THE POPULAR ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLE PROPHECY

APOCALYPTICISM Part III

PROPHECY OR APOCALYPTIC?

Revelation’s heavy dependence upon Ezekiel and Daniel also raises questions as to whether the book should be categorized as apocalyptic. Ezekiel and Daniel prophesied 400 years before apocalyptic literature became prevalent in the intertestamental period. Also Revelation 12:1 borrow imagery from Genesis 37: 9 – 10, which took place in the patriarchal era nearly 1800 years before apocalypticism began to flourish. Finally, some apocalyptic writings fail to present a precise eschatological scheme ( Collins p. 56 ). Yet many have argued that Revelation 6 – 19, with its telescoping and fixed seven years duration, does communicates a fixed eschatological scheme. Revelation 20 – 22 also seems to employed a chronology of events. Although Revelation has many affinities with apocalyptic literature, it is difficult to classify the book as apocalyptic because the differences seem to out weight the similarities. “prophecy” is a better classification for the book than “apocalyptic.” This classification best takes into account Revelation’s numerous claims to be prophecy. It also takes into account Revelation’s similarity to the pattern exhibited by the Old-testament prophets who not only called God’s people to repentance but also comforted them through visions of victory to take place in the distance future ( Isaiah 40 – 66; Ezekiel 36 – 48; Amos 9: 11 – 15 ). Revelation fits this pattern by not only repeatedly calling the seven churches to repentance ( Revelation 1- 3 ) but also providing these oppressed churches with a prophecy to be fulfilled in the distant future regarding the believer’s ultimate triumph ( Revelation 4 – 22 ). Categorizing Revelation as prophetic also relates it to the book of Daniel, which it alludes to more than any other Old-testament book. Jesus specifically referred to Daniel as a prophet ( Matthew 24:15 ). Because Revelation’s content relies heavily upon Daniel, it stands to reason that the material found in Revelation should also be Categorized as prophetic. The Greek word Apokalypsis, which appears in the opening verse of the book, does not disqualify Revelation from being categorized as prophecy. This word simply means means “unveiling” and does not have the meaning that modern scholars attached to the term apocalyptic.

Categorizing Revelation as prophetic rather than apocalyptic significantly changes the hermeneutical landscape. If Revelation is Prophecy, than we should interpret it just as we would any other prophecy. we should use the same literal, grammatical, historical method that we normally use for interpreting scripture. No new set of hermeneutical principles is needed to properly interpret Revelation ( Thomas, Revelation 1 – 7, p. 38 ). The previously described hermeneutical doors associated with apocalypticism are closed if the book is prophetic rather than apocalyptic. Instead, the interpreter is confined to literalism, which can be defined as attaching to every word the same meaning that it would have in normal usage.