The world’s biblical scholars have seemed to be frustrated and confused by the book of Revelation. This fact notwithstanding, the Prophet Joseph once said: “The book of Revelation is one of the plainest books God ever caused to be written” (TPJS, 290). Obviously, Joseph, through the Spirit, had caught the secret of the book, and he loved it!

While even today the book remains difficult to interpret, we in the Church do have a considerable advantage over the rest of the world. Modern revelation has given us considerable insight into the meaning of the book. This revealed material includes sections 77, 88, 130, and 131 of the Doctrine and Covenants, 1 Nephi 14:10-27, Ether 4:16 in the Book of Mormon, Joseph’s inspired revision of the King James Bible, and some sermons of the Prophet’s which are recorded in his History of the Church, volume 5, pages 298, 336- 37, 339- 45 and volume 6, pages 363-67. In addition, we will draw upon the helpful work by Dr. Richard D. Draper, Opening the Seven Seals: The Visions of John the Revelator (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1991).

Brother Draper introduces his book with a provocative keynote statement:

John’s invocation upon all those who receive the revelation is rendered by the King James translators: “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 1:3). The last phrase, “for the time is at hand,” is what urges me. The Greek (ho gar kairos eggus) can be translated as the King James Version does it, but I fear that with that rendering we are likely to misunderstand John’s thrust ─ the sense is that time is limited, or that time presses. This captures the idea of how the inner tempo, the spiritual vigor of the age, will escalate as mankind enters the apocalyptic era. As the earth prepares for the coming of her Lord, time becomes laden with force, charged with an irresistible destiny. The Greek does not employ the ordinary word for time (chronos) but speaks of the Kairos ─ time that has matured; time that has found fulfillment.

Closely connected with the thought is a phrase repeated three times near the end of the book: “Behold, I come quickly” (Revelation 22: 7, 12, cf. 20). The Lord is not telling the early Christians to expect him at any moment. Rather, the phrase characterizes a dynamic quality of time. The Lord is saying that he comes in the pressing, the urgent time ─ the time bearing within it a measureless spiritual hastening that moves to crescendo upon a humanity unmoved, unrepentant, and unprepared. One scholar said, “That Christ comes quickly can very well mean that He comes ‘too quickly’ for an unprepared and sleeping humanity. That the time is ‘near’ may mean that it is ‘short’; that it is actually too short considering the slowness and laziness of human souls” (Emil Bock, The

Apocalypse of Saint John, trans. Alfred Heidenreich, Edinburgh: Floris Books, 1951, 17) (Draper, 9).

The following notes will hopefully create a background framework that will make your reading and studying the book of Revelation more fun and meaningful in the future.