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By Kevin Merrell

In Need of a Revelation
About the Book of Revelation

Once we take the Book of Revelation seriously, what are we

to make of the casserole of curious metaphors that populate it?
Container or contents?
In the movie, The Princess Bride, Wallace Shawn plays Vizzini, a self-important little boss in a trio of bumbling outlaws. Mandy Pitinkin plays another of
the outlaws, Inigo Montoya, a Spanish fencing master intent on revenging his
fathers death. Despite his belief that hes an unusually clever person, Vizzini
is fond of saying that unlikely events are inconceivable! Once after he says
this, Inigo thoughtfully replies, You keep using that word. I do not think
it means what you think it means. The same could be said for a word that
showed up as far back as the Book of Revelation or The Apocalypse of John
in the Bible. The word, apocalypse, is a part of our modern written and visual
vocabulary to describe the world as we know it collapsing into chaos, suffering
and destruction, right? Yes and no.
While the dictionary indeed defines apocalypse as a great disaster: a
sudden and very bad event that causes much fear, loss, or destruction, the
word has its origins in the Greek word, apokalypsis, simply meaning to reveal
or uncover. Its as if the word, apocalypse, was a jug full of chocolate milk. At
one time the word, jug, meant a container for liquid and the words, chocolate
milk, meant chocolateflavored milk. Over the course of thousands of years,
however, the word, jug in this case has taken on the meaning of its contents,
the chocolate milk. There is great value in separating the container of the
revelations of John from its contents of prophecies about the judgments of
God in the last days.
This is revelation
The first verses of the Book of Revelation open with a bold statement announcing this separation of container from content and inviting our attention
and further study:
1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew
unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent
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and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus
Christ, and of all things that he saw.
3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at
hand. (revelation 1:13)
In verse one we learn that Johns revelation is actually Jesus revelation and
as with all matters divine, it originates with God. Will we heed the mind and
will of the Lord? By way of assignment a messenger or angel has guided John
through the revelation. In verse two we learn that the Book of Revelation is
Johns testimony or witness of Jesus Christ and the events of the last days that
were shown to him. In verse three we discover that a blessing is attached to
reading, hearing and abiding by the words of the revelation. The phrase, for
the time is at hand, adds a note of urgency mirroring Jesus own urgency
when he taught his apostles about the last days.
The gift of a divine message
In the Book of Mormon we learn that others, including Nephi the son
of Lehi, have experienced this same comprehensive, panoramic vision of the
human story seen by John:
25 But the things which thou shalt see hereafter thou shalt not write;
for the Lord God hath ordained the apostle of the Lamb of God that
he should write them.
26 And also others who have been, to them hath he shown all things,
and they have written them; and they are sealed up to come forth in
their purity, according to the truth which is in the Lamb, in the own
due time of the Lord, unto the house of Israel.
27 And I, Nephi, heard and bear record, that the name of the apostle
of the Lamb was John, according to the word of the angel. (1 nephi
14:2527)
Nephi is forbidden by an angel to write an account of the vision of all things
because it is the task of another. John, the apostle of the Lamb of God, has
been ordained to share this testimony and revelation with us. Other prophets
have been shown the same vision but their records are sealed up to come forth
in a future day of the Lords choosing. The Book of Revelation is the gift of
a divine message to us, a testimony of Jesus Christ and a witness by divine
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decree to the events unfolding in the last days. What faithful person would
not be drawn in study and prayer to Johns revelation? Will God not hold us
accountable for what we do with such a gift?
Plain and pure
Even a casual reading of Johns Apocalypse, however, raises an additional
but perplexing question: if the Book of Revelation is a specially-prepared
testimony of Jesus and of end time events, why, oh why, does it feel so obscure and mysterious to us? With its jambalaya of curious beasts, books, seals,
trumpets, colors and sounds, the book reads in places like some kind of fever
dream or hallucination.
Remarkably, in the opinion of the angel teaching Nephi about the vision,
Johns record is plain, pure and easy to understand:
Wherefore, the things which he [John] shall write are just and true;
and behold they are written in the book which thou beheld proceeding
out of the mouth of the Jew; and at the time they proceeded out of the
mouth of the Jew, or, at the time the book proceeded out of the mouth
of the Jew, the things which were written were plain and pure, and most
precious and easy to the understanding of all men. (1 nephi 14:23.)
