Part 1: What are we reading? Genre(s)

Victory Life Durant — Wednesday, August 6, 2025

Scripture Reading (Key Text)

Revelation 1:1–8 (ESV)¹ The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, ² who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. ³ Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. ⁴ John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, ⁵ and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood ⁶ and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. ⁷ Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. ⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Introduction

[ Wilderness Survival Merit Badge story ]

More than 25 years ago, I was a young Boy Scout. In my journey to earn my Eagle Scout badge, there are required merit badges that you have to earn, one of which was the “Wilderness Survival” merit badge. To earn this merit badge, a group of us Scouts, most of us 14 years old at the time, had to go into the woods with minimal supplies, build a shelter, build a fire, and cook food. We simply had to survive through the night and could return to camp in the morning. That evening, we found ourselves in a peanut field, roasting peanuts for dinner. Sometime in the night, after I had fallen asleep for a few hours or so in my self-made shelter, I awoke to noises. As far as my 14-year-old brain could tell, it was a pack of wolves coming to get us. In my fear, being awake in the darkness of the night, I began looking for something that would indicate what time it was and how long I had to wait until sunrise. On the horizon, I could see a dim light. I was excited, assuming I had only an hour or two before dawn. As I waited expectantly for an hour or so, the light never changed, only the same dim light. After another hour or so, I saw another dim light on the opposite horizon. I was so excitedly hoping for sunrise, it didn’t occur to me that I was looking in the wrong direction, only seeing the dim light pollution from the nearby town. Turns out, things were not as they seemed.

The book of Revelation reminds us that things are not always what they seem.

Literary Designs in Scripture

To understand the message of Revelation 2 and 3, some framing on how to interpret these chapters matters. To correctly interpret any literature, not the least of which Scripture, you must know the genre.

Genre is part of the medium the author uses to communicate their intended purpose.

Scripture is no different. The genre of any given text in Scripture affects how that text is interpreted. Whether poetry or prose, genre affects interpretation. You would not read The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien with the same mindset or framework as an encyclopedia, or authors like Edgar Allen Poe, Wendell Berry, or Robert Frost, the same way you would read the instruction manual of the birthday gift you got for your kids.

Hermeneutics: the science and art of interpretation of the Scriptures

Main Literary Styles of the Bible:

43% — Narrative — 502 chapters

33% — Poetry — 387 chapters

24% — Discourse — 300 Chapters

• Narrative:

• • “Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy. This story is about something that happened to them when they were sent away from London during the war because of the air-raids.” ~ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (1950)
  • “Call me Ishmael.” ~ Moby Dick, by Herman Melville (1851)
  • “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” ~ Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen (1813)
  • “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” ~  A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens (1859)

• Poetry:

We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time. ~ T.S. Elliot

• Poetry and Narrative:

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,

Seven for the dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,

Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,

One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne,

In the Land of Mordor, where the Shadows lie.

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,

One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

In the Land of Mordor, where the Shadows lie.

~ J.R.R. Tolkien

• Discourse:

“The more aware we are of our basic paradigms, maps, or assumptions, and the extent to which we have been influenced by our experience, the more we can take responsibility for those paradigms, examine them, test them against reality, listen to others and be open to their perceptions, thereby getting a larger picture and a far more objective view.” ~ Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

“Modern Christianity has often been practiced and taught in ways that divorce it from the rest of ‘real life.’ The result is many churched children become adult “Nones.” These people are among that 23 percent of the American population who today answer “None” to the question, “What is your religious affiliation?” I suggest that one factor underneath this shift is the loss of seeing Christianity as a whole-life philosophy and Jesus as the Great Philosopher.” ~ Jonathan T. Pennington, Jesus the Great Philosopher

• Narrative in Scripture:

Matthew 8:5–10 (ESV)⁵ When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, ⁶ “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” ⁷ And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” ⁸ But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹ For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.

• Poetry in Scripture:

Psalm 69:1–3 (ESV)¹ Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. ² I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. ³ I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God.

Proverbs 10:29 (ESV)²⁹ The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the blameless, but destruction to evildoers.

• Narrative and Poetry

Exodus 14:21–23, 26–28 (ESV)²¹ Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. ²² And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. ²³ The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen…. ²⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” ²⁷ So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. ²⁸ The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained.

Exodus 15:6–10 (ESV)⁶ Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power, your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy. ⁷ In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries; you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble. ⁸ At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up; the floods stood up in a heap; the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea. ⁹ The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them. I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.’ ¹⁰ You blew with your wind; the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty waters.

• Discourse

Romans 12:9–13 (ESV)⁹ Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. ¹⁰ Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. ¹¹ Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. ¹² Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. ¹³ Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Genre(s) of Revelation

“Understanding the genre gives us clues regarding the form, expectations, and purpose of the ‘text’ and is essential to a proper reading of each of these texts.”

So the question is, what is the genre of Revelation, and how would the readers of the seven churches have understood its message?

Genres of Revelation: (1) Letter

The most obvious clue to the genre of Revelation is in Revelation 1:4, where it clearly indicates that this is a letter. John, the author, is writing of an incredible vision of Jesus, while directly relating His words to the seven churches in Asia. Like other New Testament epistles, the responsible reading is to recognize the historical setting of the people to whom it was written, seeing how the author interacts with and reorients the original hearers. This then orients us to understand how these words relate to us today.

