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Reformed Expository Commentary
Revelation
The book of Revelation is a riveting read—but a persistent question Christians have is, "What does it mean?"
Pastor-theologian Richard Phillips provides a thorough and penetrating study of each chapter while highlighting the theme of the sovereign rule of Christ over history for the salvation of his church.
The apostle John wrote his book with the intention of being understood by real people. Carefully noting how the book's symbolism works, Phillips paints the pictures of Revelation and explains its meaning to readers today. Along the way, readers will see the glory of Christ as the exalted Priest and King for his people, observe the vision of present and future history laid out in Revelation, and discover the powerful pattern of faith by which we may join Christians of all ages in victory.
Pastor-theologian Richard Phillips provides a thorough and penetrating study of each chapter while highlighting the theme of the sovereign rule of Christ over history for the salvation of his church.
The apostle John wrote his book with the intention of being understood by real people. Carefully noting how the book's symbolism works, Phillips paints the pictures of Revelation and explains its meaning to readers today. Along the way, readers will see the glory of Christ as the exalted Priest and King for his people, observe the vision of present and future history laid out in Revelation, and discover the powerful pattern of faith by which we may join Christians of all ages in victory.
- GenresTheology
784 pages, Hardcover
Published August 31, 2017
18 people are currently reading
44 people want to read
About the author
Richard D. Phillips
76 books41 followersRichard D. Phillips (MDiv, Westminster Theological Seminary) is the senior minister of Second Presbyterian Church of Greenville, South Carolina. He is a council member of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, chairman of the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology, and coeditor of the Reformed Expository Commentary series.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 8, 2025
Excellent, clear, and faithful to the text. This is a solid homiletical commentary on Revelation, from an Idealist and Amillennial perspective. Phillips draws deeply from G.K. Beale, James Montgomery Boice’s unfinished manuscript, and Dennis Johnson.
December 16, 2017
Richard D. Phillips is Senior Minister at the historic Second Presbyterian Church in Greenville, South Carolina. Phillips is a respected pastor-scholar with a D.D. from Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and an M.Div. from Westminster Theological Seminary. He is the author of more than thirty-five books, including several expository commentaries on the Old and New Testament. Most recently, Phillips has written a noteworthy commentary on Revelation for the Reformed Expository Commentary series.
The Reformed Expository Commentary series is a landmark work founded on four foundational commitments: (1) biblical—presenting a comprehensive exposition characterized by careful attention to the details of the text, (2) doctrinal—committing to the standards of the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms, (3) redemptive-historical—seeking to uncover the unity of the Bible and its central message of salvation in Christ, and (4) practical—applying the text of Scripture to the contemporary challenges of life (p. xi-xii). The contributions in this series are intentionally designed to be accessible to both pastors and lay readers, and notable for a careful exposition of the biblical text that is doctrinally Reformed and Christ-exalting.
Revelation: Reformed Expository Commentary omits a formal introduction, but Phillips does much to inform the reader during the exposition. The commentary is comprised of material presented to the congregation of Second Presbyterian Church and reads much like a polished sermon transcript. Phillips is both insightful and informative, and his exposition of the Book of Revelation is suitably positioned to unveil the majesty of Christ for readers of all backgrounds. Phillips does well to address various interpretative approaches but ultimately preaches the book as a proclamation of hope for John’s immediate audience that symbolically describes the entire Church. In this sense, Phillips is fair-minded and even-handed in his application of the text and the contemporary significance is overflowing on nearly every page.
The size of the commentary is quite large (at over 700 pages) and could be overwhelming for some readers. That said, the readability and a practical nature of the series, especially Phillips’ work on Revelation here, is superb on a number of levels. It is certainly a volume that will assist the busy pastor with sermon preparation and delivery. The illustrations and information that emerge are invaluable and the keen reader will reap the reward of decades of fruitful ministry. It is also a volume that will greatly enrich the devotional life of lay readers and should be utilized by such. I am confident that this is one of the best expository commentaries on the market for the Book of Revelation and readers, whether they adhere to the Reformed tradition or not, will discover a tremendous amount of benefit from engaging Phillips.
If you are planning on preaching or teaching the Book of Revelation in the near future, or simply looking for practical guidance, then Revelation: Reformed Expository Commentary by Richard D. Phillips is a much have resource. It’s practical and informative, and readers will benefit from it immediately. It comes highly recommended.
The Reformed Expository Commentary series is a landmark work founded on four foundational commitments: (1) biblical—presenting a comprehensive exposition characterized by careful attention to the details of the text, (2) doctrinal—committing to the standards of the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms, (3) redemptive-historical—seeking to uncover the unity of the Bible and its central message of salvation in Christ, and (4) practical—applying the text of Scripture to the contemporary challenges of life (p. xi-xii). The contributions in this series are intentionally designed to be accessible to both pastors and lay readers, and notable for a careful exposition of the biblical text that is doctrinally Reformed and Christ-exalting.
