Shabbat shalom kol beit Yisra'el and Mishpachah and welcome back to the fourth part of this series on the Book of Revelation and the second part of the Four Methods of Interpretation. I was not sure if I would be able to present anything to you today as it took me six days to completely rewrite, link and illustrate last week's sermon which was lost leaving me with only a few hours this morning to prepare a summary and a statement of where I stand as far as correctly interpreting the Book of Revelation is concerned today. So this will be briefer than I planned and may necessitate a third part.

We face one of the most challenging, yet important, books of the Bible in the Book of Revelation because of the hard times we live in currently. It ends with Yah'shua's (Jesus') promise and John's heartfelt plea:

"'Surely I am coming soon.' Amen. Come, Master Yah'shua (Lord Jesus)! The grace of the Master Yah'shua (Jesus) be with us all. Amen" (Rev.22:20, ESV).

Let's begin with a very concise summary of what we talked about last time. In answer to the question, 'What period of time does the Book of Revelation cover?' there are four main characters from four different schools of thought answering us:

• 1. The Preterist whose reply is: the first few centuries (to about 400 AD);
• 2. The Historicist whose reply is: all the centuries AD from the First to the Second Coming;
• 3. The Futurist whose reply is: the last 3½-7 years or more of the last century AD; and
• 4. The Idealist whose reply is: any century AD, but none in particular.

So which is right? As we saw last week, there are pro's and con's for each of these which potentially presents us with a dilemma and explains why the four schools have never been able to come together to thrash out an agreed chronology of events. I have friends who passionately support one or other school and it seems to them that there can be no compromise. And yet I think we have pretty well established that no one key unlocks the whole book just as no one single key opens all the doors in this building. When one approach is used exclusively, some manipulation of the text is involved which we cannot possibly countenance. Is possible that more than one could be right? And if so, how is that possible?

I made some hints last week so today I'd like to assemble them. To me, the following are self-evident facts from our study so far:

• 1. It is obvious, I hope, that no one key unlocks the whole Book of Revelation just as in our home not every room has the same function or is the same shape, arrangement, or has the same contents. Each 'school' has discerned some truths but none can accommodate all of them which will be a problem for those denominations that have stuck their necks out and chosen one as their official doctrine and who then adamantly cling to it no matter the internal contradictions of their position;

• 2. There is no reason why more than one school may not be used just as there is no reason to suppose that a set of keys won't allow me to gain access to every room in my house as opposed to just one. Just as each room has a different function, so the various texts in Revelation have different meanings and applications. However, we can't just pick and choose what suits us and make approaches in an arbitrary sort of way. I cannot analyse what's in our library based on the key that opens the door to the kitchen. For obvious reasons we wouldn't want the key to a bedroom door to open a safe door either. We can't decide beforehand how we want the interpretation to be and then try to squeeze every passage into it and make them fit. Preachers and teachers trying to make a name for themselves with new sensationalist yet outlandish theories (and they appear all the time) are going to get slapped down hard if they aren't very careful because the bathroom isn't going to yield us food kept only in the kitchen or larder. If we would simply ask ourselves the question, 'What was the meaning intended by the Divine Author for the human reader?' we will learn to exercise more restraint in proposing theories;

• 3. Parts of each of the four methods can help understanding in the same way that all the windows in every room in our house operate in the same way and every room as electrical powerpoints and radiators for heating. Some elements from all four are compatible and can be used in conjunction with each other (like the windows, powerpoints, etc.), though I must qualify by stating that other elements are quite incompatible and cannot be combined (like the fact that not every room has a toilet or a cooker); and;

• 4. The emphasis may change in different sections of the Book of Revelation. At each stage, we must seek out and use the most appropriate method or methods of interpretation.

The Book of Revelation has essentially three parts or blocks of text:

• 1. Chapters 1-3;
• 2. Chapters 4-18; and
• 3. Chapters 19-22.

