Vern Poythress is Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Westminster Theological Seminary, and has authored several books on hermeneutical and exegetical issues. His aim constantly is to encourage (to use the title of one of his other books) God-centred biblical interpretation.

He is therefore a well-qualified guide to lead us through one of the most difficult books of the New Testament, the Book of Revelation. Isn’t it an irony that the book which is called a revelation, an ‘unveiling’, whose very name suggests that its aim is to make things clear, should prove to be elusive and obscure?

Indeed, different approaches to Revelation have spawned diverse theologies, multiple denominations and countless exegetical wars, as different scholars through the ages have tried to make sense of what John saw. Does the Book of Revelation speak to John’s time? To our time? To some time way out there in the future?

This book is in two parts. The first part, the Introduction, asks ‘Can we understand Revelation?’, then looks at schools of interpretation, content and style, author and date, occasion and purpose and structure. The first and last of these discussions alone make the book worth having.

Then there is the second section, the Commentary. Here, in 12 sections, Poythress takes us through the Book of Revelation, outlining the main features of each passage and constantly giving fresh insights into the last book of the Bible.

Did you ever think, for example, about the counterfeiting theme of Revelation? Did you think that the Dragon, the Beast and the False Prophet, are the false equivalent of the Father, the Christ and the Spirit? Did you consider that the way the Beast seals his followers is to counterfeit the way Christ seals his followers?

This is not a technical commentary; it is a paperback of some 200 pages. You don’t need to be preaching through Revelation to use it; but if you are preaching on Revelation, you need it. It is one of my ‘must have’ commentaries.