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The Revelation of Jesus Christ (Revelation 1:1a, NASB, my emphasis).
I entered the classroom on the first day of a seminary course entitled Understanding the Book of Revelation, to find the professor sitting behind a table with three stacks of commentaries on the Book of Revelation.
After the 20 or so students settled into our chairs, the professor began by pointing to the stack of five commentaries and saying, “When I first began studying the Book of Revelation, I read these five commentaries and thought I had the book figured out.”
My professor then pointed to a stack of 10 different commentaries and said, “After the five commentaries, I read these 10 commentaries, and became so confused that I thought that I knew nothing about the Book of Revelation. And the opinions expressed in all the commentaries that I had read were so varied among scholars writing about the book that I could know very little other than it was colorful with lots of figurative language.”
At that point, my professor stopped and said, “In the midst of this confusion, I decided to read the Book of Revelation in the Greek language, and I found that the first word of the Greek in this book is ‘apocalypse,’ which is translated as ‘revelation.’ ”
Then my professor stopped and said, “But ‘apocalypse’ translated ‘revelation’ can also be translated ‘proper understanding’ or ‘unveiling.’ Realizing this, I had a personal revelation that if the first word of the book means ‘unveiled’ or ‘proper understanding,’ then I should stop being confused and begin to understand this book.”
He also said, “I knew that if the Spirit had inspired the first word of the Book of Revelation as ‘apocalypse’ or ‘revelation’ or in more common terms, ‘you can know this,’ then He didn’t write the ‘Book of Confusion’ but ‘A Book That You Can Understand!’ ”
My favorite Bible professor then pointed at the other stack containing dozens of commentaries and continued his lecture, “Since my ‘revelation’ moment, I’ve read all of these commentaries, and I’m not confused. Yes, they all have various interpretations of the events of the Revelation, with some of these explanations being more fanciful than others, but I keep learning, sometimes changing my mind, but realizing that someday Jesus will come back soon, and anything that I’ve missed, I can ask Him directly.”
Then my professor concluded the introduction on the first day of the course, Understanding the Book of Revelation, by saying: “That’s why I can legitimately use the word ‘understanding’ in the title of this course, as everything in the Book of Revelation points toward the eternal victory of Jesus. We may not know all of the details, but one fact undergirds the entire book — Jesus returns! And if we keep that one thought preeminent as we study this Book of Revelation, we won’t be confused.”
I thought, as my professor spoke, “Amen!”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus (Revelation 22:20b).