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Preaching Apocalyptic? You've Got to be Kidding!
Gordon Fee
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Note: The full text of this plenary address will be published in the April 2006 issue of Calvin Theological Journal.

In a world in which the Left Behind books are a runaway success, despite what Gordon Fee called their "impossible interpretations of Scripture," Fee remarked that "one feels a sense a despair over the mental and spiritual flabbiness of contemporary North American evangelicalism."

Nonetheless, Fee said his purpose was "to urge you to recapture this great book for the sake of the contemporary church, because here indeed is a biblical book that is not only worth recovering for today's church, it is absolutely crucial that it be heard in our day. Here is a truly prophetic word, spoken with power and insight into a world dominated by a secular power." Fee said his task was to "whet your appetite, create in you a longing to preach and teach" from Revelation, and to offer practical tips on how to go about doing so.

After establishing the book as a "blending" of apocalyptic, prophetic, and epistolary genres, and exploring each of those terms, Fee said John's purpose in writing was to exhort the church to stay true to Christ as their persecution worsened. Despite his dire warnings that things "would get worse before they get better" for the church, John also gives the church "a word of encouragement: God, not the empire, is in control of history, and the church will triumph even through death."

Fee urged pastors to preach on Revelation as a series rather than a single sermon, and to preach from all portions of the book, not just the seven letters to the churches (to which many preachers restrict their consideration, and take out of context, in order to avoid the more confusing apocalyptic material). However, such a series should not go on so long that "you get bogged down in the details that are the icing and not the cake ... [and] lose the grandeur of the book," Fee said. He recommended a 13-week series starting after Easter and proceeding through June, or an Advent series, as he did last year (covering 1) the promise of Christ's second Advent, in Rev.1:7, 2) the vision of Christ in 1:13-20, which portrays Christ as Lord of the church, history, and of life, 3) the vision of Christ in chapter 5, and 4) on Christmas Sunday, chapter 12's vision of the birth of Christ and the ensuing holy war in which God is victorious.)

Within the framework of 13 weeks, "You can say something about each section, in terms of how it works, without trying to expalin all the imagery ... [but] point out the most essential images. ... My concern in this is that people hear the word of God, not that they get their questions answered or curiiosity satisfied."

Fee concluded with a passionate plea that preachers not neglect the book of Revelation. His voice growing in intensity, he said, "The contemporary North American church needs to hear the Revelation, and they need to hear it because it is the most contemporary book for us in the New Testament."

-Nathan Bierma