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Why is it so important to understand what type of book Revelation is? How has what you’ve learned in this lecture changed your understanding of the book of Revelation?
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It’s important to remember that it was a letter from John to a 1st century audience in Asia Minor, intended to be understood by them and help them know how to understand and live in their present circumstances, and any interpretation that couldn’t have been intended by the author or understood by his audience is not a correct interpretation. That’s important to remember in the midst of many claims to specific interpretations involving 21st century events. And that Biblical prophecy isn’t primarily about the future (fore-telling), but about God’s message to help the audience in their current situation (forth-telling).
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Having an understanding of what events are associated with Revelation is absolutely a necessity. I learned the write and his intentions.
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John wrote this prophetic book to seven churches in seven cities in the first century. John was foretelling his audience what to expect. There is also forth-telling in prophecy. In order to understand especially this letter, we must read it in context of the first century audience.
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It is important to understand the type of book that Revelation is because it lets us know that it is much more than prophecy of the future
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Understanding context is an important part of understanding the text you are reading. It tells you the author’s intention. Too often, we try to apply modern context to ancient texts, and that leads to the corruption of the meaning of the text. Doing so with ordinary historical content is bad enough, but to so this with the Word of God is dangerous. It can lead to misrepresenting God.
This lecture has not changed my understanding of the Book of Revelation.