Part A, or chapters 1-3 are not very controversial, and so you will find Bible teachers expounding them with more confidence than the rest of the book. These 3 contain Yah'shua's (Jesus') messages to the seven assemblies, congregations or churches in Asia Minor which as we saw last time were almost certainly the fellowships that the apostle John was personally in charge of and ministered to in what the Methodists call a 'circuit' and what Anglicans, Episcopalians, Catholics and Eastern Orthodox would call a 'bishopric'. This was his territory and Yahweh uses these assemblies to teach some important truths about the spiritual areas congregations are commonly strong or weak in. In reading them we can commonly see the strengths and weaknesses of our own assemblies. Most Christians and Messianics are comfortable with the traditional interpretations of these three chapters though are uncomfortable with the application!

The main problem with this Section is that we do understand it, only too well. There may be a few issues with the details (like the 'messengers' - are they malakim/angels, pastors, or something else?) and with the symbols (the "white stones" and "manna"). But these letters to congregations in the Roman Province of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) are not unlike other New Testament epistles except that they were dictated by the resurrected Messiah to John and in that respect are unique, making them the standard for all inspired epistles. So which of the four schools of interpretation that we spoke about last week are appropriate to these? Let's get started and get into the habit of using these four lenses, learning how to apply them practically as diligent Bible students.

The Preterist is surely right in directing our attention to the latter part of the first century AD. These were seven actual congregations - they existed in time and space and consisted of actual people in a known historical period of time. We know lots about this area from archaeology, linguistics, contemporary secular documents, ancient histories, and the like. Though they all have Turkish names now like Izmir, their Greek and other names are known to us from as late as the 20th century - Izmir was called Smyrna and had a Greek Orthodox Christian population before they were expelled in the early 1920's. We can put flesh-and-bones on most of these places and trace their histories over the centuries. So true exegesis (interpretation) must begin with what these these chapters meant to these people 1,900+ years ago. But need it end there?

The Historicist believes that the seven assemblies (churches) represent the whole Messianic Community (Church) in time, seven consecutive epochs in 'church history':

• 1. Ephesus covers the early community;
• 2. Smyrna, the Roman persecutions;
• 3. Pergamum, the time of Constantine;
• 4. Thyatira, the Middle Ages;
• 5. Sardis, the Reformation;
• 6. Philadelphia, the worldwide missionary movement; and
• 7. Laodicea, the 20th-21st centuries.

The Futurist is even more bizzare, believing that the seven congregations (churches) will be re-established in the very same cities of modern-day Turkey just before the Saviour returns! This is based on the mistaken assumption that the "I will come" passages in Revelation 2:5,16 and 3:4 refer to the Second Advent. But as we all know, these congregations have long since disappeared, their "lampstands" long since removed, even if a case might possibly have been made for Smyrna at the beginning of the last century. No, the Futurist School has zero application here

The Idealist usually shares the Preterist view of this section, but adds the belief that the seven historical congregations (churches) represent the whole Messianic Community (Church) in space:

• 1. Ephesus represents doctrinally pure but loveless fellowships;
• 2. Smyrna, the suffering;
• 3. Pergamum, the enduring;
• 4. Thyatira, the corrupt;
• 5. Sardis, the spiritually dead;
• 6. Philadelphia, the feeble but evangelistic; and
• 7. Laodicea, the lukewarm.

What say you? Whether these cover the entire range of assembly and church character between them is debatable but their comfort and challenge can be applied anywhere and at any time. So what is my conclusion? That the Preterist position, with a strong dash of the Idealist, is the correct mixture for these three chapters. Now we may want the Historicist position to be true, for who wouldn't want an historical roadmap, but frankly the evidence seems pretty weak to me and skewed in favour of only one segment of the Messianic Community (Church). So I have to say, I cannot accept the Historicist interpretation of Section A of the Book of Revelation.

The next section, Section B, the 'middle' portion, as it were, consisting of chapters 4-18, is where the differences of opinion become the most acute. And no wonder, given the content. Most have little difficulty with the opening vision of Yahweh's Throne in Chapter 4 and indeed this has inspired worship throghout the ages. It's when Yah'shua (Jesus) the Lion/Lamb releases disasters on the world and suffering on the Messianic Community (Church) that the debate begins. When does this happen? It must be sometime between the second century (which was "hereafter" to the seven assemblies/churches - Rev.4:1) and the Second Coming (Rev.19).

Now the Preterist limits this section to the 'decline and fall of the Roman Empire' and if you want to know something about that period of history, we have two copies of Gibbon's book of the same name in the library here. You mightd perhaps even want to cross-reference it with Revelation 4-18 in the same way that fellow I mentioned a week or two ago did with the Cambridge History set of volumes! Good luck with that project!

