Revelation is an example of apocalyptic literature, so popular in Jewish writing. How you read this type of literature depends on what you think it is trying to do. If you take these texts primarily as predictions of events yet to come, you will scour them for clues about what could happen in the future. But if you see Revelation (as well as the Old Testament book Daniel) mostly as elaborate illustrations of temptations that people of faith face in every age, you’ll probably look for connections between your present struggles and the temptations of past believers. If you read them as writings that provide a God-centered perspective on what was happening in the times when the texts were written, you will spend your time seeking hints of first-century events.

How are we to understand the letters to real-life local churches at the beginning of the book of Revelation? Are these epistles to be read simply as introductory letters for the seven original  recipients of this apocalypse? Or do they represent examples of churches that exist in every age?  How do the letters connect to the visions in the rest of the book? Are they historical retellings of the entire story of Christianity, encoded in the form of letters?

Let’s do another blog that explores the various ways people have struggled to understand this enigmatic book.