This is Part 3 (of 5).
To read Part 1: Purpose and Approach go here.
To read Part 2: Outline and The end go here.
Symbol vs Spiritual
It is clear that Revelation is a book full of symbols or imagery; meaning you can’t interpret the book literally. This has led a great many commentators to conclude that the book gives us only spiritual truth. What do I mean and what is the difference?
Some see the imagery as representing a real or literal event. Others see the imagery as representing a spiritual truth, divorced from and unrelated to any actual event. For example:
Revelation 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
Does this refer to the second coming of Christ or does it teach us some spiritual truth?
A.B. Simpson said of his early years, “I was trained in the Scottish school of theology, and was taught to consider Christ’s coming to mean His manifestation to the soul of the believer by the Spirit, His coming at death to the saint, and His coming spiritually by the spread of the gospel. I so believed for fifteen years, and during my early ministry so taught.” This is the spiritual interpretation.
The same author continues, “Twelve years ago I received the Holy Spirit, and new light was thrown upon the Word. I saw how weak and insufficient for service I had been in the old way; and as I waited before the Lord, I found Him pressing this truth upon me, and I was forced to be willing to believe that the old axioms I had accepted were false, and that the personal reign of Christ was clearly taught in Scripture. The grounds for this conclusion were such as these: I found that it was clearly announced as a personal coming. The angels declared it at the very outset of the church. The Lord Himself said it. The Epistles taught it, and Revelation unfolded it, and, if it was not literally true, no Scripture was true. Then I saw that the idea of the growth of a spiritual millennium was unscriptural; the world was becoming worse and worse.” The symbolism refers to something literal.
The imagery of Jesus riding a white horse is referring to the literal, personal, bodily return of Jesus Christ.
Revelation 20:1-6
1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
Does this refer to a literal reign of Christ on the earth or does it teach us a spiritual truth?
A spiritual interpretation says something similar to Adam Clarke in his commentary:
“This no doubt refers to a time in which the influence of Satan will be greatly restrained, and the true Church of God enjoy great prosperity, which shall endure for a long time.
I saw thrones - Christianity established in the earth, the kings and governors being all Christians.
Reigned with Christ a thousand years - I am satisfied that this period should not be taken literally. It may signify that there shall be a long and undisturbed state of Christianity; and so universally shall the Gospel spirit prevail, that it will appear as if Christ reigned upon earth; which will in effect be the case, because his Spirit shall rule in the hearts of men; and in this time the martyrs are represented as living again; their testimony being revived, and the truth for which they died, and which was confirmed by their blood, being now everywhere prevalent."
Others on the other hand see this as telling us about something real and literal that will take place on the earth when Jesus returns. This is called the millennium.
I believe both the prophets and Jesus spoke of a time when the kingdom would be on the earth and Jesus would reign over the nations. Of course, the question is, Is the 1,000 years literal or symbolic? What it clearly is is very Jewish, “Rab. Elieser said, The days of the Messiah are a thousand years."
I definitely lean toward a literal thousand years. The imagery is used to depict real events.
The background for Revelation is in part the Book of Daniel. Daniel has a vision of a giant image made of four different metals. Then another vision of four beasts. This imagery speaks of literal kingdoms. The statue made of metal speak of how man views these kingdoms, while the beasts tell us how God views them. Which brings us to the next point: Much of the symbolism or imagery is from the Old Testament, and to understand it properly we need to be familiar with the Old Testament. For example:
Revelation 12:1-2 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
Who is this woman? The two main solutions are the Virgin Mary or the Church. But if one knows the Old Testament, that one knows better:
Genesis 37:9-10 And he [Joseph] dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?
Ah, there it is, the same imagery of sun, moon, and stars - I and thy mother and thy brethren. The woman is Israel. Which then helps us understand the rest of the chapter:
Revelation 12:13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
14-16 the woman is protected
17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
The dragon, the devil, hates the woman (Israel) and persecutes and pursues her. When she is protected, he then makes war with the remnant of her seed (the rest of her seed), which is the church, Christians, followers of the Child she gave birth to. And this he does in chapter 13 by raising up the beast: And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. This symbolism of beast, heads, crowns is taken from Daniel’s visions. In order to understand this, you need to know Daniel.
There are images or symbols used throughout the Book of Revelation. Do they speak to us merely of spiritual truths unrelated to any real event, or do they tell us of real or literal events? I believe the symbolism is used to speak of real or literal events. And often the meaning of these symbols is to be gleaned from the Old Testament.
What if you don’t understand the meaning of the symbols? Or don’t know where in the Old Testament to look? That’s ok. Read Revelation anyway, understanding as much as you can, all the while asking God to open it up to you. Read the Old Testament. As you read and as God teaches you from it, He will point these things out to you. And of course, as you read and depend on the Holy Spirit for insight, He will often bring across your path a brother or sister who will add to your growing understanding of Revelation and of all the Word. God is good like that!
Next: Significance of Numbers
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