Well, of course its clear to an angel, we think to ourselves, Without the
veil to cloud his understanding its easy for him to understand Johns vision.
While thats undoubtedly true theres also a possible clue for us in the text.
The angel notes that at the time the book proceeded out of the mouth of the Jew,
the things which were written were plain and pure. Like many parts of the
Bible the story may well have gotten muddled in transcription and translation
before it got to us.
Working on the puzzle
Even if were stuck with a clear story that took a beating when it went
through repeated translations, yet there are pieces to the puzzle that we might
piece together for ourselves. For instance, when we read about the opening of
the sixth seal (the sixth thousand-year period of the earths mortal probation)
in Revelation 6:1216 we see a tremendous earthquake followed by lights out
and everyone ducking for cover:
12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was
a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and
the moon became as blood;
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13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth
her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and
every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and
the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every
free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the
face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
In verse 13 were not sure what to make of stars falling to the earth yet in
verse 15 we read that everyone from the high and mighty to the lowest of the
low are trying to find a cave to take refuge in. Why? Something is falling out
of the sky on them. Could the word stars in this case perhaps mean meteorites? Later in chapter eight we read of hail and fire falling from the sky and
burning up a third of the earths vegetation. Could the word hail in this case
mean meteorites again? Hundredpound burning rocks falling out of the sky
makes more sense than 100-pound hailstones falling out of the sky. Also its
a stretch to imagine fire and ice coming down at the same time much less
burning up great swaths of vegetation around the world.
Continuing on in Revelation 8:89 we read of something described as a
mountain falling from the sky into the sea causing the water to become as
blood, rendering it toxic to all aquatic life. Where have we heard of water
being turned to blood, rendering it poisonous before? The story of Moses
and the plagues of Egypt. There are a number of similarities between the
plagues of Egypt and the judgments of God found in the Book of Revelation.
Because God always uses natural means to accomplish his purposes its not
unreasonable to imagine him using the same natural forces in both scenarios.
One of the striking similarities among all scriptural accounts of the last days
is a connection to the heavens. Something dramatic always appears in the sky
or falls out of the sky.
One of the plainest books
Its one thing for an angel to declare the Book of Revelation to be clear and
easily understood by all but what are we to make of Joseph Smiths declaration
to a conference of the Church on April 8, 1843 that, The book of Revelation
is one of the plainest books God ever caused to be written? (History of the
Church, 5:342.) What? Did the prophet of this, the final dispensation of the
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fullness of times, receive the same vision of all things seen by John, Nephi,
Moses, Enoch and the Brother of Jared? Joseph never claimed that he did
but anything he received from the Lord could help us decipher the Book of
Revelation.
In fact as Joseph Smith was translating the Bible he had a question-and-answer session with the Lord about the Book of Revelation that is preserved
in the Doctrine and Covenants as Section 77. A pattern quickly emerges in
D&C 77 that John is telling the story using symbols:
3 Q. Are the four beasts limited to individual beasts, or do they represent
classes or orders?
A. They are limited to four individual beasts, which were shown to John,
to represent the glory of the classes of beings in their destined order or
sphere of creation, in the enjoyment of their eternal felicity.
4 Q. What are we to understand by the eyes and wings, which the beasts
had?
A. Their eyes are a representation of light and knowledge, that is, they
are full of knowledge; and their wings are a representation of power, to
move, to act, etc. (d&c 77:34)
Find me a code book
Describing one thing as another thing is a rich, poetic form called metaphor that resembles using code words or a specialized vocabulary. For instance,
instead of saying there was so much dust in the air that the moon looked red,
we read in several places in scripture that there will come a time in the last
days that the moon will turn to blood. In fact there is an entire subgenre
in scripture called apocalyptic literature that includes, besides the Book of Revelation, sections of Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Habakkuk, Mark 13, Matthew 24,
1 Nephi 1314 and D&C 88. These passages written by different prophets at
different times and in different places all refer to the last days using similar if
not the exact same metaphors. Perhaps part of our challenge in grasping the
Book of Revelation or apocalyptic literature in general is learning this prophetic language. Wed benefit from a code book or a Rosetta Stone to help
us make sense of all those metaphors. If Joseph Smith proclaimed the Book
of Revelation one of the plainest of all books, he probably understood this
prophetic language of metaphors.

