Revelation Part 3 - Repetition & Recapitulation

Biblical Reflections

This is the longest episode in the series and will be split into 4 parts. It is almost two-hours long. Where we find the gospel message in the book of Revelation is pretty, straight forward, and I do that at the beginning of the episode. Trying to understand the Book of Revelation, well that’s another matter. In keeping with my rather, unique story-telling style, I present four-challenges to reading the Book of Revelation. First, the author presents the story in symbols, not prose or poetry, so how do we interpret the symbols? Second, there are four-

generally recognized schools of interpretation when looking at Revelation. Unfortunately, each school or theological persuasion has “secondary-gain” issues when interpreting the symbols. Third, much of the controversy and the name-calling among fellow-believers, over the Book of Revelation, revolves around the sequencing of the Rapture, the Tribulation, and the Millennium. Finally, there is the challenge of repetition and recapitulation. Spoiler alert, are there 21-judgments in Revelation, or are there 7-judgements described three-times in ever accelerating terms? My goal in this episode, other than to give the gospel message, is not explain or interpret Revelation for you, rather my goal is to give you some tools to help you critically read and understand what you are reading.