Question 6
How can we understand the symbols in Revelation?
Bible
Isaiah 28:9-10
"Whom shall he teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand doctrine?…For precept must be upon precept…line upon line…here a little and there a little."
Answer
There are about 404 verses in the book of Revelation. 276 of these verses contain language found in other parts of the Bible. Thats more than 2/3rds of the book! The key to understanding the symbols can be found by reading the other parts of the Bible that speak on the same subject. This idea is expressed by Isaiah who wrote “precept must be upon precept...line upon line...here a little and there a little.” ( Isaiah 28:10) In other words, compare scripture with scripture to gain a better understanding of what the Bible is trying to teach.
It was Saint Augustine of Hippo who wrote, "Scripture interprets scripture." Martin Luther agreeing with this method for studying the Bible wrote, "The Bible interprets itself."