Remarkably, LDS researcher Anthony E. Larson claims to have discovered robust, workable insights mirrored by non-LDS scholars that unlock
the metaphoric language of the prophets. Hell be the first to state hes not
a prophet but he does make good use the same gifts of reason and prayerful
study that weve all been given and invited to use. Through books, a blog,
an excellent series of online courses and a Facebook page, Brother Larson
connects us with both the seemingly supernatural, miraculous stories from
ancient scripture as well as the events of the last days foretold in scripture.
Check out Anthony Larsons take on prophetic language and decide for your
self. http://mormonprophecy.com/
One grand sign
Joseph Smith taught that it is not Gods intention for us as the children of
the light to be caught off guard by the events of the last days:
The coming of the Son of Man never will benever can be till the
judgments spoken of for this hour are poured out: which judgments are
commenced. Paul says, Ye are the children of the light, and not of the
darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief in the night. It
is not the design of the Almighty to come upon the earth and crush it
and grind it to powder, but he will reveal it to His servants the prophets.
(joseph smith, teachings of the prophet joseph smith, 286).
More useful news: God reveals his design for the last days to his servants
the prophets. Already Joseph Smith and Nephi have helped us better understand the Book of Revelation. By knowing about the events of the last days
we can recognize in faith the hand of God when his judgments come instead
of concluding that he has forgotten us, or worse.
And theres more. Continuing his insights about the end times Joseph
shared with us the grand sign of the second coming of Christ:
Judah must return, Jerusalem must be rebuilt, and the temple, and water
come out from under the temple, and the waters of the Dead Sea be
healed. It will take some time to rebuild the walls of the city and the
temple, and etc.; and all this must be done before the Son of Man will
make His appearance.
There will be wars and rumors of wars, signs in the heavens above
and on the earth beneath, the sun turned into darkness and the moon to
blood, earthquakes in divers places, the seas heaving beyond their bounds;
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then will appear one grand sign of the Son of Man in heaven. But what
will the world do? They will say it is a planet, a comet, etc. But the Son
of man will come as the sign of the coming of the Son of Man, which
will be as the light of the morning cometh out of the east. (joseph
smith, teachings of the prophet joseph smith, 28687)
Thank you, Joseph, for the grand sign of the second coming!
Unfolded in the eyes of all the people
Finally, lets give Moroni the last word and add him to the list of the Lords
servants the prophets that can help us better understand the Book of Revelation.
In the book of Ether the Lord speaks to Moroni of the revelations of John:
15 Behold, when ye shall rend that veil of unbelief which doth cause you
to remain in your awful state of wickedness, and hardness of heart, and
blindness of mind, then shall the great and marvelous things which have
been hid up from the foundation of the world from youyea, when ye
shall call upon the Father in my name, with a broken heart and a contrite
spirit, then shall ye know that the Father hath remembered the covenant
which he made unto your fathers, O house of Israel.
16 And then shall my revelations which I have caused to be written by
my servant John be unfolded in the eyes of all the people. Remember,
when ye see these things, ye shall know that the time is at hand that they
shall be made manifest in very deed.
17 Therefore, when ye shall receive this record ye may know that
the work of the Father has commenced upon all the face of the land.
(ether 4:1517)
More clues! Our veil of unbelief, hardness of heart and blindness of mind
are all part of the problem. It doesnt mean were bad people it just means our
traditions of understanding the Book of Revelation and the last days prevent
us from actually understanding them. All of us can humbly call upon the
Father in the name of Christ and seek to understand the Book of Revelation
the best we can. As we do therell come a time when everyone understands
the revelations of John, and when that happens, the events themselves will
manifest shortly thereafter. Furthermore, as weve already received the record
of Moroni we know that the work of the Father has commenced. It feels like
were right in the thick of things now. We feel empowered to go out and study
the Book of Revelation.
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