Understanding Revelation by Ken Allen

Understanding Revelation: A Guide to the End-Times. By Ken Allen

This book is an excellent introduction and guide to those wanting to study the book of Revelation.

The subject matter ensures it is not a light read, but the style helps.  Using clear simple concise language, the author describes, explains and illustrates the various imagery, concepts, and ideas.

It helps to have an open bible close to hand. There are many references to other books in the bible, which illustrate or explain the Revelation passages. I feel I learnt as much about the rest of the bible as I did about Revelation, and have come to see Revelation as continuing the bible story, rather than a book set apart.

A significant proportion of the book is comprised by the introduction. It is here that many of the key themes are introduced. Such a broad sweep of ideas can make it feel as if you have read a whole book in the introduction alone.

The book includes the complete text of Revelation, translated by the author from the Greek. This is a literal translation, with precise but unfamiliar grammatical construction, a helpful addition to more readable translations.

The author never sits on the fence, saying “some people think this, other people think that” Instead he presents a complete credible picture of how sometimes apparently contradictory passages may add up to a single coherent whole.  

In doing this he does not claim to be right, but recognises that all commentaries are written by men with imperfect understanding, encouraging us to read widely, read Revelation itself repeatedly, and ask God for understanding.

Before reading the book, I understood the second coming as a single event, but here the end times are presented as a series of episodes in which many prophesies, that we have yet seen only partially fulfilled, reach their complete and perfect fulfilment.

I found reading the book very faith affirming. Between reading sessions I found my heart full of praise, being more aware of the purposes and sovereignty of God as they are affirmed in the pages.

Alongside the explanations there are quiet observations about belief attitudes and practice prevalent in the church today. The language is not hard hitting but some of the observations can be quite telling.

If you find the Book of Revelation to be a mystery, this book may help turn it into the revelation it was always meant to be.

The book is available to buy on Amazon UK or Amazon.com

Ken Allen's web site

Small Island by Andrea Levy

This enjoyable book is currently very topical, as Gilbert Joseph arrives in London from Jamaica on the Windrush.
Jamaica is one of the larger Caribbean Islands, but when he returns there after serving in RAF during the war, Gilbert realises how small the Island is, and takes the opportunity to return to London as soon as he can. His wife Hortense joins him after a few weeks, when he has found a room to rent in the house run by Queenie Blyth, and finds 1948 post war London a drab and dreary place, after all the colour and vibrancy of Jamaica.
One of the features of this book is that each of the main characters tells their own story, but we also see how they are viewed by one other. In the opening chapter Hortense Gilbert is far from impressed by her husband, and in the next chapter we read what events conspired against Gilbert's best efforts to welcome Hortense to their new London home. It is quite comical.
Another feature of the book is that although the action takes place during a few days in 1948, much of the book's content has the characters telling us about "before". There are some childhood recollections, including life and education in Jamaica, but very largely it is describing events during the war.
For all the opening chapters make Joseph Gilbert look like a loser, he is an observant and able narrator, and we are treated to keen descriptions of racial tensions and prejudice both during the war and in the post war period.  For us white Brits, it is an uncomfortable read in places.
As the book progresses, we learn more about the main characters, how they met, and how it is they react in the way they do in 1948. The interplay of 1948 and before sets up some intriguing mysteries, some of which become clearer as the earlier stories are told.
The middle chapters are far from boring; there is plenty of action to keep us entertained, but it can feel a bit disparate, as each character tells their own story.  The final chapters on the other hand, are a masterpiece. Just as we have the measure of each character and think we know them, they surprise us again and again, chapter after chapter, to the end of the book.