We now turn our attention to how we should approach Revelation. There is not time or space here to discuss every detail. However, I believe it was William Barclay who wrote in his commentary on Revelation that John was deeply immersed in the Old Testament when he wrote Revelation. A vast number of images in Revelation are explained with images, objects, teachings and concepts from the Old Testament. If nothing else, the historical references have the effect of tying the Old Testament and New Testament together as well as demonstrating the fulfillment of the Old Testament in the new covenant.
I believe a question we should ponder is what the rolling out of the new covenant should look like? For Christ to be the final sacrifice, the law of Moses and sacrificial law must be ended. With our bodies representing the temple (1 Corinthians 6:19) and worship of God occurring in spirit (John 4:23-24), temple worship and temple practices must be ended. Would it not make sense, then, that the temple must be destroyed? And how else could the sacrificial law be ended but by force?
Had Israel understood the purpose of the sacrifices and prophecy, force would not have been necessary. However, force was required as a result of the crucifixion and the rejection of Christ as Messiah by the Jews. Dispensationalism, then, seems to seek a re-do of history by granting Israel a second chance at obedience during the rapture. However, as Paul discusses in Romans 9-11, the only opportunity for Israel is through belief on Christ in the here and now.
We must also be mindful that God desired Israel to be obedient. They were disobedient instead and rejected Him. Thus, God promised multiple times that they would be destroyed for their rejection of Him. The Old Testament closes with Malachi’s foretelling of judgment upon Israel for their unfaithfulness, and the New Testament opens where Malachi left off. Jesus began to judge the Pharisees who were continuing the same unfaithfulness from Malachi. The Pharisees were sealing their own fate, and judgment came upon them from AD67 to AD70 with the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem. However, this was also part of the rolling out of the new covenant.
The central theme of Revelation is Jesus Christ and His work in the world through the church. Revelation 5:1-6 Quite a number of years ago, it was commonly taught that John wrote Revelation after AD70. However, he would need to be upwards of 90 to 100 years old at the time if this was true. A better understanding is that John – the same John who was the beloved disciple of Jesus – wrote Revelation before the fall of Jerusalem and that it was describing events which would soon occur. Revelation 22:10
Within the backdrop of Revelation, we should consider an important verse. In Matthew 11:11, Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” John the Baptist played a hugely important role in the transition from the law of Moses to the new covenant.
As John the Baptist was the forerunner to Christ, Revelation was written to foretell the unfolding of the new covenant. With respect to end-times prophecy, Jesus, Paul and John were all short on details. This one thing remains true, however – Revelation 12:7-13:
And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, ‘Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death. For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.’ And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child.
The dragon represents Satan, and he is actively at war with the church. Therefore, 1 Peter 5:8 exhorts us, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
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