As noted in Back to the Future concerning the Book of Revelation, it has been wisely said that, "…the purpose of a book is the key to its interpretation." And this principle applies especially to this book, which has been terribly misunderstood because commentators are so confused about its purpose.
Fortunately, determining its purpose is not a guessing game, for the Book of Revelation tells us just what its theme is:
Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth [land] will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen. (Revelation 1:7)
The theme of the Book of Revelation is the coming of Jesus Christ. But that does not necessarily clear everything up, as there are at least six types of comings of God mentioned in the Bible. It is essential that we properly understand and, most importantly, distinguish each of them.
Book of Revelation - The Coming in Theophanies
The first type of coming of Jesus is His coming in Theophanies in the Old Testament.
They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. (Genesis 3:8)
Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless." (Genesis 17:1)
Book of Revelation - The Coming at Bethlehem
The second type of coming of Jesus is His incarnation coming at Bethlehem. The Gospels tell the story.
And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the leaders of Judah; for out of you shall come forth a Ruler who will shepherd My people Israel. (Matthew 2:6)
In addition, John mentions it in his first epistle using a different but related word.
You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. (I John 3:5-8)
Since this point is obvious and is not under doubt by Christians, we will not belabor the point. Yet it was a coming by Jesus.
Book of Revelation - The Final Coming at the End of Time
The third type of coming is His Final Coming at the end of time and the only one many Christians consider when discussing this topic and this book of the Bible. We find it mentioned in several verses in the New Testament.
They also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven." (Acts 1:11)
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. (I Thessalonians 4:13-17)
But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. (I Corinthians 15:20-26)
This coming is yet in our future for it is the coming at the end of time. "…the so-called ‘second coming' is actually a final coming concluding the whole process of comings."
Book of Revelation - The Coming to the Father - The Ascension
The fourth type of coming is Jesus coming to God the Father in heaven. From our point of view we see it as a going from earth to heaven, but the Scripture pictures it as a coming of the Son to the Father after His resurrection and at His ascension.
I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. (Daniel 7:13)
This occurred after the resurrection and ascension of Christ.
Book of Revelation - A Spirit Coming
The fifth type of coming is a Spirit coming.
I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. (John 14:16-18)
This occurred at Pentecost with the descent of the Holy Spirit.
Book of Revelation - The Coming in Judgment
The sixth type of coming is a coming of God in judgment. Many examples of this type of coming are found in Scripture.
Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place — unless you repent. (Revelation 2:5)
The Book of Revelation is about a judgment coming of Christ; as simple as that may seem, in fact, it is not simple because this coming of Christ is not His Second Coming. It is, instead, a judgment coming against Jerusalem, Israel and as seen in the above verse, His Church. It is typical of many such sign-comings found in the Old Testament. They may be typical and common to Scripture but most Christians have never heard of them. "Cloud-comings are frequent prophetic emblems in the Old Testament. They serve as indicators of divine visitations of judgment upon ancient, historical nations. God ‘comes' in judicial judgment upon Israel's enemies in general (Psa. 18:7-15; 104:3), upon Egypt (Isa. 19:1), upon disobedient Israel in the Old Testament (Joel 2:1, 2), and so forth."
Book of Revelation - A Coming Judgment Against Israel
Jesus Himself made this very point that He was coming in judgment against Israel in His earthly ministry.
"Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?" They said to Him, "He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons." …. "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust." When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. (Matthew 21:40-41, 43-45)
Here Jesus clearly promises He will come, but it will be a coming unto judgment. "Our Lord here causes them to pass that sentence of destruction upon themselves which was literally executed about forty years afterwards by the Roman armies." Consider also these passages.
…and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them. But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. (Matthew 22:6-7)
This is exactly what He did in A.D. 70 with the destruction of Jerusalem. Our point in this section is that there is a coming judgment against Israel, which is what Jesus predicted.
"You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?" Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous bloodshed on earth [land], from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. "Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. "Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! "For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!'" (Matthew 23:33-39)
How could He have made it clearer? He was coming in judgment upon the very generation that He was speaking to.
