Revelation 20:1-10 - Principles of Interpretation

 Let us focus on the features of the passage and develop those principles of biblical interpretation crucial in the interpretation of Revelation 20.

1.       The Book of Revelation was written to the Church

Revelation 1:4: “John to the seven churches that are in Asia…..”

Revelation 22:16: “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

These are the statements from the prologue and epilogue of the book of Revelation. This indicates that the whole book (which includes chapters 4-22) was written to the Church.

2.       The Historical Context of the Vision

It is also known as grammatical-historical interpretation. It means that historical context of its visions cannot be ignored in its interpretation. The book of Revelation was originally written by John the Apostle exiled to Patmos for his faith to local churches in the Roman province of Asia also suffering for their faith.

Revelation 1:9: “ I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.”

Revelation 2:2,3: “I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. ³ I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary.”

Revelation 2:10,11: “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. ¹¹ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’”

Revelation 2:13: “‘I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.”

Revelation 12:11: “And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death."

Revelation 13:7-10: “Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.  If anyone has an ear, let him hear:  If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.”

Interpretations that forget that these visions were recorded by a suffering apostle for a suffering church defy the principle of historical interpretation.

3.      The Non-Consecutive Structure of the Book of Revelation

The Book of Revelation is not a consecutive, chronological, prophecy of history. Some interpreters have begun with chapter four and assumed that each prophecy occurs in consecutive, chronological order in history right through chapter 22. This view must be rejected because there are clear instances of repetition or recapitulation in the Book of Revelation. Let us look into one example

Revelation 11:18: “The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”

Revelation 11:18 speaks of the final judgment, while the immediately following passage (12:3, 5) returns to the period before the Second Coming.

The significance of this for our present discussion is this. Simply because Revelation 20 follows the description of the second advent of Christ in chapter 19, this does not demand that the historical fulfillment of the visions in Revelation 20 be chronologically subsequent to the historical fulfillment of the visions in chapter 19.

4.      The Kingdom-Theme of Revelation 20

The millennial reign of Christ is clearly the theme of Revelation 20. Like Matthew 13 and 1 Corinthians 15:20-28, therefore, the theme of Revelation 20:1-10 is the coming of the kingdom of God. When a comparison is made with those passages, the similarities and parallels are striking. The following table illustrates it.

5.       The Genre of the Literature

What we expect from a piece of writing depends on our understanding of its genre. If we understand one writing as epistolary genre, then we will expect literal prose type of language. We do genre analysis with all kinds of literature. Failure to do this when dealing with the Bible can lead to many problems. Genre analysis involves the study of such things as literary forms, figures of speech and style.

There is a popular assumption among Christians that we have to “interpret revelation literally wherever possible”. This is simply false. Everything is possible with God, even creating a red dragon with ten heads. A biblical book must be interpreted in a way appropriate to its genre. Genre analysis is crucial if the Bible is to be properly interpreted. We have to interpret the literal passages literally and the figurative passages figuratively.

Then arise a question: how will we determine the genre of a passage in the Bible? Is it simply according to our whim and perceptions. Can we say “this passage seems literal to me and that passage seems figurative to me”!? No. Since “Scripture interprets Scripture” is the infallible rule of biblical interpretation, we have to search the Scriptures to know what the genre of a particular passage is. If we allow Scriptures to determine whether a passage is figurative or literal, then we can understand the Scriptures as they really are.

So, what is the literary genre of Revelation? Let us understand it from the book of Revelation itself.

Revelation 1:1: “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John…”

Revelation 22:6: “And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”

God showed John the historical events that will be fulfilled in history. In what form did God showed this to John? Was the historical events shown in a literal manner? Or was it shown in a figurative manner? To determine this we have to study Daniel 2. There the King Nebuchadnezzar was shown a dream.

Daniel 2:28, 29: “but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you were lying in bed are these: "As Your Majesty was lying there, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen.”

In Daniel 2, God showed Nebuchadnezzar in a figurative manner about the events that shall be fulfilled in history. An interpretation was necessary for the understanding of the dream.

In a similar manner, the visions of Revelation was also figurative in nature. There is no doubt concerning that fact that every prophecy in the Revelation will be fulfilled historically. But there is a need of interpretation to know the exact manner in which those prophecies will be fulfilled.

The Book of Revelation itself has interpreted many symbols for us. The rest of symbols which are un-interpreted should be interpreted by us with the aid of the remaining Scriptures.

Symbols in Revelation which is interpreted by Revelation itself

7 lampstands – 7 churches

7 stars – 7 angels

7 lamps – 7 spirits

Great dragon - Satan

Symbols in Revelation which is not interpreted in Revelation (to mention some):

A sharp two-edged sword out of his mouth, chain, book, the marriage of the Lamb

Lamb, a woman, harlot, beast, false prophet, horse

Seal of God, mark of the beast

10 days, 144,000, 1260 days, 144 cubits

The Seven spirits of God

When we focus on Revelation 20, we can observe that Revelation 20 is also not different from the rest of Revelation.

Revelation 20:1: “And I saw an angel descending from the heaven, having the key of the abyss, and a great chain in his hand.”

The word “saw” reminds us of the fact that what John saw in Revelation 20 was a figurative vision of the literal historical events. What does John saw: An angel holding a literal chain to bind a literal dragon. The angel throws the serpent into a literal prison and locked the prison with a literal key. This was literally seen by John in the visions.

Now what should we do? We should understand what John is saying with the help of the remaining Scriptures. The following principle should be kept in mind:

1.    Figurative passages must be interpreted in a way that is consistent. They ought not to be suddenly interpreted literally at the whim of the interpreters. For instance, there is no good reason to exclude indications of time (i.e., 1000 years) from the overall symbolic or figurative character of Revelation 20.

2.   Biblical symbols must be interpreted, if they are not explained in the immediate context, by means of their biblical origin, background, and usage. Great help can be derived in interpreting New Testament symbols by studying Old Testament passages from which such symbolism is derived.

3.    The Analogy of Faith must be applied here. It means that no interpretation is acceptable that creates internal conflict in the meaning of the Scriptures. When there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture, it must be searched by other places that speak more clearly.

The symbolic language of Revelation 20 must be searched out in light of other, plainer Scriptures. Furthermore, no interpretation of a highly symbolic passage that contradicts the plain meaning of straightforward, prose passages is acceptable. It is because there is no internal contradictions within the Scriptures.

(The writings are not original to the author of this blog. It is taken from other sources and has been edited, sometimes paraphrased)

References:

1.   Waldron, Samuel E. The End Times Made Simple

2.  Beale, G. K. The Book of Revelation. (The New International Greek Testament Commentary, NIGTC). Eerdmans.