Revelation by
Gordon D. Fee (NCCS)
Do you remember when you received your first study
Bible? After receiving my first NIV
study Bible at age 15, I quickly realized that I was not well equipped to
understand all that was in this nice imitation leather covered tome. I quickly remember perusing catalogs looking
for a resource that would help me study the Bible well. How to
Study the Bible for All It’s Worth, co-authored by Gordon Fee was the man
who helped me study the New Testament in its various forms well. It is therefore, no surprise, that this
commentary on the Book of Revelation is no different. Gordon seeks to elucidate both the meaning of
the book and its application while maintaining a healthy focus on the
background of Revelation. After reading
this gem, I was thoroughly impressed by the way Gordon boils the meaning of
Revelation into discernible chunks that any reader can find helpful.
Gordon brings us up to speed with what type of literature
the Book of Revelation is in the Introduction.
After surmising that this book is of the apocalyptic genre, Gordon
writes, “John, therefore, is not simply anticipating the End, as were his
Jewish predecessors and contemporaries, he knows the End to have begun with
Jesus, through his death, resurrection, and ascension. Absolutely crucial to all of this is his
understanding of the Spirit as having come to be with God’s people until the
End, and thus as a way the Risen Lord continues to be with them.” (xiii) There is a markedly different power at work
in beginning of the end, namely through the life, death, resurrection and
ascension of the Suffering Servant than most apocalyptic contemporaries. The prophetic Spirit, given to God’s people,
points both back to what Jesus did and forward that his coming again will renew
all things. The purpose of the book of
Revelation hinges on two main themes; holy war and suffering. Christ as the “Lion of the tribe of Judah”
and a “slain Lamb” is indicative of the war against Satan that is taking place
in the book. Alongside the holy war
theme, Gordon writes, “Then, in the rest of this half of the book (chs. 13-22)
their suffering and death are specifically attributed to the Empire itself
(“the beast”).” (xv) The Roman Empire as
the Beast is constantly stirring up trouble for Christians here in Revelation
and ultimately leading to the death of many faithful followers of Jesus.
The Fusing the Horizons sections in this commentary are some
of my favorite. In the first one
concerning John’s letters to the seven churches, Gordon comments on the
analogous lines we can draw between the seven churches and our church. He notes that three problems plague both
churches, namely the issue of assimilation, complacency, and persecution. Gordon writes, “The upshot of assimilation is
that the church has rather totally lost its prophetic voice, calling out God’s
coming judgments on the world to which is has so easily accommodated itself.”
(62) The prophetic voice has been swallowed up by a cultural accommodation that
makes any kind of clear voice for moral or spiritual holiness irrelevant and
awkward. We don’t want to offend anybody
but we end up offending God the most.
Whether it’s the debasement of the wealth from Laodicea or the illusion
of security held by the church of Sardis (45), the churches were eaten up by
cultural idols and accommodation.
Lastly, Fee takes a nuanced interpretive approach to thorny
issues that others have raised such as the millennium. Seeking to do justice to the intent of the
text, Fee writes, “The picture itself is ultimately about the role of the
martyrs during the thousand-year period.
And even though there is no specific geographical location given, John
seems clearly to have planet earth still in view. This is made certain by the language about “the
nations” in verse 3 and the picture of the resurrected martyrs “reigning” with
Christ….” (282) The focus is on the
positions of the martyrs here in the thousand year reign and not so much with
an exact unfolding of the number or the return of Christ in relation to
it. Fee gets us away from narrowing too
closely on a phrase or number in this text and seeing the larger narrative at
work.
This is a wonderfully written commentary that is clear
headed in its approach to interpreting Revelation in its larger context with
reference to the situation with Rome. With
brimming insight and application, Gordon Fee has put together a commentary that
will encourage its readers for many years to come.
Thanks to Cascade Books (imprint of Wipf & Stock) and
James Stock for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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