Opposed Book
Ever since the Lord began to inspire His Word and caused it to be written down it has been opposed. There has, of course, been human opposition. For example, the Word of God as given through Jeremiah was cut up into pieces and cast into the fire by a king who did not want to face its implications.[1] This human opposition has carried over into the present day in the area of Destructive Higher Criticism[2] and careless textual criticism.[3]
But, behind this human opposition there is certainly the opposition of Satan. It is Satan who has consistently stood against the Word of God from the time of the Fall of man in the Garden of Eden.
The book of Genesis in the Old Testament has long been an object of opposition. The theory of evolution, among other things, has attempted to discredit the testimony of Genesis. It is no surprise that Satan has attacked this book, since it is the most foundational book in the entire canon of Scripture, and to bring it into disrepute is to place the entire Bible on shaky footing.
In a similar manner the Enemy has attacked the book of Revelation. Revelation is the clearest scriptural depiction of the nature of the end of the age, the overall sovereignty of God, and the glorious nature of the Glorified Lord. It is in this book that the consummation of God’s redemptive purposes in Christ on earth is plainly revealed. By causing people to be intimidated by this book, Satan robs many of the knowledge of a completing Savior. Another writer suggests the tragic reality of this kind of intimidation in saying the following.
The book of Revelation seems to occupy one of two positions in most people’s affections. Either it is almost totally neglected or it is elevated to a prominence shared by no other biblical book. As to the former position, the reasons are not hard to imagine. Apart from the letters to the seven churches in Chapters 2 and 3, the book is almost entirely given over to exotic and florid literary forms. The weird visions coupled with the constant use of Old Testament images and ideas, put the book in the “too hard” category for many ordinary readers. Few Christians today are used to reflecting on their existence in terms of seven-headed beasts and apocalyptic horsemen. Since the idioms of Revelation are so strange to us we tend rather to concentrate on those parts of the New Testament which come to us in the straight-forward forms of letters and narratives. Neglect of Revelation is also, paradoxically, related to the fact that there are those who seem to give it undue prominence. When the modern prophets and futuristic gurus have finished their extraordinary explanation of every visionary detail, and have mapped out the most complex chain of events due to start just about any time now, the ordinary reader is frightened almost out of his wits. His fright is not so much caused by the awful events that are imminent, but by the measure of expertise required to interpret the intricacies of this unusual and unfamiliar book. Better leave it to the specialists![4]
Satan calls into question the absolute authority of Christ, and opens the way for many damning heresies. But, how does the attack come? How is the opposition manifested? It is encountered in three primary ways.
1) There is what may be described as a frontal assault upon the book through false religions that utterly deny the teachings of Revelation.
2) There is what may be thought of as an “inside job” attack which manifests itself in warped and twisted interpretations of the teachings of the book itself.
3) There is also the attack through fear, which is apparent in the lives of so many Christians and even pastors who are so intimidated by the symbols in the book that they pretty much avoid the book altogether.
[1] Jeremiah 36:20-23 [2] For example, a supposed Bible “scholar” may say something like: “When you read this passage in Genesis, then this other passage in Leviticus, does it really sound to you like they were both written by the same man?” [3] For example, a supposed Bible “scholar” may say something like: “The faithful preacher/teacher, when confronted with numerous differing Greek manuscripts for the same NT passage, must decide which of these Greek texts he is going to use.” [4] Graeme Goldsworthy, The Lion and the Lamb (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1984), 11-12.