hope of justice that must ultimately triumph at the enthronement of Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords Christians living in John’s day, under the growing threat of imprisonment, and even death, by Emperor Domitian, found comforting refuge in the message of Revelation, even as have persecuted Christians of all the ages since then The book of Revelation also warns Christians against the treacherous swamplands of apostasy, and it appeals for a faithful allegiance to Christ The letters of chapters and especially emphasize such warnings and appeals Revelation does not aim to give all the prophetic details of the end times Nor is the program of church history spelled out Enough details are recorded to (1) describe the crucial events (such as the great white throne judgment, 20:11-15); (2) portray the large movements and trends of world history; and (3) teach spiritual principles underlying God’s sovereign plan G APOCALYPTIC WRITING Revelation is prophetic in character and apocalyptic in form.5 Here are some of its major features as apocalyptic literature:6 mainly eschatological (eschatos: last times) written during times of persecution visions abound style generally gurative, with an abundance of symbols H SYMBOLISM OF REVELATION As noted earlier, Revelation is lled with symbols, such as numbers, colors, animals, stones, persons, groups, places, and actions Three categories of symbols appear in the book: (1) those interpreted in the text itself (e.g., 1:20); (2) those to be interpreted in the light of Old Testament usage; (3) symbols of no apparent biblical connection (See Further Study.) I SCHOOLS OF INTERPRETATION Basically, there are four di erent schools of interpretation of the book of Revelation These are shown on Chart 121 Observe on the chart where each view places each of the twenty-two chapters of Revelation This is one of the best ways to see the major di erences between the schools Observe the following descriptions of the different views 1 The symbolic view interprets Revelation as only a series of pictures teaching spiritual truths It sees no prophecy of speci c historical events in Revelation The rst and last chapters of the book are a clear argument against such a static view The preterist view sees all of Revelation historically ful lled in the rst century, with eternal destinies taught in the last two chapters This view su ers much of the anemia of the symbolic view The continuous-historical view applies Revelation prophetically to all the centuries since the time of Christ Only chapters 19-22 foretell events after Christ’s second coming Proponents of this view di er widely in identifying historical events prophesied in chapters 4-18 Some typical interpretations are shown on the chart (e.g., the mighty angel of chap 10 is the Reformation)  ... Basically, there are four di erent schools of interpretation of the book of Revelation These are shown on Chart 121 Observe on the chart where each view places each of the twenty-two chapters of Revelation... one of the best ways to see the major di erences between the schools Observe the following descriptions of the different views 1 The symbolic view interprets Revelation as only a series of pictures... interpreted in the text itself (e.g., 1:20); (2) those to be interpreted in the light of Old Testament usage; (3) symbols of no apparent biblical connection (See Further Study.) I SCHOOLS OF INTERPRETATION