How I Know the Book of Revelation Has Already Been Fulfilled

The last book of the Bible has perplexed readers since it first appeared. For many years commentators were unsure how to interpret it. Some thought of it as an allegory, while others regarded its prophecies as a survey of the church ages. Still others regarded it as a description of the demise of the Roman empire or the Roman Catholic Church.

As for when it’s prophecies are supposed to take place, disagreements abound. Many modern scholars view Revelation as a futuristic book describing the “end of time” in our future. They developed a theory about a “rapture” event which will see believers in Christ “caught up” into heaven. In more recent years some scholars are beginning to believe the concept that the events of Revelation have already occurred.

The controversy and difficulty in interpreting Revelation arises from its use of Hebrew prophetic metaphor and figures of speech employed by its author, John the apostle. Though written in Greek to seven churches in the Roman world, Revelation is a deeply Hebrew book. It employs many of the same metaphors found in the Old Testament prophets.

One of the keys to understanding its message and purpose is determining when it was written. Most commentaries place Revelation during the reign of Domitian in the last decade of the first century. Here’s the…