The locusts the Apostle John wrote about in AD 95 were Soviet helicopters in 1975.

That was my primary takeaway from the book of Revelation when I was a child. Several times a year, from 1975 to 1985, I would hear sermons that interpreted the Apocalypse of John through the current events of our day. When I was a child, it was considered obvious that the winged insects of Revelation 9:9 were Russian aircraft. What else could they be?

Biblical scholars say that out of the 405 verses in Revelation, 278 contain allusions to the Old Testament. But the interpretative grid I grew up with was not the prophecy of Zechariah but the predictions of Hal Lindsey in The Late Great Planet Earth.

Many of us who grew up with the failed prophecies of that era (as well as many post-Left Behind folks that came after us) decided to spare our children from apocalypse anxiety by avoiding talking to them about the book of Revelation. That was a mistake. There’s a better approach, as Jenny Marcelene explains in her recent article, “Yes, Kids Can Learn from Revelation.”

“Revelation teaches us to view suffering through a heavenly lens,” says Marcelene. “It tells us to identify with our Savior through trials and hardships (Rev. 2:10; Phil. 3:10).” Check out her four “age-appropriate truths from Revelation” that show how the Apocalypse of John can be helpful for kids too.