Introduction. For far too many people, the book of Revelation has become an exciting book where those with a good imagination can run wild through its visions and revelations. Because most of the visions in Revelation have no inspired guidance to find their meaning, some feel free to add a meaning that makes sense to them or best fits their circumstances. They don’t realize the danger of this.
We need to remember that sometimes God wants us to have enough information to give us comfort, fear or excitement regarding the future, but not enough to see it clearly. If this is God’s will, then we must be content to know what He wants us to know and patiently wait until He reveals it more fully. This manifests our trust in God.
A clear example of this is the gospel of Jesus Christ as it was prophesied in the Old Testament. Many of those prophecies were vague and incomplete. There was no way to understand them without adding something. But God did not want them to do that. The NT Scriptures are “the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began.” It is “the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God” and “has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.” (Rom. 16:25; Eph. 3:9; Col. 1:26-27). Through the prophets, God revealed only what He wanted known. Prophecies were intentionally left vague because God wanted it to remain hidden. All things are done in His time and purpose. Until Jesus came, there was no way to interpret these figurative prophecies.
This is exactly what occurred when God sent Nebuchadnezzar a dream. God gave him enough information to intrigue him, but without the interpretation, it was impossible to understand. He knew if he told his magicians, they would make up a convincing interpretation. Nebuchadnezzar did not want what they imagined, he wanted the true meaning. If God had not revealed to Daniel both the dream and its true interpretation, it would never be known.
If we can understand these two things, we are prepared to speak scripturally about the book of Revelation. It is evident when reading the book that there are many visions and few explanations. God clearly did not want us to know everything about them. They deal with things as they exist in heaven and their interventions on earth. Jesus revealed to John exactly what He wanted us to know. If He did not give clear descriptions, we must trust Him and leave it for Him to reveal to us later. Those who are tempted to add their own ideas are no better than Nebuchadnezzar’s magicians. They too would take his vision and make of it what they would.
We need to remember that sometimes God wants us to have enough information to give us comfort, fear or excitement regarding the future, but not enough to see it clearly. If this is God’s will, then we must be content to know what He wants us to know and patiently wait until He reveals it more fully. This manifests our trust in God.
A clear example of this is the gospel of Jesus Christ as it was prophesied in the Old Testament. Many of those prophecies were vague and incomplete. There was no way to understand them without adding something. But God did not want them to do that. The NT Scriptures are “the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began.” It is “the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God” and “has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.” (Rom. 16:25; Eph. 3:9; Col. 1:26-27). Through the prophets, God revealed only what He wanted known. Prophecies were intentionally left vague because God wanted it to remain hidden. All things are done in His time and purpose. Until Jesus came, there was no way to interpret these figurative prophecies.
This is exactly what occurred when God sent Nebuchadnezzar a dream. God gave him enough information to intrigue him, but without the interpretation, it was impossible to understand. He knew if he told his magicians, they would make up a convincing interpretation. Nebuchadnezzar did not want what they imagined, he wanted the true meaning. If God had not revealed to Daniel both the dream and its true interpretation, it would never be known.
If we can understand these two things, we are prepared to speak scripturally about the book of Revelation. It is evident when reading the book that there are many visions and few explanations. God clearly did not want us to know everything about them. They deal with things as they exist in heaven and their interventions on earth. Jesus revealed to John exactly what He wanted us to know. If He did not give clear descriptions, we must trust Him and leave it for Him to reveal to us later. Those who are tempted to add their own ideas are no better than Nebuchadnezzar’s magicians. They too would take his vision and make of it what they would.