The Returning King (Vern Poythress)

The Returning King is a guide to the Biblical book of Revelation- the last book in the Bible that deals with visions and descriptions of the end times. Scholar Vern Poythress first provides a lengthy introduction looking at schools of interpretation, content and style, author and date, occasion and purpose, and structure of the book, before providing a commentary on all 22 chapters.

Highlights
Revelation is a tough book that can seem hard to understand. Full of fantastic visions, it's easy to get distracted and try to 'solve the puzzle' of end-times prophecies.  Yet, "all Scripture, including Revelation, has practical value of exhortation, comfort, and training in righteousness." So "Revelation should not merely flit through our brain, or lead to vain speculations, but lodge in our heart and produce a practical response, a response of keeping it, just as we are to keep Christ's commandments by obeying them."

Revelation summary (condensing/paraphrasing the "Content and Style" opening):

In the opening vision, Christ appears as the majestic king and judge of the universe, and as ruler of seven churches. He addresses specific needs of each church. His powerful promises also remind the churches of the scope and profundity of their calling. The selection of exactly seven churches suggests the wider relevance of the message. 

Through the body of the book, Christ's rebukes of and encouragement for the churches take a new form. Through Christ and his angels, [the author] John receives a series of visions intended to open our eyes to the kingship and majesty of God, the nature of spiritual warfare, God's judgments on evil, and the outcome of the conflict. God and his army will win the battle, but his forces are powerfully opposed by Satan, the great Dragon, who leads the whole world astray. Satan has two agents, and Beast and the False Prophet, who together with him make up a counterfeit trinity. The Beast, representing raw power and state persecution, threatens to suppress true witness and compel people to worship him. The False Prophet is his assistant and propagandist. Babylon, representing the worldly city and the desirable aspects of idolatrous society, threatens to seduce the saints away from spiritual purity. In opposition to these threats, the saints must maintain their testimony, even to the point of martyrdom, and must maintain their spiritual purity. In the consummation, their witness finds its fulfillment in the final light of God's truth, and their purity is fulfilled in the spotless bride of the Lamb.

"Its message can be summarized in one sentence: God rules history and will bring it to its consummation in Christ."

Revelation includes powerful imagery (clearly symbolic) and mentions of long periods of time between certain events. This has led people over the years to try to determine the meaning of the symbols and timelines.  Do certain creatures, or their attributes, symbolize empires? And if so, is it empires of antiquity, like Rome, those of today, or those yet to come?  The judgments and plagues that are mentioned- when and how will they occur? Are they happening today? How do the long periods of time mentioned relate to the final battle? There are several main schools of interpretation, and Poythress summarizes them all.  He argues that, ultimately, that "many passage have at least three main applications, namely to the first century, to the final crisis, and to us in whatever time we live." Further, he stresses that "Revelation is a picture book, not a puzzle book. Don't try to puzzle it out. Don't become preoccupied with isolated details. Rather, become engrossed in the overall story. Praise the Lord. Cheer for the saints. Detest the beast. Long for the final battle."  He's not saying that the details are unimportant, but rather it's easy to get led astray and lose focus on the main points. Yet "we can illustrate how to understand Revelation by starting with one of its most important themes, the theme of spiritual warfare. Satan, the leader of the forces of evil, fights against God and the angels and God's people, but is ultimately defeated by the victor, Jesus Christ."  And "through its depiction of spiritual warfare, Revelation underlines and exceedingly important point: God is in control. He is in control not only of the general outline of history, but of its beginning, its end, and the details." Amen.

Review
I confess, I read Revelation less frequently than other books of the Bible, precisely because its imagery is confusing to me, and I don't want to get sucked into arguments about interpretation of end-times events.  Eschatology- the study of end times- always seemed to me a distraction, for we know that Jesus wins in the end, there is a final battle, and our calling is clear in the meantime. So why fight over what will happen and when?

Poythress's book was a breath of fresh air for me. He doesn't get distracted and go down rabbit holes. He lays out varying interpretations (and even includes different ways to look at the book's repetitious structure) fairly, and (I think) concludes rightly that our focus should be on the main points and practical takeaways.  I learned a good deal from this commentary. The structure section was extremely valuable to me, as the book does have a surprising degree of consistent presentation and delivery (regardless of structure you choose) which aids understanding.  And the insights about Satan and his 'trinity' was helpful: he "is not the creator or originator, but only an imitator." A counterfeiter.  It clarifies much of the Dragon/Beast/Prophet portions.

Ultimately, Poythress helped me understand that I was wrong- Revelation is valuable. God's book is a story, and all stories need an ending. Revelation lays that out. We may not understand all the details or imagery, or figure out the timeline, but it's clear in the end: Jesus wins, and He makes all things new. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

Rating: A