Unfortunately for the Preterist, the fact remains that the most predicted events, particularly the 'natural' catastrophes, simply did not happen during that period. Yes, a disintegrating comet impact, that began over Norway and moved in a south-westerly direction, is believed by some to have wiped out most of Celtic Britain and Ireland in the 6th century (562 AD) causing a tsunami amongst other things, that opened the way for the later Anglo-Saxon resettlement, but Britain had been on the periphery of the Roman Empire and in any case this was over a century after the Empire collapsed. That this event even happened is hotly disputed [1]. So, since much of the text of this section of the Book of Revelation is clearly post-Roman Empire history, the Preterist is forced, because of his assumptions, to treat it as 'poetic licence' that rather vaguely 'hints' at what 'might' happen. I'm sorry, but in this section Preterism is really stretching credulity.

The Historicist has much the same problem as the Preterist when attempting to fit the whole of 'church history' into these chapters, either as one continuous narrative or in repeated 'recapitulations'. The details simply will not fit.

The Futurist is, of course, free to believe in the literal fulfilmentn of the detailed forecast since none of it has happened yet. Some would claim it actually began just a few weeks, months or years ago and say we're rapidly advancing through the predicted events now as I speak. Personally I don't believe this is true as I am convinced we are in the midst of a Penultinmate Judgment and not the Final one. My main reason for rejecting the current alarmists is that the scale of the catastrophic events of this Middle Section is simply not large enough.

There are two features about the Futurist position that seem to confirm that this is nearer the correct application:

• 1. The 'troubles' are clearly worse than anything the world has yet seen, Covid, censorship and G5 notwithstanding - just compare these with the predictions Yah'shua (Jesus) made in Matthew 24:

  "Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress (tribulation), unequaled from the beginning of the world until now - and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened" (Matt.24:20-22, NIV).

• 2. They seem to lead directly into the events at the end of history (a reason some preachers are now frantic since they have misjudged the prophetic times and seasons).

The Idealist is wrong to 'demythologise' this section, divorcing it from time altogether, but he is right to look for a message that can apply to any place in Messianic (Church) history. The clue lies in Scripture itself, which clearly teaches that future events cast their shadows back into time. Yah'shua (Jesus) is 'foreshadowed' in many ways in the Tanakh (Old Testament) (as the Letter to the Hebrews clearly explains). The coming Anti-Messiah (Antichrist) is preceded by "many anti-messiahs/antichrists" according to John (1 Jn.2:18) and the coming False Prophet by many lesser false prophets according to the Yah'shua (Jesus) (Mt.24:11). And the coming universal persecution is already experienced in many local regions - take Pakistan, Nigeria, Iran, China and Iraq to name but a few. You see, the Great Tribulation is only different in scale from the "much tribulation" which is normal to Christians and Messianics at all times.

Do you remember what Yah'shua (Jesus) said and what Luke later reported?

"I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have shalom (peace). In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33, NIV).

"They preached the Besorah (Good News, Gospel) in that city and won a large number of talmidim (disciples). Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the talmidim (disciples) and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. 'We must go through many hardships to enter the Kingdom of Elohim (God),' they said" (Acts 14:21-22, NIV).

Do you really think that the threats now being made to believers in the West are remotely to be compared to what these first talmidim (experienced)? We're miles away from that still even if perseuction is beginning. What about the victims in Nigeria and other places? That's about the same as the Roman persecutions of the first three centuries but this is nowhere to be compared to the Great Tribulation in terms of scale...yet. What happens in the aftermath of the attempted mass genocide of billions of people through forced gene therapy remains to yet be seen. So let us maintain a clear perspective. A few lockdowns is nothing compared to what others are experiencing and have experienced over the centuries.

These chapters (4-18), then, help us to understand current events as well as their ultimate climax. So how are we to best understand this Middle Section? Through a combination of the Futurist and Idealist positions with a little help, perhaps, from my Spiral Historicist model which is able to project backwards from the future to today (and all the way back to the first century) events and persons foreshadowing what is yet to come.

