Themes and Symbols in the Book of Revelation

Introduction: Interpreting the Book of Revelation

According to Dr. David L. Cooper, in order to interpret the Book of Revelation with regard to its numerous themes and symbols, one must "follow the Golden Rule . . . for when the plain sense of the Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense . . . take every word at its primary . . . literal meaning unless the facts . . . studied in the light of related passages and . . . fundamental truths, clearly indicate otherwise" (84–85). If this "Golden Rule" is obeyed, then the basic guidelines for interpreting many of the signs, symbols, and themes in Revelation will be relatively straightforward.

However, Dr. Cooper has overlooked one very important aspect — namely, that the Book of Revelation was obviously written under extreme subjectivity, meaning that its themes and symbols are based on human experience and interpretation. Moreover, if one considers the influence of faith, the themes and symbols become even more ambiguous, making it rather difficult to interpret these literary devices in any coherent fashion.

In order to fully understand the true nature of the various themes in the Book of Revelation — especially those related to the judgment and worship of God, the defeat of evil, patience and endurance, purity and impurity, and the faithfulness of those who remain true and unwavering to the "Word of God" — one must appreciate the four types of interpretation used by religious scholars, historians, and theologians in the modern world.

Four Interpretive Frameworks

First, the futurist view accepts the Book of Revelation as prophecy that is yet to be fulfilled. This view was held by the early church during most of its evangelistic history and is widely accepted by most biblical scholars today. Yet some scholars hold to the notion that Revelation must be interpreted as literal truth unless the "facts" indicate otherwise. In this view, literal truth is wholly subjective in nature, for one person will interpret the themes differently than another, which can lead to great confusion.

Second, the historical view suggests that the Apostle John — the most venerated Christian leader in Asia Minor during the last half of the first century A.D. — was describing the major events that would occur during the existence of the church just before Jesus Christ re-appears on Earth. Yet this view requires that some historical events be re-shifted to fit within the prophetic paradigm discussed in Revelation.

Third, there are scholars who feel that the Book of Revelation should be viewed as figurative language filled with metaphorical excursions, meaning that the Apostle John was describing spiritual conflicts within humanity itself rather than physical manifestations. Finally, the preterist view maintains that the Apostle John wrote Revelation just before the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. by the Romans and that he was speaking of events that occurred during his own lifetime. All of these views contain relevant and positive traits, yet the true nature of the Book of Revelation remains unclear unless one is inclined toward Christianity and holds a faith-based perspective on the book and the events described within it.

With regard to the judgment or wrath of God as described in Revelation, there are what are called the Seven Bowl Judgments — the judgments that God will bring about on Earth during the last part of the so-called Tribulation. As a theme, these judgments have come under considerable scrutiny as to exactly what they represent. Some scholars maintain that four of these judgments have already occurred on Earth, particularly in ancient Egypt during the times of the ten plagues brought about by the prophet Moses against the Egyptian monarchy. A portion of the sixth judgment — the evaporation of the waters in the Euphrates River and the producing of frogs — may also have occurred during the times of Moses when he struggled to free the Israelites from the bondage of slavery in Egypt.

The Seven Bowl Judgments and Divine Wrath

The first of these judgments concerns sores upon human beings, as described in Revelation 16:2. Some scholars maintain that these sores are the same as those seen in the Old Testament in the form of boils in the story of the Egyptian plagues. Harry A. Ironside states that "only those containing the mark of the beast and those who worship his image will be selected for these awful sores" (156), which indicates that believers will not suffer from this judgment. Metaphorically speaking, these sores could be more spiritual than physical in nature, meaning that the minds of men and women who worship "the beast" will be decadent in spirit and thus unbelieving.

The second judgment is when the sea turns to blood in Revelation 16:3, in effect killing every living thing in the sea. Such a catastrophe is truly frightening, as such an event would bring untold diseases into the world and even destroy a large portion of the food supply. Yet the use of blood — and the color red — is imagery commonly associated with death and decay. Metaphorically, blood and the color red symbolize the ultimate form of death, while blood is simultaneously the source of life.

The third judgment concerns the rivers and fountains turning to blood in Revelation 16:4–7. This is clearly an extension of the seas turning to blood in the preceding judgment. As another metaphor, some believe this signifies the actions of the Antichrist, who will presumably put Christians to death during the first half of the Tribulation, a time when all Christians who lived before the Tribulation have been taken from the Earth into Heaven to be with God and Jesus Christ. Thus, this is "God's earthly vindication of the suffering martyrs from the earliest times to the present, in response to the prayers of Christian men and women" (McGee, 178).

The fourth judgment concerns the scorching heat of the sun, as described in Revelation 16:8–9, which, like those above, will occur during the Tribulation. In the Book of Malachi in the Old Testament, Malachi states that "Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace, and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire" (Malachi 4:1–2). The fifth judgment is that of darkness, which may be related to the Antichrist, for during the Tribulation his kingdom will be plunged into darkness.

The sixth judgment relates to the drying up of the Euphrates River and the preparation for the Battle of Armageddon, as described in Revelation 16:12–16. This will also make it possible for the armies of the world to convene in the valley of Megiddo with the aim of opposing God and all that He represents. The final judgment is the full wrath of God, signifying the end of the Tribulation and the conclusion of God's wrath on those who oppose Him — the ungodly and the wicked. J. Vernon McGee declares that this judgment "will destroy the great cities; all nations will collapse and the cities of the world will be wiped out . . . every island will vanish as well as the mountains" (214).

These seven judgments against mankind all share several similarities in terms of metaphorical structure. Sores, blood, heat, darkness, dehydration, and destruction in the form of earthquakes and volcanic activity — all of these symbolize death and the end of the world as we know it. It is worth noting that all of these "judgments" are drawn from the natural world: sores are related to communicable diseases; heat, darkness, and dehydration delineate solar activity, the setting of the sun, and the evaporation of water. Perhaps the Apostle John, living in a non-technological world, could only describe these judgments in relation to nature, something he encountered every day in the Middle East, especially in Asia Minor, comprising primarily the regions of present-day Greece, Turkey, and Albania. The imagery in these "judgments" is also quite profound and illustrates not only the power of God but also the destructive power of the natural world and its ability to overwhelm human environments.