When I ask people the book of the Bible they are most interested in studying, the most common answer I receive is the Book of Revelation. While a challenging book, it is one that I am thankful for and think we should read – and have given some tips on reading in previous posts.
As I have studied it the past few months, something that I have become even more convinced of is the need to have familiarity with a number of Old Testament books in order to really understand it well. The lack of knowledge or understanding of these can lead to some of the misunderstandings people have about this book or cause it to seem mysterious. So, just as there are often “prerequisite” courses in school that one is required to take before a certain course or certain skills that someone needs to master before tackling a certain task or trade, there are some parts of Scripture that I think are “prerequisites” to studying Revelation.
This is the first in a series of posts in which I want to walk through some parts of the Old Testament that one should be familiar with to understand Revelation better. I’ll start with what is probably the most important – the book of Daniel. When I first studied Revelation, I was told that Daniel 9:24-27 was the key passage to know and understand, but I am less convinced of that idea in light of other possible interpretations of this passage (see this post for more information). Rather than discussing that passage, I want to draw attention to others that I think are more important and helpful to us in understanding the framework of the book, figures within it, and its function.
Framework
The opening and closing chapters of the book of Revelation have important allusions back to the book of Daniel, which not only connects these books but also provides a framework in which to understand the book of Revelation.
The title “revelation” (or “apocalypse” as it can also be translated) is one of those links, as it recalls Daniel 2 in which Daniel interprets the dream of the king of Babylon – there are a number of other words and concepts that appear in Revelation 1 and Daniel 2. In the midst of the similarities between these chapters is an important difference. While Daniel 2 speaks about what God will do “in the future” (2:29, 45), Revelation speaks about “what must soon take place” (1:1) and that the “time is near” (1:3). This difference may seem odd, as we often think of Revelation speaking about the future while the dreams in Daniel speak of events that happened in that general time period. However, it means that we should not view Revelation as simply speaking about events in the distant future but events that were starting to take place in that time. It is a reminder that since the ascension of Jesus and pouring out of the Spirit, we are living in the “last days” (see Acts 2).
An allusion to Daniel also appears in the last chapter of Revelation, as Revelation 22:10 speaks about not sealing up the words of the prophecy (22:10). This is a reversal of what we read in the last chapter of Daniel, when Daniel is told to “seal the book until the time of the end” (12:4). Similar to the opening chapter, this connection indicates that the writing of Revelation happens in the time of the end. We are living in the age of fulfillment because of Jesus and thus should see the words of this book as having value for us. We often think of the book of Revelation as having value for people living at the “end” – that is true, but we should see ourselves in that category regardless of whether our time is the “end of the end” or not. This is a book for us.
In addition, these links to Daniel mean that the way the book will communicate these truths will be similar – through various symbols and images. When we see these images, we should recognize they are symbolic and think about what truths they point to. For example, we will read that there is a sword coming out of Jesus’s mouth (Rev 1:16); this is not a literal picture of what he looks like but a symbol meant to convey a truth about his words. Thankfully, many of the images are used elsewhere in Scripture or are explained in the book of Revelation – just as God explains images and symbols in Daniel through Daniel himself as well as to Daniel through angelic messenger.
Figures
Revelation also uses imagery from the book of Daniel to describe various figures.
First and foremost is the “Son of Man,” the term that John gives to the glorified Christ that he sees in Revelation 1. This figure appears in Daniel 7 alongside “the Ancient of Days” – God the Father – and is given “dominion and glory and a kingdom, so that those of every people, nation, and language should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14). In Revelation 1, the images used for the Ancient of Days describe the Son of Man, pointing to Jesus’s divinity; this description of Jesus in Revelation 1 also recalls the figure Daniel sees in Daniel 10 and thus could point to this angelic messenger to John as being Jesus himself.
This figure appears and is enthroned after a series of beasts arise, standing as the one who defeats them. We also see a beast arising in the book of Revelation 13 and these beasts are linked. In Daniel 7, there are four beasts that seem to point to world empires – lion (Babylon), a Bear (Medo-Persia), a leopard (Greece), and then a fourth beast that has iron teeth and ten horns (Rome). The beast in Revelation is a composite of these, showing it to embody all the various kingdoms and empires that oppose God but will be defeated; Rome reflects this beast but this beast also goes beyond Rome. The descriptions in Daniel and Revelation both point to this figure being terrifying and terrorizing God’s people (Daniel 7:25; Revelation 13:7), but also note that this will ultimately only be for a brief period (“time, times, and half a time” in Daniel 7:25; “forty-two months” in Rev 13:5 – both are about 3.5 years, not a full 7) and their destruction will lead to God’s kingdom. Therefore, the figure of the beast from the earth in Revelation 13 – often dubbed the antichrist – makes sense when you have read Daniel.
Function
There are other passages and images from the book of Daniel utilized in the book of Revelation that I could point you to (e.g., the archangel Michael in Revelation 12 also appears in Daniel 10 and 12), but I won’t discuss them here for the sake of time and space. I thought a more beneficial use of those elements would be to push us back to the overarching function of Revelation, which is not simply to provide information or knowledge. Rather, like the book of Daniel, it is a call to faithful living in unfaithful times.
The first part of Daniel shows how he lived in the midst of Babylon, staying faithful when asked to compromise his faith in the face of opposition and calls to worship others and thus testifying to the reality of God to the world around him through his faithfulness. The book of Revelation similarly uses the image of Babylon in describing those who oppose God’s church, calling for God’s people to remain pure and “come out of Babylon” (Revelation 18:4) while also serving as His faithful witnesses in the midst of similar challenges. Both books speak about Babylon’s demise and highlight the sovereignty and power of God even when it doesn’t appear that way – noting that it is God alone who lives forever and ever (see Revelation 4:9-10 and Daniel 4:34; 6:27; 12:7). The links with Daniel thus show us that Revelation calls for us to be His faithful and pure witnesses, remembering His power and recognizing His plan even if and when our world is unraveling.
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Unless otherwise noted, all Bible translations are from the Christian Standard Bible (CSB), Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers.
