Donald W. Parry - Understanding the Book of Revelation

1998 Deseret Book CompanyAll rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher, Deseret Book Company, P.O. Box 30178, Salt Lake City, Utah 84130. This work is not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The views expressed herein are the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the position of the Church or of Deseret Book Company.Deseret Book is a registered trademark of Deseret Book Company.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful to many individuals who have contributed to this study of the book of Revelation. We thank Richard D. Draper, professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University and an outstanding student of the book of Revelation, for reading the entire manuscript and making many helpful suggestions. We apppreciate the reviews of our manuscript by Brigham Young University professors Susan Easton Black, Truman Madsen, and Joseph Fielding McConkie. We thank Vicki Parry and Allison Clinger who read the manuscript and gave invaluable feedback.

The staff at Deseret Book has done much to turn this work from manuscript into a finished book. We're grateful for the leadership of Sheri Dew and Kent Ware and the ever-excellent editing of Suzanne Brady. We thank Ruth Howard and Celeste Howard, who proofread the galleys, and Leslie Stitt, who wrote the index. Others who made significant contributions to the task of creating the book are Ronald O. Stucki, art director, and Patricia J. Parkinson, typographer.

Though this work has required the assistance of these and other people, the authors alone are responsible for its content.

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

INTRODUCTION

The book of Revelation was written by John the beloved apostle. He identifies himself in five places in the book: four times by name (1:1, 4, 9; 22:8) and once as simply "a servant of God" (JST 1:1). John, called a "[son] of thunder" by Jesus Christ (Mark 3:17), was a son of Zebedee and brother of James. He was a fisherman during an early period of his life (Mark 1:19-20). He wrote the Gospel of John and at least three epistles (1, 2, and 3 Jn.), was called and ordained to serve as one of the twelve apostles, and served as a member of the First Presidency during his day. Eventually John was translated and became "as flaming fire and a ministering angel" to "minister for those who shall be heirs of salvation who dwell on the earth" (D&C 7:6; 3 Ne. 28:6-7). Our latter-day scriptures give additional insight into John and his sacred mission; we have, for example, the words of Nephi, who beheld a heavenly vision similar to John's (1 Ne. 14), as well as the words of Jesus (3 Ne. 28:6), Moroni (Ether 4:16), and Joseph Smith (D&C 7; 27:12).

It tells us much about John to know that he was blessed with the Second Comforter. Joseph Smith explained that this gift "is no more nor less than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.... When any man obtains this last Comforter, he will have the personage of Jesus Christ to attend him, or appear unto him from time to time, and even He will manifest the Father unto him, and they will take up their abode with him, and the visions of the heavens will be opened unto him, and the Lord will teach him face to face, and he may have a perfect knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God; and this is the state and place the ancient Saints arrived at when they had such glorious visionsIsaiah, Ezekiel, John upon the Isle of Patmos, St. Paul in the three heavens, and all the Saints who held communion with the general assembly and Church of the Firstborn."

We are greatly blessed to be able to read, study, and ponder John's "glorious vision," received while on the Isle of Patmos, as set forth in the book of Revelation.

WHAT IS THE BOOK OF REVELATION?

The book of Revelation records John's "glorious vision" received "on the Lord's day" while he was banished to the Isle of Patmos for preaching the gospel and for bearing testimony of Jesus Christ. (Patmos is one of a group of islands in the Aegean Sea.) The opening lines of the book inform us that John received his vision from Jesus Christ, who sent it by a heavenly messenger (1:1).

The chief purpose of the book seems to be to prepare us for the last days and Christ's second coming, or "things which must shortly come to pass" (1:1), because "the time of the coming of the Lord draweth nigh" (JST 1:3). Major themes include the following:

Jesus Christ. The most important aspect of the book of Revelation is that it reveals Jesus Christ to us. The first chapter presents a view of the glorious resurrected Lord, and every subsequent chapter throughout the book sets forth doctrines pertaining to his atoning sacrifice, his love and mercy for us, his divine judgments upon the wicked, and his rewards for the righteous. The book of Revelation is a Christ-centered text, as indicated by its variety and number of names and titles of the Lord. There are forty-six names and titles of Deity in the book (including both the Father and the Son), used a total of 199 times (see Appendix 1).

The broad range of the names that John received in his revelation is instructive. The names or titles Christ (four times), First Begotten of the Dead, Jesus (five times), Jesus Christ (six times), Living God, Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus Christ, and especially Lamb (twenty-eight times) point to the atonement of Jesus. The name or titles Alpha and Omega (four times), Beginning and the Ending (three times), First and the Last (four times), and Him Which Is, and Which Was, and Which Is to Come (four times) indicate the eternal nature of the mission of Jesus, which spans the beginning of eternity through his atoning sacrifice to the judgment and end of the world. The names or titles Almighty, Almighty God, God (eighty-three times), God Almighty, God of Heaven, God of the Earth, King of Kings (two times), King of Saints, Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Lord (nine times), Lord God (three times), Lord God Almighty (five times), Lord God Omnipotent, Morning Star, and Prince of the Kings of the Earth refer to Jesus as the God of eternal power, authority, dominion, might, eminence, and glory.

The last days. Revelation is a guidebook for understanding the last days, or "things which must shortly come to pass" (1:1; 4:1; 22:6). Joseph Smith taught: "John saw that only which was lying in futurity and which was shortly to come to pass. See Rev. i:1-3, which is a key to the whole subject."

Several chapters of Revelation are devoted to the judgments of God. In addition, John presents many details pertaining to two prophets who will prophesy and minister in Jerusalem, the blessings designed for the righteous, and the judgments awaiting those who belong to Babylon.

The Second Coming. Almost all aspects of the book of Revelation seem to pertain in some way to the last days and the Lord's glorious second coming. John provides many glimpses into these future events, preparing us for the days ahead. Rev. 19, for instance, uses a multitude of images and symbols to describe the magnificent coming of Christ to the earth to "judge and make war" (v. 11). His names are