When we think of the Revelation to John we often think about the apocalypse: fire and brimstone, lakes of fire and the final judgement of humanity. And while these elements do exist within the text, it might be best to take a step back first and to rediscover apocalyptic literature for what God intended it to be rather than how humans have used it towards their end.
We have often described apocalypse as something to do with the end or end times. In pop-culture this has taken many forms, not the least of which is the dreaded Zombie Apocalypse. But an apocalypse (Ancient Greek: ἀποκάλυψις apokálypsis, from ἀπό and καλύπτω, literally means “an uncovering”) is a disclosure or revelation of knowledge. It is to make known what was hidden before.
This makes decoding Revelation much more complicated. This means the book reveals knowledge, not necessarily about just about the end times, but about the world in which it was written. For instance the fall of Babylon as described in 17:1-19:10 is about the Roman Empire. It would have been impossible to circulate a text describing the fall of the Roman Empire within the empire. So for that reason it is written in code.
Scholars have spent centuries decoding Revelation, and together we will join that task as we gather at the Huether Hotel in the Malt Room on April 24, 2019 at 7:30 pm. We will look specifically at Revelation 21:1-22:7 as well as some of the general themes of the book.
We hope to see you soon and bring a friend.