In summary, the theme of the Book of Revelation is the coming of Jesus Christ in judgment against Israel. This will be discussed, in great detail later in this commentary.
Fortunately, determining its purpose is not a guessing game, for the Book of Revelation tells us just what its theme is:
Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth [land] will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen. (Revelation 1:7)
The theme of the Book of Revelation is the coming of Jesus Christ. But that does not necessarily clear everything up, as there are at least six types of comings of God mentioned in the Bible. It is essential that we properly understand and, most importantly, distinguish each of them.
Book of Revelation - The Coming in Theophanies
The first type of coming of Jesus is His coming in Theophanies in the Old Testament.
They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. (Genesis 3:8)
Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless." (Genesis 17:1)
Book of Revelation - The Coming at Bethlehem
The second type of coming of Jesus is His incarnation coming at Bethlehem. The Gospels tell the story.
And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the leaders of Judah; for out of you shall come forth a Ruler who will shepherd My people Israel. (Matthew 2:6)
In addition, John mentions it in his first epistle using a different but related word.
You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. (I John 3:5-8)
Since this point is obvious and is not under doubt by Christians, we will not belabor the point. Yet it was a coming by Jesus.
Book of Revelation - The Final Coming at the End of Time
The third type of coming is His Final Coming at the end of time and the only one many Christians consider when discussing this topic and this book of the Bible. We find it mentioned in several verses in the New Testament.
They also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven." (Acts 1:11)
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. (I Thessalonians 4:13-17)
But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. (I Corinthians 15:20-26)
This coming is yet in our future for it is the coming at the end of time. "…the so-called ‘second coming' is actually a final coming concluding the whole process of comings."
Book of Revelation - The Coming to the Father - The Ascension
The fourth type of coming is Jesus coming to God the Father in heaven. From our point of view we see it as a going from earth to heaven, but the Scripture pictures it as a coming of the Son to the Father after His resurrection and at His ascension.
I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. (Daniel 7:13)
This occurred after the resurrection and ascension of Christ.
Book of Revelation - A Spirit Coming
The fifth type of coming is a Spirit coming.
I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. (John 14:16-18)
This occurred at Pentecost with the descent of the Holy Spirit.
Book of Revelation - The Coming in Judgment
The sixth type of coming is a coming of God in judgment. Many examples of this type of coming are found in Scripture.
Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place — unless you repent. (Revelation 2:5)
The Book of Revelation is about a judgment coming of Christ; as simple as that may seem, in fact, it is not simple because this coming of Christ is not His Second Coming. It is, instead, a judgment coming against Jerusalem, Israel and as seen in the above verse, His Church. It is typical of many such sign-comings found in the Old Testament. They may be typical and common to Scripture but most Christians have never heard of them. "Cloud-comings are frequent prophetic emblems in the Old Testament. They serve as indicators of divine visitations of judgment upon ancient, historical nations. God ‘comes' in judicial judgment upon Israel's enemies in general (Psa. 18:7-15; 104:3), upon Egypt (Isa. 19:1), upon disobedient Israel in the Old Testament (Joel 2:1, 2), and so forth."
Book of Revelation - A Coming Judgment Against Israel
Jesus Himself made this very point that He was coming in judgment against Israel in His earthly ministry.
"Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?" They said to Him, "He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons." …. "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust." When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. (Matthew 21:40-41, 43-45)
Here Jesus clearly promises He will come, but it will be a coming unto judgment. "Our Lord here causes them to pass that sentence of destruction upon themselves which was literally executed about forty years afterwards by the Roman armies." Consider also these passages.
…and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them. But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. (Matthew 22:6-7)
This is exactly what He did in A.D. 70 with the destruction of Jerusalem. Our point in this section is that there is a coming judgment against Israel, which is what Jesus predicted.
"You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?" Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous bloodshed on earth [land], from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. "Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. "Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! "For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!'" (Matthew 23:33-39)
How could He have made it clearer? He was coming in judgment upon the very generation that He was speaking to.
In summary, the theme of the Book of Revelation is the coming of Jesus Christ in judgment against Israel. This will be discussed, in great detail later in this commentary.
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