David Pawson - A Commentary on the Book of Revelation

UNLOCKING THE NEW TESTAMENT

A Commentary on
THE BOOK OF
REVELATION

David Pawson

Anchor Recordings

Copyright 2008, 2012, 2013 David Pawson

The right of David Pawson to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

First published in Great Britain in 2008 under the title Come with me through Revelation by Terra Nova Publications International Ltd. Reprinted 2012

This edition published in 2013 by Anchor Recordings Ltd
72 The Street, Kennington, Ashford TN24 9HS UK

For more of David Pawsons teaching, including MP3s, DVDs and CDs, go to
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Scripture quotations taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION.
Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, a member of the Hachette Livre UK Group.
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USA acknowledgement:
Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
Used by permission of Zondervan.
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Contents

PREFACE

This book is based on a series of talks. Originating as it does from the spoken word, its style will be found by many readers to be somewhat different from my usual written style. It is hoped that this will not detract from the substance of the biblical teaching found here.

As always, I ask the reader to compare everything I say or write with what is written in the Bible and, if at any point a conflict is found, always to rely upon the clear teaching of scripture.

David Pawson

INTRODUCTION

The opening verses of Revelation give you the flavour and the majesty of this amazing book. We must clear the ground first, and just as a new site is cleared by bulldozers before the new building goes up I want to prepare the site.

The book of Revelation is the strangest book in the Bible. There are some passages elsewhere that are rather like it in Daniel, Ezekiel, Mark 13 or Matthew 24 but this whole book is unique and it is very strange. It is a different book from any of the others, and it is a more difficult book than any of the others, so many people tend to leave it alone. It is one of the books of the Bible most neglected by churchgoers. Readers tend to be a little uneasy with it; they do not feel at home in these rather strange pages. Opinions have varied tremendously about this book from very low opinions to very high opinions. Here is a selection.

Here are some of the low opinions among human beings. As many riddles as there are words, says one person. Another says, a farrago of baseless fantasies. Another calls it a haphazard accumulation of weird symbols. Another said, It either finds a man mad or leaves him mad, and even Martin Luther said that, it is a pity it ever got into the New Testament, proving that he was no more infallible than the Pope whose infallibility he questioned.

On the high side, here are some other opinions by those who have studied this book. The only masterpiece of pure art in the New Testament. William Barclays opinion was this: It is infinitely worthwhile to wrestle with until it gives its blessing and opens its riches. Another wrote that it is beautiful beyond description. Who is right in such a mixture of opinions?

Let me now move outside human opinion, from the very lowest opinion of this book to the very highest. The lowest belongs to the devil and the highest belongs to God. Satan has the lowest opinion of anyone in this book and he loathes it. He will try to stop you reading two books in the Bible if he possibly can: Genesis and Revelation. These are the two books about him which tell us what terrible evil he has done and what his doom and destiny are, and he hates you to know that; he hates you to know that one day he will be cast into a bottomless pit. He wants you to give him respect, to honour him, and therefore he will keep you out of this book if he can, and he has a very low opinion of it. No wonder that the result of so many scholars work has been to put the simple believer off reading Genesis and Revelation, and I am sure the devil was thrilled.

The highest opinion of this book is Gods opinion. Do you know what God said about this book, that he says about no other in the whole Bible? First of all he said, Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy . At the beginning there is a beatitude pronounced on those who read it aloud in a congregation, so I am going to get a blessing for reading it to my congregation; you will get a blessing if you hear it and take to heart what is written in it.

Then, at the end of the book, God pronounces a curse on anyone who takes a little bit away from this book or adds a little bit to it. It is unique in the annals of scripture for God to have blessed those who read it as it stands, and cursed those who tamper with it, and this should make us read this book with very real interest.

Interpretations vary tremendously from what I have called the grossly literal to the grotesquely allegorical. It is quite extraordinary how many weird and strange ideas people have got out of this book. Many have therefore got the idea that it is a sealed book, a hidden book, a book for those in the rarefied atmosphere of deep scholarship not a book for the ordinary man in the street. They could not make a bigger mistake; this book is not a sealed book but a book that is open; it is not a book to hide things from you, it is a book to show things to you; it is not a book that is deliberately obscure, trying to make it difficult for you to see, it is a book that is there to help you to see, and therefore I can only say that I am going to give you my own interpretation, which you must not take as infallible.

The little rhyme that I would urge you to bear in mind constantly as you read is, Dont take it from me, but search and see. And I am only hoping that what I write will encourage you to read it for yourself and not say, David Pawson says.... I am no more infallible than Martin Luther, and you must not take my word as the last word. But I will give you what seems to me the straightforward, simple, clear interpretation of this book if there is such a thing.

The crucial question is: what sort of a book is it? There are six main answers that have been given to this and I have given them various titles. First of all, there are those who say it is an APOCALYPTIC book. Now what do we mean by this word apocalyptic? It describes a certain kind of exciting literature that is usually written in times of terrible trouble. It is often written in symbolic form, so that only those who have got the key to it will understand and therefore there will be no danger attached to reading it. But it is nevertheless meant to help people to see that, however deep the present troubles may be, God is on the throne, right will triumph, and wrong will be conquered; it is an encouraging kind of literature. But the word apocalyptic which is, incidentally, the very first word in this book, translated in English revelation or the word apocalypse means a peep behind the scenes. Now that is a lovely word, to go backstage, to see who is pulling the strings, to see who is in charge, to see what is really happening.