REVELATION · Day 20 of 21
Theological Interpretations
1 · READ THE TEXT
Revelation 1:19 & 22:18-19
Revelation 1:19
Open in the reader →19Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;
Revelation 22:18-19
Open in the reader →18For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
2 · UNDERSTAND
Four schools run through the history of reading Revelation: preterist (almost everything was fulfilled in the first century), historicist (it is the timeline of the Church), futurist (from chapter 4 onwards it is the end) and idealist (it is the timeless portrait of the struggle between good and evil). Each sees something true and none exhausts the book. The final warning — add nothing, take nothing away — is precisely against the temptation to force the text into our scheme. Reading well means accepting open questions rather than trading the central message for a table of dates.
3 · REFLECT AND ANSWER
Read the text again and answer calmly. Your answers are kept only in this browser.
- 1.What does this text reveal about who God is?
- 2.What does it show about people — and about you?
- 3.What will you do differently today because of it?
4 · LIVE AND PRAY
Practical application
Pick the reading you usually follow and list one thing the opposing school sees better. Humility is practised in reading too.
Lesson prayer
Lord, keep me from adding to or subtracting from your Word to fit my certainties. Amen.
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