Breaking the Code [Paperback]

Breaking the Code makes for an excellent introduction and study guide to the Book of Revelation, a book that many Christians sometimes neglect, finding it too confusing or difficult to understand. Metzger is a noted Biblical scholar, but he wrote this book with the nontheological layman in mind, taking the reader step-by-step through the sections of the Book of Revelation, explaining each passage in a clearly understandable manner. He goes to great lengths to point out the beauty of the writing and the many blessings that God will bestow upon the faithful as the waves of tribulation break upon the corrupt earth.

The most striking piece of advice Metzger gives to the reader is this: the Book of Revelation does not mean what it says - it means what it means. By this, he means that the visions of John should not be taken literally - his description of Jesus, the dragon, the beasts, the Four Horsemen, the new Jerusalem, etc. Rather, such images are to be interpreted symbolically. Metzger puts great emphasis on the symbolic language that John uses, and in so doing he does a fabulous job of linking the content of Revelation to a myriad of Old Testament sources. He explains the numbers that keep appearing in the visions, such as seven and twelve, as representative of completeness. Another such number is 144,000 which is said to represent the saints in heaven - this particular reference has caused discord in the past, as some persons and groups, such as Jehovah's Witnesses, have interpreted this as the maximum number of people who will gain access to heaven, but Metzger argues that the number is used to represent all of those who remain faithful. In a similar vein, the seven churches mentioned early in the Book are meant to represent all churches - then and now.

Metzger makes many important points in these pages. He tells us, for example, not to expect the foretold events to happen in the order they appear in the Book itself. In this regard, he does an excellent job of demonstrating how later parts of the Book reinforce and present anew, from a fresh angle, information about events already described. He also does a good job distinguishing between information intended for John's contemporaries and prophecies concerning the Last Days.

In the same vein, Metzger follows in the footsteps of John himself by stopping at appointed times to extol the infinite love of God and to reassure believers of God's promise to protect them from the horrible events that will define the final days of the world. While many consider Revelation almost incomprehensible and disorganized, Metzger clearly proves that the book is built upon a solid, noticeably logical structure.

While he does greatly expound upon the symbolic nature of the visions, Metzger does not go into great detail about some of the more fascinating images the Book conjures up. Nor does he bog himself down in theological detail. When he gets to Revelation 20 and the thousand-year reign described therein, he refers only briefly to such concepts as the rapture, the tribulation and different schools of end-times interpretation (namely postmillennialists, premillennialists, and amillennialists) - as he points out, these terms are not to be found in Revelation, and the concepts have been assimilated from other portions of the Bible over the years. This truly is a very readable summary of the contents of the Book. Those seeking deeper commentary should continue their study elsewhere, and the author includes a bibliography to help point the reader to additional sources. One should not, however, accept all of Metzger's interpretations uncritically. Read the Book of Revelation yourself, consult other sources, and seek a level of personal understanding of the text if you really want to gain insight into this most difficult of Biblical Books.

I read Metzger's book while preparing to lead a study group on the Book of Revelation. I found the author, who is well-known and well-respected among biblical scholars using the historical-critical method, to be much more pastoral than usual. He not only uses great research, as one would expect, but uses it in a style of understanding the meaning of the text and offering insights into how we can apply the theology of John today. The book is clearly not intended for scholarly use, but is perfect for the main study text of a bible study. Well done and inexpensive.

In recent years there has been a renewed interest in the Book of Revelation, not only as a divinely inspired message to the Church of Jesus Christ filled with words of comfort and beauty, but also (in some circles) as a predictor of the events, sequence and date of the end times.

The mistaken idea that Revelation is a sort of Cook's Tour to the last days of the earth has entered into the popular culture in such a way that the actual portent of the book has been partially or even totally obscured by creative writers.

As a helpful corrective it is always good to ask, "What have Christians for the better part of 2000 years believed about Revelation?"

When we seek for answers, we cannot have a better guide than Bruce Metzger, who is an internationally acclaimed New Testament scholar and who has taught for many years at Princeton Theological Seminary. Dr. Metzger is also the chairman of the New Revised Standard Version (of the Bible) Translation Committee.

With all of his academic credentials, you might think, "Oh dear this is going to be a dry book." But that is not the case. Dr. Metzger has written a book that is easily understood, targeted not for the professional theologian but rather for the general reader.

While some books about Revelation err on the side of rigid timetables and several quotations from the first chapter may serve to illustrate Dr. Metzger's approach. He says, "The book of Revelation is unique in appealing primarily to our imagination... Many of the details of the pictures are intended to contribute to the total impression, and are not to be isolated and interpreted with wooden literalism." (page 11). Such a statement shows the reader the straightforward and sensible approach Dr. Metzger utilizes throughout the study.

The reader is indebted to Dr. Metzger for insights that help make the Book of Revelation less of a mystery and more of an inspiration. He reminds us that people are represented by animals, that historical events are portrayed in terms of natural phenomena and that colors and numbers have a coded or secret meaning. The key to understanding Revelation comes not only in breaking the code for which all of these things stand, but also, in Dr. Metzger's words, remembering that: "such features in the books should make us wary of turning Revelation into a kind of almanac or time chart of the last days based on the sequence of visions that John experienced." (Page 19). It serves as a corrective, both for those who have avoided Revelation, and for those who focus all of their Biblical attention upon it.

There is a leader's guide in the back of the book which is very helpful to the reader, whether or not the book is being used in a Bible Study Class.

If you find this review helpful you might want to read some of my other reviews, including those on subjects ranging from biography to architecture, as well as religion and fiction.