As for myself, I am someone who attempts to hold paradox, tension, and balance within views, so at first glance this book comes out as very unbalanced. It presents a strong idealist and amillennial stance. However, there are some GREAT contributions from this book to the biblical and theological tension and balance.
The Contribution
This is probably one of the most applicable books out there about Revelation. Far too often, people turn the book of Revelation into prophetic timeline that has absolutely no application to an individuals life. They attempt to decode Revelation through the lens of the news, or they try to decode Revelation through the history books. Either way, both of these groups have turned Revelation into a book that is not applicable to the church now. Hendriksen, however, properly interprets Revelation as a book that applies to all ages, and applies to the church in every age. He properly interprets it as a book that gives us hope, gives us perseverance through trial, and encourages us to draw nearer to God.
Hendriksen also is one of the key developers and proponents of what many call "Progressive Parallelism" or "Recapitulation" theory of Revelation. This view says that Revelation is not linear or chronological, but it is 7 parallel accounts that tell us about the church age and final day of the Lord. In this view each parallel story tells us that there is evil in the world using different symbolic stories, but each cycle ends showing that God will win, the evil will be judged, and the saints will be protected, vindicated, and saved. What a great encouragement for the church in persecution in every age!
Hendriksen also contributes to give us a proper understanding of many of the numbers and symbols in Revelation. Although many have attempted to take the numbers and symbols in Revelation literally, Hendriksen rightly shows how the symbols are anchored in Old Testament symbolism, and he shows us how the numbers point to specific truths for the church age, more than historical figures. For example, all the sevens in Revelation represent perfection and completeness. This also shines light on issues like the number of the beast. Hendriksen rightly shows us that the mark and number of the beast is symbolic for those that have submitted their heart to evil, and the number of the beast is symbolic of manhood (man was created on the 6th day) and failure, and the number 666 is giving hope for the church telling them not worry about the beast, because his number is "failure, upon failure, upon failure!" This helps us avoid the extreme of "mark of the beast searching" in our world, and applies this truth to the church in all ages to give them hope! However, can these symbols and numbers culminate in a more literal fulfillment at the end of the church? Possibly so.
Providing a Balance
For this reason I believe the book falls short of providing a balanced view, and fails to give different views of Revelation. I believe this book is one of the most balanced and concise amillennial/idealist interpretations, but it would still help to read more on the subject. Personally, I consider myself somewhat of a preterist-idealist-futurist. What this means is that the idealist position that Hendriksen presents is absolutely essential in a complete understanding of Revelation, however, I think it is only half of the entire equation to understanding the book. Therefore, I do not recommend this book as your only interpretation, and I recommend some other commentaries and resources to balance your view. Some of those commentaries I recommend are written by G.K Beale, Robert Mounce, and George Eldon Ladd...I don't recommend the "Left Behind" series as a balanced view :)
But, if you want an interpretation on Revelation and you have no idea where to start, this is a great commentary, and will provide you with a great start! It will give you hope and will draw you closer to our God!
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