As we continue preaching the series “Worship Then and Now” we turn our attention from the Psalms over to the book of Revelation. The Psalms are words without music. They are poetry. They are meant to be sung together. That influences how we read them, study them, and preach them.
What kind of book is Revelation? How does the book itself teach us how to read it, study it, and preach it? The opening of the book gives us three things to keep in mind.
1. Revelation is an apocalypse. (Rev. 1:1)
Apocalypse is not a word that we use much. If we use it at all, it describes the end of the world and that is typically negative, something to be avoided. Actually, though, apocalypse means “revealing” (hence the English title: Revelation). This book is a revealing. It is a lifting of the curtain, or throwing open the shutters, to let the light in and to show what is going on behind the scenes. There is a cosmic drama being played out on earth every day.
What does it mean for how we play out our lives today when we get a glimpse of what is going on behind the scenes?
2. Revelation is a prophecy. (Rev. 1:3)
Prophecy happens during worship in the early church. Prophets speak for God to the people of God. John is the prophet speaking words he received from an angel, who delivered the words of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is speaking to his church through the prophet John. The people of God have always had the promise of blessing when they hear and obey God’s word to them. It’s no different with this prophecy.
What do we hear in this book? What are we to hearken to (obey) when we hear it?
3. Revelation is a letter. (Rev. 1:4)
The first three chapters of the book contain letters to the seven churches in Asia, but more than that, the whole book is a letter that was meant to go to all the churches. In more modern terms, imagine it as a thumb drive that has files on it that everyone in the office should download. Or imagine it as a file folder in the cloud with the expectation that everyone with whom you work has access. Revelation is meant to be read throughout time, throughout the whole Church.
Have you ever wished that God would write you a letter about what you should do in your life? Have you ever wished that letter would talk about your future too? How will you respond when you find out that Revelation is that letter?
Human communication most often breaks down when we add well-intentioned but incorrect meaning to a person’s words.
Someone says, “Stop doing that!” We add meaning: that person must not like me.
Someone else says, “I’ll take a little more, please.” We add meaning: they really love this!
God warns against this practice of downloading extra meaning on to the words of Revelation (22:18-19). For that reason the great pastor-theologian, John Calvin, refused to write a commentary on the book. We need to keep this in mind because there are so many books, lectures, and sermons that have inadvertently downloaded wild meaning to this prophecy. Maybe you’ve encountered a few?
As we look at this amazing book—God’s word to God’s people—as it reveals something of the cosmic drama unfolding behind the scenes, as it prophetically challenges us to obey, and as it comes to us in the form of an intimate yet corporate letter for the whole body (the Church), let us listen closely, stand in awe, and seek to obey what the Spirit says to the churches.
In Him,
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