This brief study is far short of a full commentary on Revelation. A few highlights follow.
I. When was it written? Our Christian faith is rooted in history, in fact the kingdom of God is the centerpiece of all history. The date that John was given the Revelation is important for understanding it. Godly, believing Bible scholars fall into two main camps on the date Revelation was written. A) The early date, i.e. before the A.D. 68 death of Roman emperor Nero, and B) the late date, c. 95 A.D. during the reign of Roman emperor Domitian. Interesting "trivia" note: the brilliant scientist and mathematician Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727) held to the so early date!
One powerful argument for the early date derives from this statement in Revelation: "There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time" (17:10). The kings are the Roman emperors (In John 19:15 the chief priests tell Pilate "We have no king but Caesar.") Julius Caesar was the first of the five who had already fallen. Nero was the sixth – "the one who is". That places Revelation's writing during Nero's reign. The seventh king who was yet to come and continue a short time was Galba, who was on the throne for four months following Nero's death.
Also, per Revelation 11, the temple which according to Jesus' prophecy in His Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24,25; Mark 13, Luke 21; see also Luke 19:44) would be leveled – not one stone left upon another, was still standing. The destruction of that temple came in A.D. 70. And perhaps this is good place to note that the idea of the construction of a third temple is completely foreign to the New Testament.
II. When was it fulfilled? Does Revelation concern what would have been the imminent future for first century people, i.e. our distant past, or does it concern what would have been the very, very distant future for them but possibly our imminent future? Did Christ send an angel to John His apostle, so that John could write to seven of his contemporaries, pastors of churches living in very troubled times, about things that would not be relevant for about two thousand years or more?
At 1:19 is the apostle told to write of things he has seen, the things that are, and things 2,000 years from now? No! These "time texts" in the Revelation indicate that "the things which will take place after this" are things dealing with first century people and events: 1:1, 3; 3:1; 22:6,7,10,12, 20.
Consider Daniel 12:4, where another exile (like John on Patmos) is told to "shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end." That referred to events which were about four hundred years in Daniel's future. At Revelation 22:10 John is told "Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand." Is two thousand years in the future a time at hand? Even if that were the case, why wouldn't John be told to seal what was (so far) five times more into the future than Daniel's four hundred years?
All four Gospels record Christ's resurrection…His feeding of the five thousand…the ministry of John the baptizer and other events. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record Jesus' Olivet Discourse. Why does John, the same John who was given the Revelation, omit that important message from his Gospel?
III. Is it an expanded version? Could the reason be that Revelation is an amplification of the Olivet Discourse? Like the Olivet, Revelation 1:7 speaks of Christ's coming with the clouds, i.e. coming in judgment.
"The Old Testament frequently uses clouds as indicators of divine judgment. God is said to be surrounded with thick, foreboding clouds as emblems of His unapproachable holiness and righteousness (Gen. 15:17; Ex. 13:21-22; 14:19-20; 19:9, 16-19; Deut. 4:11; Job 22:14; Psa. 18:8ff; 97:2; 104:3; Isa. 19:1; Eze. 32:7-8)." — Gentry, Kenneth L. Before Jerusalem Fell: Dating the Book of Revelation
Those who pierced Him (the Jewish high priests and rulers, John 19:11; Acts 3:13ff) would see him – not physically but by way of His divine vengeance. All the tribes of, not the entire earth, but the tribes of the LAND of Israel would mourn. Revelation deals with the coming destruction of Jerusalem. In 11:8 Jerusalem is called Sodom and Egypt; consider the judgments that came to those places!
John's Gospel likely was written after John was given the Revelation. So having been given the "amplification" already, when writing his Gospel John was not moved to include the Olivet Discourse like the three other Gospel writers did.
IV. Are there two resurrections? Cf. Revelation 20:4-6. A popular idea (think Scofield Bible) is that the Bible teaches two physical resurrections separated by a literal thousand year period. Comparing Scripture with Scripture, we find that the first resurrection is the spiritual resurrection; the same spiritual resurrection taught at passages like Ephesians 2:5,6 and Colossians 2:12,13. It is the same as the new birth or birth from above of which Jesus spoke to Nicodemus (John 3) and discussed elsewhere in the New Testament such as at 1 Peter 2:3. Only God's elect are given that new birth. The second death has no power over them (Revelation 20:6).
The second resurrection is the physical one which all will experience, for well or for woe. John 5:24-29 makes this clear. It shows that the first resurrection is connected with believing, while the resurrection of the body is universal. It is for the believer and unbeliever, for every person who has ever lived. Also note the present tense: the believer is passed, vs. 24 and the hour now is, vs. 25. The general (physical and universal) resurrection is future, vss. 28,29.
Per 20:6 those who partake in the first resurrection reign with Christ. This hearkens back to 5:10 where Christ's worshipers exult in having been made kings and priests. The subjects of the first resurrection are all those who have received new life in Christ, and already are seated with Him, spiritually, in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6, cf. Colossians 3:1-4). The thousand years is no more a literal than "...a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads." (Revelation 13:1). We are in that thousand years now. We are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us, Romans 8:37.
Finally, an appeal to the "already, not yet" principle. Revelation 21:1 - 22:5 gives us a description of the New Jerusalem. At 21:2 it is envisioned as coming down out of heaven. (Incidentally, that statement alone should give us pause regarding the idea that the eternal home of God's people is an ethereal place up in the sky). Drawing on Ezekiel 47:12, Revelation 22:2 reads: "In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations."
In the eternal state, when the bodies of the saints have been perfected (Philippians 3:21, 1 Corinthians 15:42-50), made a suitable tabernacle for their spirits already perfected (Hebrews 12:23), would there be any need for healing? And at 2 Corinthians 5:17, are we not taught that if anyone is in Christ, he or she already is a new creation? God's saints were saved, are being saved, and will be saved. They were elect from before the foundation of the world, called to faith in history, and will be glorified at the consummation. Already, not yet…
The point is that the description of the New Jerusalem might be of that "already, not yet" nature. In Galatians 4:26, Paul conceives of the Jerusalem above as the mother of God's people. Already its citizens are new. Already it is the place where God dwells (Ephesians 2:22). So perhaps the Revelation imagery is intended to set forth not only the (not yet) eternal glory of the city of God, but its (already) glory – the glory of the Church militant on earth where the Gospel heals the nations, where the river of the water of Gospel life already flows from the throne of God and the Lamb, where the curse is already no more because of Jesus' redeeming work, where God's servants already see Him by faith, and serve Him now.