Publisher's Synopsis
The Book of Revelation is a difficult book to understand because it was written two thousand years ago for a different generation, culture and time. It is replete with metaphors, for example, lamp stands, candles, the great whore of Babylon, the 144,000, the great multitude and the souls under the altar. If one examines academic works on the book, which are relatively sparse, one can scarcely believe they are all discussing the same work as they differ so greatly in their conclusions and constructions. That the book is not in chronological order does not help the expositor either. Chapters 1-11 cover the story, only to find that it is repeated afresh in chapters 12-22, from another perspective. It is rare, if ever, that mainstream Christian orthodoxy preaches or teaches on the book or any part of its content as it is not considered a topical subject. Churches prefer to leave this book alone. The reasons are: that it is complicated; ministers lack knowledge of it; it is allegory and therefore not faith based; it is not relevant, because we are not in the end-times; and it is too sensationalist, thus the purview of conspiracists. However, the real reason is that of fear, as Hoffman rightly identifies: 'Underneath all of the diverse reasons why the church does not talk about the end times, ultimately the real reason is because of fear. Fear of offending people, because there is so much division as to the exact interpretation and understanding. Fear of dividing the church and creating arguments among the congregation. Fear of showing their lack of knowledge on the subject. Fear of the political correctness that has reached up to the church in these last days.' Yet the book is the very Word of God and it is the only book in the Bible which confers a specific blessing on those who read it; furthermore, it is the most cogent of the NT end-times prophetic works. If one is to understand the events of the end-times, in which we arguably live, then one should digest the Book of Revelation first and foremost, followed by the epistles, the Gospels and the OT prophets (Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah and Zechariah) so that one's eschatology is rooted though the lens of this book. This book will, starting from Revelation chapter 4, expound upon these mysterious verses to enlighten its readers to help contextualise the book; so that one is not bogged down wondering what on earth the 'sun, moon and stars' have to do with the 'woman' who escapes into the desert for a 'time, times and half a time' while being pursued by the 'beast'
