What are we reading

When we read a book, we read it with a certain expectation. You certainly read a scientific report differently than science fiction, or a love poem differently than an action thriller. So when you read the book of Revelation, you might think that this is God’s great revenge on humanity, or a dystopian novel about end-time catastrophes with some special features like a rapture, or just a chaotic collection of crazy stories.

Not gonna be easy

Well, to say it first: Getting the type of book is not easy for three reasons:-

• It is a combination of three types of literature or genres
• Some of the genres may be misunderstood.
• It does not fully follow the concept of these genres, but plays with them.

So let’s have a look. This book is

• a letter
• a prophecy
• an apocalypse

A letter

Let’s start with the easiest. Reading this book as a letter makes everything in it relevant to the first readers. We expect to see references to their specific environments and challenges, and solutions that work for them.

And here comes the trick: It is addressed to seven very different churches, and most of the book deals with the answers for these churches. But which answer is for which church? Well: The book rekindles the vision of the church and gets everything back on track.

A prophecy

A prophecy is as much a look into the future as a book of law: Both talk about the consequences of actions, and we see in the story of Jonah that the outcome often depends on the actions of the people.

A prophetic book wants to show a dramatic picture to encourage people to change their behavior and to give hope to the oppressed. But this book must do this for a worldwide church over 2000 years.

A apocalypse

This is the first word in the book (in Greek), translated as “revelation” (which is its literal meaning) and causes the most misunderstanding.

• It is not a secret code that gives new insights — in fact, all that is written there is not new.
• It is not a prediction of some catastrophe that will befall humanity.

An apocalypse is a genre that was 2000 years ago much more popular than today and is the poetry of the underground and has a very provocative nature. It mocks the empire, it shows that reality is very different from how you perceive it.

The typical apocalypse works with the hope of a strong hero who will overthrow the empire and bring a kingdom of peace and well-being. But this book does not do that, the hero is a slaughtered lamb and a crowd of martyrs.

Challenge

What do you believe from the book because you heard it? What have you checked out for yourself?

How much does reading this book through your interpretive lens affect what you notice?

Did you know that the key themes are worship, witness, and restoration, and that many of today’s worship songs are based on this book?

Would you be willing to see this with fresh eyes? You might be surprised like in this video (I know it’s old, but maybe not for everyone).