Revelation: Reformed Expository Commentary omits a formal introduction, but Phillips does much to inform the reader during the exposition. The commentary is comprised of material presented to the congregation of Second Presbyterian Church and reads much like a polished sermon transcript. Phillips is both insightful and informative, and his exposition of the Book of Revelation is suitably positioned to unveil the majesty of Christ for readers of all backgrounds. Phillips does well to address various interpretative approaches but ultimately preaches the book as a proclamation of hope for John’s immediate audience that symbolically describes the entire Church. In this sense, Phillips is fair-minded and even-handed in his application of the text and the contemporary significance is overflowing on nearly every page.
The size of the commentary is quite large (at over 700 pages) and could be overwhelming for some readers. That said, the readability and a practical nature of the series, especially Phillips’ work on Revelation here, is superb on a number of levels. It is certainly a volume that will assist the busy pastor with sermon preparation and delivery. The illustrations and information that emerge are invaluable and the keen reader will reap the reward of decades of fruitful ministry. It is also a volume that will greatly enrich the devotional life of lay readers and should be utilized by such. I am confident that this is one of the best expository commentaries on the market for the Book of Revelation and readers, whether they adhere to the Reformed tradition or not, will discover a tremendous amount of benefit from engaging Phillips.
If you are planning on preaching or teaching the Book of Revelation in the near future, or simply looking for practical guidance, then Revelation: Reformed Expository Commentary by Richard D. Phillips is a much have resource. It’s practical and informative, and readers will benefit from it immediately. It comes highly recommended.
September 20, 2017
Richard Phillips’ commentary REVELATION is the newest volume in the “Reformed Expository Commentary” series by P & R Publishing. The design of the series of this wonderfully helpful series is to be biblical in exposition, doctrinal (in line with the Westminster Confession of Faith, etc.), redemptive-historical in orientation, and utterly practical in application. With that goal, pastor-theologian Richard Phillips has produced a very complete (over 700 pages), yet thoroughly accessible and practical commentary.
Of course, the book of Revelation itself is probably the most difficult book to understand and interpret out of the entire Bible --- leading to several schools of interpretation and innumerable commentaries (both very good and very bad) that attempt to make sense of this vital yet challenging book for the church today. Phillips handles this task with aplomb and an even-handed approach. Although he comes down thoroughly in the camp of those interpreters who see the book as a message of hope to John’s immediate audience in a time of rising persecution and difficulty, but also as a symbolic description of the entire church (from Christ’s ascension to His Second Coming and the end of history). Phillips addresses all the main schools of interpretation in a fair-minded manner, but is clear in his opinion that Revelation is symbolic of all churches and events that are present in this world between the first and second Advents of Christ, with the over-arching theme that God is completely sovereign over the entire universe, of history, and of all people and events in the earth; and His plan of redemption is assured and nonrevocable.
This book is written primarily for pastors who do not want to slog through lengthy and pithier works that spend an abundance of print on minutia of etymology and addressing critical commentaries. Rather, it is meant to give pastors a wealth of information and illustrations that will aid in both understanding and communication truths to their congregations. At the same time, many laymen would be strongly encouraged by me to bypass any of the more sensational works that are questionable (to put it kindly) in their exegesis and presuppositions, and to obtain a copy of this commentary for their libraries.
Of course, the book of Revelation itself is probably the most difficult book to understand and interpret out of the entire Bible --- leading to several schools of interpretation and innumerable commentaries (both very good and very bad) that attempt to make sense of this vital yet challenging book for the church today. Phillips handles this task with aplomb and an even-handed approach. Although he comes down thoroughly in the camp of those interpreters who see the book as a message of hope to John’s immediate audience in a time of rising persecution and difficulty, but also as a symbolic description of the entire church (from Christ’s ascension to His Second Coming and the end of history). Phillips addresses all the main schools of interpretation in a fair-minded manner, but is clear in his opinion that Revelation is symbolic of all churches and events that are present in this world between the first and second Advents of Christ, with the over-arching theme that God is completely sovereign over the entire universe, of history, and of all people and events in the earth; and His plan of redemption is assured and nonrevocable.
This book is written primarily for pastors who do not want to slog through lengthy and pithier works that spend an abundance of print on minutia of etymology and addressing critical commentaries. Rather, it is meant to give pastors a wealth of information and illustrations that will aid in both understanding and communication truths to their congregations. At the same time, many laymen would be strongly encouraged by me to bypass any of the more sensational works that are questionable (to put it kindly) in their exegesis and presuppositions, and to obtain a copy of this commentary for their libraries.
December 1, 2022
Excellent commentary on the book of Revelation from a Amil perspective.
December 13, 2023
A very well written commentary from a amillennial perspective. Highly recommended for preachers.
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December 31, 2025had to read very slowly but loved how it was split up into tiny sections. made the book of revelation much less intimidating
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews