Background of the Book (Robert Fisher)

Revelation 1-22 Revelation, The Book of (4 series + individual)

Pastor Robert Fisher introduces the book of Revelation, arguing that it is often neglected due to perceived difficulties but contains practical truths for the church. He establishes the historical context of the book, written by John around 95 A.D. during intense Roman persecution, and asserts that its primary purpose is to encourage and build up the suffering church, not to provide a chronological prophecy of distant future events. Fisher then lays out four hermeneutical principles for interpreting Revelation, emphasizing its symbolic nature and the need to distinguish between the description of a symbol and what is symbolized, as well as understanding how John views the present situation in light of the world's consummation. He concludes by outlining the four major visions within the book.

2 illustrations in this sermon

Hermeneutical Principle 1: Revelation as Visions and Symbols

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Chemist's Report vs. Love Letter

The point: Keep the hermeneutical principles in mind when reading the book of Revelation to overcome difficulties.

Fisher contrasts a chemist's detailed, literal report with a love letter or poem, arguing that the type of literature determines whether one expects literal or symbolic interpretation. This illustrates the need to approach Revelation as symbolic literature.

Maybe I can illustrate that. If you have a chemist or some other kind of a scientist but let's talk about a chemist who does a laboratory experiment for some important client the report of that experiment that he hands to his client is a very detailed and very precise and very accurate document. And when the man reads that document he knows what it is and he expects to find there very straightforward and very accurate documents. And very literal material.

24:25 - 24:58 Read in full sermon

Hermeneutical Principle 2: Distinguishing Symbol from Symbolized Reality

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Political Cartoon of President Ford

In this part of the sermon: The second principle emphasizes distinguishing between John's description of a symbol and the actual reality symbolized. Fisher illustrates this with descriptions of heaven…

Fisher describes a political cartoon of President Ford running to Capitol Hill with a briefcase. He explains that while the cartoon vividly depicts a symbolic action, no one believes Ford literally ran down Pennsylvania Avenue. This clarifies the distinction between the description of a symbol and the actual event symbolized.

with political cartoons I saw one the other day maybe many of you saw it President Ford running to Capitol Hill with a briefcase full of a plan for to get together with Congress now the picture was very clever and if someone were describing this picture he saw Ford running and Ford is really out of breath the sweat was running off flying off of him and his tie is over his shoulder and he's making haste to get to Capitol Hill with this briefcase stuffed with with a plan to get together with Congress we could describe the cartoon

33:04 - 33:49 Read in full sermon

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