How To Read Revelation Well

Introduction

I am not the final authority, but I will share what I have learned so you can make your own judgment. My main purpose is to help establish a clear baseline for reading Revelation’s genre, so its meaning becomes more understandable. To illustrate this, I will take one passage to flesh out how to read this book.

“And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; 11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.”

Revelation 8:10–11

What is the star?

I want to focus on the word star. I have heard many teachers claim that this is an actual star from heaven that crashes down to earth and pollutes the waters. What happens here is that this verse is isolated from the rest of the book and the entire Bible. The first mention of a star in Revelation is found in Revelation 1:16, but then we are told what these stars are in verse 20.

20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

Revelation 1:20

Now, some wonder whether these stars are the pastors or actual angels, since the word means “messengers.” My point here is not to decide what the word star refers to, but to show that, right from the start, Revelation is not using the word star as an actual one from space.

Now we can move beyond Revelation 8:10-11 as we examine the use of the word “star.”

And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.

Revelation 9:1

I believe the more accurate wording is “a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth.” How can a celestial star possess a key? Well, it can’t! We also need to ask when this star fell from heaven, and the obvious answer is back in verse 8:10.

In the Old Testament, angels are often referred to as the host of heaven.

19 And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.

1 Kings 22:19

12  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!

How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

Isaiah 14:12

The phrase “son of the morning” means the morning star.

Let the Bible speak to us.

We often impose our will on the Bible about how it should be understood. We want to read it through our modern-day lens. Today, myths are seen as fairy tales and have no value whatsoever. From what I was told, J. R. Token showed C. S. Lewis that the myths he loved so much were ways of talking about truths that exist and cannot be explained under a microscope. Token explained that all myths are trying to tell a real story and that the ultimate story is that of Jesus.

Now, I am not claiming that Revelation is a myth; my only point is that people in the past described things differently than we do today, and we can’t impose our way of thinking on theirs. What I am saying about Revelation and much of the Old Testament prophecies is expressed in metaphors or allegories. In the case of the star, we are dealing with an allegory.

The allegory of water.

The star is said to pollute the waters, causing men to die. If the star is an allegory, then we should assume the water is too. That traces back to Genesis, where the allegories get their factual meaning. In Genesis chapter 2, we are told that a river gives life to the land. So, an allegory of water is that water is life-giving.

Jesus uses the allegory of water when He speaks to the woman at the well.

10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

John 4:10

Jesus also said that He is the truth.

6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

John 14:6

The allegory of lies.

In chapter 3, we are told about a serpent that is later identified as Satan, who brings death to the world through lying.

44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

John 8:44

So, where the water of the Garden of Eden brought life, Satan came alone and brought death through his lies. Another allegory used for truth and lies is light and darkness.

The allegory of wormwood.

3  For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb,

And her mouth is smoother than oil:

4  But her end is bitter as wormwood,

Sharp as a two-edged sword.

Proverbs 5:3–4

Wormwood is used seven times in the Old Testament to represent water that brings death.

Putting it all together.

The star we read about in Revelation 8:10 is an angel, and probably Satan, as described in Revelation 12:3-5 and Isaiah 14:12. Because of this, Satan turns truth (water) into poison lies, and men die because of it. He is given a key that lets him unlock the bottomless pit. When we understand the language and we are consistent, we avoid turning Revelation into an eclectic collection of thoughts.

Now that you understand where I am coming from, take the same principle and apply it to the mountain that is cast into the sea. You can start with Psalms 48:1 and Jeremiah 51:25.

Until next time, have a great day,