Wanted: Your Input for the Follow-Up to Revelation’s Rhapsody
AN INVITATION TO DIALOGUE WITH ME CONCERNING VOLUME II
Revelation’s Rhapsody: Listening to the Lyrics of the Lamb,
How to APPLY the Book of Revelation
NOTE: Dr. Lowery is asking for your input for Volume II of Revelation’s Rhapsody. Please read through to the last paragraph to see how you can assist him in the writing of the second part of this intended triology. — Site Admin
In my first book, Revelation’s Rhapsody: Listening to the Lyrics of the Lamb, How to Read the Book of Revelation, I focused on what principles and steps we should follow in order to correctly interpret John’s writing. In the second volume, I will concentrate on what John’s message meant to the first recipients at the end of the first century and how it still speaks to us in the early years of the twenty-first century. Hence, the emphasis will be on application of the book then and now.
I plan on asking and answering a different set of questions when compared with the questions asked in other books. We need to remember that often the purpose of a book should guide us in deciding what questions to ask. Is the book of Revelation written for the purpose of knowing when the world will end or was it written only for the original recipient in order to help them live faithfully? For example, when authors today ask Revelation to describe the end of the world and tell them when it will occur, they will get certain kinds of answers back. The answers are often nonsense, however. The world has not ended in accordance with the interpretations of these authors. On the other hand, some authors go to the other extreme and conclude that the book spoke only to the people in John’s day. The result is that people think the book has nothing to say to us today.
The questions we ask are often poor ones, if not outright the wrong ones. Is there a middle ground to the two extremes presented above? I think so. I believe that a verse found at the beginning of the book guides us to know what the right questions are: “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near†(NASB). Take note of the word “heed,†a word which means “obey†(in every instance in the book—2:26; 3:3,8,10; 12:17; 14:12; 16:15; 22:7,9—but one, 3:10,where Christ promises “I will also keep you from the hour of trial . . . “). Furthermore, observe that the book not only opens on a call to obedience in 1:3 but ends on one in 22:7,9.
What then are the right questions we should be asking when we read Revelation? The following are the crucial ones: What are we to obey? When are we to obey? Why are we to obey? Whom are we to obey? Where are we to obey? How are we to obey?
Here is what I want to invite you to do. Please read pp. 74-81 of my book (“Strategies Rooted in Styleâ€) and reflect on the above questions. Offer your insights, ask your questions, present your perspectives of how this book is a call to obedience in light of what God has done and will do in Jesus. I want to make the second volume as relevant as possible while being faithful to how the original readers would have interpreted this call to obedience.
To contribute your ideas, add them to the comments following this post or, if you prefer, send them privately via the Contact page.
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Might as well add the “who” to your questions, too. WHO is supposed to obey, and does the era of their reading (1st/21st) change the intent in any way. For that matter, what might this say to a Christian, and how might it differ for a “seeker” reading it in response to (cough cough!) “Left Behind.”
Whenever I read about the four methods of interpreting Revelation, I get the feeling that each has something to offer in our understanding, but all are restrictive because they are self-limiting. For example, the “preterist” cannot see the church through the ages; the “futurist” leaves the seven churches in Asia Minor in darkness. I believe that you help us (pgs. 74-81) to see how the Apocalypse was relevant for real disciples in Asia and for the real disciples throughout church history until he comes. I believe that an eclectic view (drawing from some of all four methods) works best, because it is flexible and determined by the text rather than having the text determined by the method. And the cosmic struggle between good and evil, coupled with the earthbound task of the church to reclaim what is already God’s, should shape the questions we ask. The disciple’s day-to-day struggles, and faithfulness to the New Covenant, should set the parameters for our questions. The visions and the mesaages of Revelation must be understood first (intent and historical context), and the questions we ask should then be framed according to our cultural context. We can learn to ask questions similar to those proposed by some of the “feminist” and other “liberation” exegetes, but we must be careful not to cross over and do eisegesis as many of them do. The importance of obedience and how worship functions within the disciple’s obedient life helps us to see God’s ultimate purpose for our lives and the whole world. Yesterday I visited a mother of four who is facing the possibility of 30 years in prison. She may never see her infant daughter again. What does Revelation say to her or to me as we stand across a glass barrier?