretelling and forth-telling. Often, it is the first characteristic, foretelling, that fills our minds when it comes to prophecy. And surely, there are many predictions in both Old and New Testament prophecy. But while prophecy can look into the future, it can also look into the present. In fact, much prophecy consists of prophets speaking to the people of their own time, often telling them of the real state and condition they are in before God, often resulting in a call to repent and believe the LORD. It is no different when we come to the book of Revelation, since there are parts which predict what will happen at the end of the age. But we cannot let this overshadow the fact that the book also speaks to the condition of the original readers. I do not intend to restrict this point to the first three chapters of Revelation only. I wish to propose that the entire book of Revelation is for the entire church age. This is true in the sense that the events described apply to the present state in which we are living, just as it applied the present state of the original audience 2,000 years