Revelation: The Most Misunderstood Book in the Bible

Just over 50 years ago, Vernard Eller, the eminent Anabaptist scholar, published a book titled The Most Revealing Book in the Bible. It was, of course, about the Book of Revelation. While that is doubtlessly true, I am calling Revelation the most misunderstood book in the Bible.*¹  

The Book of Revelation was the discussion topic of Great Books KC at its monthly meeting on December 6. That discussion group started in 2004, and I introduced it in a blog post for the first time in October 2014 (see here).

Although I attended regularly for many years, last month I attended Great Books KC again for the first time since last December. They have a “rule” that each year some book of the Bible will be discussed, and last year that book was the Old Testament book of Job.

Especially since this year’s selected book of the Bible was Revelation, I made the effort to drive down to the Plaza Branch of the Kansas City Public Library to attend and take an active part in the discussion of that last book of the Bible, which is so often misunderstood and misused.

While some of the 13 attendees (most of whom participated via Zoom) had a fairly good understanding of Revelation, several were clearly perplexed by it and some seemed to have a serious misunderstanding, which is seemingly true of the general public.

Misunderstanding of Revelation was augmented by Hal Lindsey, who died last month, two days after his 95^th birthday. Most of you recognize his name and remember him as the author of The Late Great Planet Earth (1970).

Lindsey’s book sold more than 10 million copies before the end of the 1970s, becoming the best-selling nonfiction book of the decade. By this and his later books, Lindsey “brought the once-obscure theology of dispensationalist premillennialism into the mainstream.”

Moreover, “Lindsey’s books demonstrated an incredible appetite for apocalyptic speculation … and paved the way for many other prophecy writers, including Tim LaHaye, Jerry Jenkins, and Joel Rosenberg …. introducing wide audiences to the concepts of the Rapture, the Antichrist, and the mark of the beast.”*² 

In March 2015, nearly ten years ago, I made a blog post titled “Do You Believe in the Rapture.” Although I did not mention Revelation, the widespread belief in what dispensationalist Christians call the Rapture is based on a literal interpretation of Revelation and, to a lesser degree, on a few other parts of the Bible.*³  

Belief in the Rapture is one of the major misinterpretations of Revelation that has been held by many Christians since the early part of the 20^th century, and especially since Lindsey’s 1970 book.

In my remarks at the Great Books KC December meeting, I emphasized the following points, which I am now sharing briefly.

** Revelation was written primarily for the Jesus-followers who were living “then and there” rather than for people “here and now.”

** Revelation was written in apocalyptic language that should be taken seriously, but not literally. As N.T. Wright writes, Revelation “is full of strange, lurid and sometimes bizarre and violent imagery.” That eminent New Testament scholar goes on to say,

This book in fact offers one of the clearest and sharpest visions of God’s ultimate purpose for the whole creation, and of the way in which the powerful forces of evil, at work in a thousand ways but not least in idolatrous and tyrannous political systems, can be and are being overthrown through the victory of Jesus the Messiah and the consequent costly victory of his followers.

   (These quotes are from the Introduction of Wright’s 2011 book Revelation for Everyone.)

** Despite all the violence depicted in Revelation, the focus is clearly on the non-violent Lamb, the historical Jesus who was crucified and resurrected.

Revelation, properly understood, has a direct link to Christmas. By far, the best-known part of Messiah, Händel’s superlative oratorio, is Hallelujah Chorus, which is often performed in celebration of Christmas.

The words of Hallelujah Chorus come from Revelation 19:6, 11:15, and 19:16. During this busy week before Christmas, perhaps you can take four minutes to listen to those words being impressively sung (here) by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

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*¹ The title of a blog post I made in October 2017 is “Revelation: The Most Misused Book in the Bible.” I encourage you to click on this link and read it (again). There are 30 comments (including my responses) posted below that article, and according to Blogger.com, there have been about 550 pageviews of that post.

*² These quotes are from a lengthy and informative 11/27/24 article in Christianity Today magazine (see here).

*³ According to the stats provided by Blogger.com, that post has, inexplicably, had nearly 3,700 pageviews. 

Note: Some of you may be interested in the 11/12/24 post by Religious Dispatches, “The Trump Administration’s Approach to Immigration is Inspired by the Bible — The Book of Revelation.” Here is a link to that provocative article about the grave dangers embedded in the widespread misunderstanding of Revelation. 

Händel’s “Messiah”: Words of Comfort and Hope

George Frideric Händel’s Messiah oratorio is said to be “the most famous piece of sacred music in the English language.” The world premiere of that masterpiece was 280 years ago, on April 13, 1742, at a concert hall in Dublin, Ireland.  

A Bit about Händel

The man whom Beethoven claimed was “the greatest composer that ever lived” was born in Halle, a major city in what is now Germany, on February 23, 1685. (I remember his birthday every year because my dear granddaughter Naomi was born on Feb. 23.)

Despite his father’s objection, Händel became a musician, and even though he was fairly successful in what is now Germany and Italy, in the 1710s he settled permanently in Great Britain, becoming a naturalized citizen there in 1727.

In October that year, he provided four anthems for the coronation of George II. The year before King George’s death, Händel died on April 14, 1759, and was buried in Westminster Cathedral.

A Bit about “Hallelujah Chorus”

By far, the best-known part of Messiah, Händel’s superlative oratorio, is the “Hallelujah Chorus.” It comes at the end of Part Two, the 44^th of the 53 movements. The lyrics of Messiah are all directly from the King James Bible, and the words of the Chorus come from Revelation 19:6, 11:15, and 19:16

During the London performance of Messiah in 1743, King George is said to have stood up during the “Hallelujah Chorus.” And when the king stands, everyone in his presence must stand! And so, for more than 275 years now, the audience rises to their feet when the “Hallelujah Chorus” is sung.

In her book Facing Apocalypse (2021), theologian Catherine Keller tells of hearing the entire Messiah performed live in Carnegie Hall—and that takes time. The complete oratorio is about two hours and 20 minutes. long, but with applause and two brief intermissions, it is closer to two hours and 45 minutes.

Keller said she was caught off guard when the “secular, cosmopolitan, diverse” audience, including some Jewish friends she was with, “sprang to its feet for the whole of the Hallelujah Chorus” (p. 134).

Comfort and Hope in Messiah

Although performances of Händel’s Messiah are common in December (before Christmas), they are also numerous on the days before Easter. There are many scheduled across the country for tomorrow, Palm Sunday.

For example, First Presbyterian Church in Wichita Falls, Texas, will perform Messiah on Sunday afternoon—and it will be their 75^th year in a row to do that.

While Messiah is primarily about Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection, it begins with words of prophecy from the Old Testament.

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned.

These words from Isaiah 40:1-2 are, indeed, words expressing comfort and hope, words that were greatly encouraging when they were first written—or sung at the first public performance of Messiah in 1742. And how we need words of comfort and encouragement in this present day!

Part Three of Messiah (movements 45~53) is about resurrection—and thus the basis for public performances at Eastertime. The very next movement after the Hallelujah Chorus begins with words from Job 19:25-26 and I Corinthians 15:20:

I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. For now is Christ risen from the dead, the first fruits of them that sleep.

During these troublesome days in which we now live, may the events we celebrate at Easter (whether we fully comprehend them or not), aided by the words and music of Händel’s marvelous Messiah, help each of us embrace the comfort and hope we so badly need.

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** Here is the link to a YouTube recording of Part Three of Messiah (with the lyrics shown instead of the singers.) And this link shows the score with the words as they are being sung.