Would you like to watch President Nixon resign again? The O. J. Simpson car chase? Today's Wall Street Journal reports that ABC has begun selling archived news clips on the iTunes Music Store. For $1.99 you can watch the news of the past. If only they could be as helpful with the future.

Many turn to the Book of Revelation in viewing the present Middle East conflict as the beginning of the "end times." We're exploring the various ways scholars see Revelation, closing with the "apocalyptic" approach. "Apocalyptic" literature spoke to difficult times for God's people, using visions and symbols in a kind of code. It contained a predictive element, forecasting the destruction of evil and victory for the faithful.

It used dramatic elements, creating vivid and forceful images to impress the reader. In Revelation we read of rivers of blood, hailstones weighing one hundred pounds, a dragon so large he can knock down a third of the stars with his tail (this would be 300,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars!), and so on. These elements greatly heighten the suspense of the book, and are intended to be interpreted as dramatic symbols. Finally, apocalyptic literature was usually pseudonymous. This is the only characteristic not found in Revelation, as John names himself. But each of the other elements is vital to understanding the intended meaning of the book.

Here, then, is how I read the Revelation. As I come to a passage, I ask how its first-century readers would have understood its words and symbols. I look for principles from the truths I discover, and then apply those principles to our problems today.

How does this method treat Revelation and the "end times"? Most who follow this approach see the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 as a good and necessary thing for the Jewish people, but not as the fulfillment of prophecy. They point to Paul's statement: "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:26-29).

In other words, while the Lord loves the Jewish people as he loves all people, the Church is now the people of God. Events related to the modern state of Israel are not to be connected specifically with Revelation or other books of biblical prophecy. How does this approach relate to the "end times"? We'll conclude tomorrow.

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