Revelation 1:4 (ESV)⁴ John to the seven churches that are in Asia…

Philippians 1:1 (ESV)¹ Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:

1 Peter 1:1 (ESV)¹ Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

Revelation 1:4 (ESV)⁴ John to the seven churches that are in Asia…

Since the number seven is so pervasive throughout Revelation to signify completeness, it would seem that the seven churches are in some way representative of the church in every era of history.

Genres of Revelation: (1) Letter, (2) Prophecy

Revelation 1:3 (ESV)³ Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

John also identifies what he is writing as a “prophecy.” Because of the sensational nature of the last century or so, Evangelicalism, being fascinated with the end times, has made it easy to assume the prophecy is simply about prediction. Prophecy may include a limited scope of prediction for the imminent future that is forthcoming (this may be referred to as “forth-telling” rather than “foretelling”).

Prophecy ≠ Prediction. Prophecy is more about “forth-telling” than “foretelling.”

Prophecy is “primarily a declaration of what God is doing in the present, that is, a declaration of God’s perspective on the present life of God’s people.” ~ David DeSilva

Prophecy uses the language of comfort and challenge when communicating to God’s people, calling them to repentance and recommitment. Prophecy comforts those who are in crisis or hardship, assuring them that God will “one day bring an end to all evil and oppression.” Prophecy also challenges those who have given in to the temptations of assimilation into the worldly systems and values.

Biblical prophecy uses the language of comfort and challenge. Biblical prophecy will comfort those in challenge and suffering, and challenge those who are too comfortable within the world’s systems and values.

“Indeed, the sort of crimes, and even the amount of delinquency that fill the prophets of Israel with dismay, do not go beyond that which we regard as a normal, as typical ingredients of social dynamics. To us a single act of injustice—cheating in business, exploitation of the poor—is slight; to the prophets, a disaster. To us, injustice is injurious to the welfare of the people; to the prophets it is a deathblow to existence: to us, an episode; to them, a catastrophe, a threat to the world.” ~ Abraham Joshua Heschel (approach to the writings of the Prophets in the Hebrew Bible)

Amos 5:18–24 (ESV)¹⁸ Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light, ¹⁹ as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him. ²⁰ Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it? ²¹ “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. ²² Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. ²³ Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. ²⁴ But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

Revelation, corresponding to biblical prophecy as a whole, helps us see from another perspective, namely God’s perspective, what we would typically take for granted. Revelation can be described as “resistance literature,” because one of its primary purposes is to “remind the church, both then and now, not to give in to the demands or practices of a system that is already judged by God and is about to come to its demise.” The implicit purpose in this, as opposed to prediction, is to call the church to a “faithful response in the present, not to provide an absolute blueprint for an uncertain future.”

Revelation can be described as “resistance literature,” because its purpose is to “remind the church, both then and now, not to give in to the demands or practices of a system that is already judged by God and is about to come to its demise.” ~ Michael Gorman

Genres of Revelation: (1) Letter, (2) Prophecy, (3) Apocalypse

Revelation 1:1 (ESV)¹ The Revelation of Jesus Christ

Revelation 1:1 (Greek) Ἀποκάλυψις Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ (“Apokalypsis Iēsou Christou”)

ἀποκάλυψις (apokalypsis) Something that is made fully known; a full disclosure.

The first word in the Greek text of the book of Revelation is “apokalypsis,” or apocalypse, meaning “unveiling” or “lifting off of a veil.” Apocalyptic literature uses symbolic, figurative, and mythic language to reveal a reality that undergirds what is being experienced in the natural world; it enables us to see beyond the natural world into the spiritual realities that supersede it, like looking through a window with open plantation shutters. Though this form of writing may seem odd or confusing to modern readers, to a first-century reader, it made sense.

“For the Christians addressed in Roman Asia Minor, Revelation would not have been engaged as a mysterious book needing to be interpreted; it would have been encountered as a book that interpreted the world in which they lived daily.” ~ David DeSilva

• Examples of Symbolic Language or Imagery

• • • Cake with Candles; Tin-foil hats; Elephant and Donkey with stars and stripes

Though the language is symbolic in nature, intended to activate and stretch the imagination, it points to a concrete and literal reality. Darrell Johnson elaborates on this feature of apocalyptic literature in two ways:

First, Revelation “seeks to set the present in light of the unseen realities of the future,” and second, it seeks to “set the present in light of the invisible realities of the present.” ~ Darrell Johnson

Both prophecy and an apocalypse are interested in the future, but not for its own sake, but for the sake of those who read it, specifically the original audience. Prophecy, in line with the Old Testament prophets, presents a picture of the future with the hope that the target audience would repent, making the future conditional based on their response.

John presents a future in Revelation “to evoke hope in his readers who are in sore need of it.” Revelation reminds the reader that God is aware and involved in the world, and will intervene within history to “defeat evil and bring His church to Himself.” ~ Tremper Longman III

Again, Revelation as apocalyptic literature is communicating to the reader that things are not what they seem.

Revelation is “an apocalyptic prophecy in the form of a circular letter.” ~ Richard Bauckham

Conclusion

But before the message begins, John has a dramatic “unveiling,” not of events, but of a person.

Revelation 1:1 (ESV)¹ The Revelation of Jesus Christ