Which brings us to the final section, Chapters 19-22. The Book of Revelation seems to get clearer towards the end, but there are still some areas of controversy. Most take these chapters to refer to the ultimate future, the very "last things" to happen, beginning with the return of Christ in Chapter 19.

The Preterist drops out here. Very few of his kind attempt to fit these chapters into the days of the early Messianic Community (Church) because that's an impossible task.

The Historicist school divides sharply into two:

• 1. The Linear Historicist invariably sees this section as the 'end times', following the 'church age'; whereas
• 2. The Cyclical Historicist finds 'recapitulations' even here.

Some, unbelievably (because it makes no sense) see the Millennium in Chapter 20 as a description of the Messianic Community (Church) before the Second Coming in Chapter 19! Others see the New Jerusalem in Chapter 21 as a description of the Millennium before the Final Judgment in Chapter 20 (which again makes no sense). Such radical dislocation of events is not justified by the text itself and suggests manipulation in the interests of theological systems and dogma. That is not honest.

The Futurist has few opponents in this section. The Second Coming, the Day of Judgment and the New Heavens and Earth have clearly not yet arrived.

The Idealist also has few proponents in this section. Unfortunately, he tends to overlook the New Earth altogether and talks about 'heaven' as the timeless sphere (like the Platonists) into which believers are transferred at death, so that instead of being a temporary 'holding station' before the physical resurrection, it is not uncommonly viewed as the final destination, a belief that is fairly common, yet false. So to the Idealist, the 'New Jerusalem' pictures this eternal realm (the "heavenly Zion" of Hebrews 12:22), which is never expected to "come down out of heaven", in spite of Revelation 21:2,10 which say it does! They are in denial of what the text clearly states.

So the Futurist 'wins' hands down of the four schools in this section and it is best to leave him to handle it rightly on behalf of the Body of Christ.

Later (because we don't have time today) we shall work through an introduction to the text of the Book of Revelation itself and use the tools which we have considered appropriate. However, this will not include the Historicist for obvious reasons. But before we do that, there is one other important matter we need to consider. All four 'schools' of interpretation share one common assumption: that the most important question is, WHEN? In other words, when are the rpedictions fulfilled in time.

This is to start with the supposition that the Book of Revelation is primarily concerned with forecasting the future, to satify our curiosity or to reduce our anxiety by revealing what is going to happen, both in the immediate and ultimate future. But is that assumption corerect? Personally, I think it is a highly questionable assumption. The Messianic Scriptures (New Testament) never indulge idle speculation - ever - and even warns against it. Every 'unveiling' of what lies ahead has a practical, indeed a moral, purpose. The future is only revealed so that the present may be influenced by it.

So the fundamental question is not When? but WHY? Why was the Book of Revelation written? Why was it revealed to John? Why was he told to pass it on to us? Why do we need to read and "keep" these words (Rev.22:9)? It's not just to tell us what is going to happen but to get us READY for what is going to happen. In short, it is to get us PREPARED or PREPPED mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. That may surprise some who are mostly focussed on the predictive or prophetic aspects of this book and it's certainly going to come as a HUGE SHOCK to those who think they are going to be whisked away out of tribulation in a fairytale 'rapture'. But more on that next week!

If you missed last week's sermon, then I strongly urge you to study it before we go any further. Each lesson contains important components for the next one. I am writing and speaking this as though it were my last series of sermons on this earth because I feel it to be so urgent. The map that is produced will save a lot of souls from being lost in these dark and dangerous end-times.

Tomorrow we will assemble for an important prophetic message for Rosh Chodesh which is very much a part of this series on the Book of Revelation as I begin to share with you some of the visions and insights Yahweh has shared with me that form part of how we are to negociate this present Penultimate Judgment. Enjoy your Sabbath, make it a time for dedicated fellowship with Elohim (God) and may Yahweh bless you. Amen.

Endnotes

[1] The evolutionary thinking that completely dominates in the West today, prefers gradualist explanations to such things as the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain and shies away from anything smacking of 'catastrophism'. Historians don't as a rule like having 'official narratives' challenged and subsequently revised because of their reputations and salaries. True unbiased history these days can only really be accomplished by independents who must we willing to endure scorn and persecution. Wilson & Blacket were the first (in 1986) to bring the data for this event to the attention of the academic world and public and were predictably rejected.

Acknowledgements