The book of Revelation is the last book in the Bible, both in the order it appears and probably in
the date of its composition. It’s the fitting finale to the whole story of redemption that began in
Genesis, with creation, humanity’s fall into sin, and the promise of a woman’s offspring who, through his own suffering, would defeat and destroy Satan (Gen. 3:15). Revelation has appropriately been called, “the climax of prophecy,” because the themes of judgment and salvation, proclaimed by God’s messengers throughout history, converge in the visions shown to John on the island of Patmos where he is imprisoned for the sake of the gospel. As the tree of life was in the paradise of God in the beginning, so the tree reappears in the New Jerusalem as the story reaches its end (Gen. 2:9; Rev. 21:3; 22:2). God’s archenemy, who seduced Adam and Eve through a serpent (Gen. 3:1–13), reappears in Revelation as the dragon, “that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan” (Rev. 12:9; 20:2). And Revelation portrays this evil enemy’s two-phase defeat: first, the blood of the Lamb has already disbarred the accuser from pressing charges against those who maintain the testimony of Jesus (12:10–11); and finally, the Lamb is still to come as King of kings and Lord of lords, to destroy the serpent-dragon forever (19:11–21; 20:7–10).
But many Christians and non-Christians today find Revelation to be a daunting, difficult book. Unlike other New Testament books, it’s filled with dramatic visions—mini-narratives—that are loaded with symbolism. Some symbols are explained (1:20), but many are not. Even some of the explanations of symbols (for example, 17:7–18) are not clear to us, reading at a distance of over 1900 years from when John received this message of hope. As a result, Revelation seems to breed controversy. Debates over its meaning and fulfillment often generate more heat than light, more conflict than comfort among followers of Jesus.
Moreover, although the story offers hope and ends well, the path that leads to the bliss of the New Jerusalem in a new heavens and earth is strewn with violence and bloodshed, warfare and destruction, human hostility and divine wrath. This forecast of “things that must soon take place” (1:1) is not for the faint of heart. It’s not the place to turn in our Bibles for a cheerful mood-lifter when we find ourselves in a dark place. To compound the problem, Revelation, like many of the Psalms and the Old Testament prophets, announces without embarrassment or apology that the true and living God is a just judge who will hold every human being accountable for our thoughts, words, and actions. In fact, the same Lamb who was slain to redeem people from sin, guilt, and eternal death is the Lamb whose righteous wrath will so terrify his enemies that they’ll beg mountains to crush them, to hide them from his fiery justice (Rev. 5:9–10; 6:16–17).
Why, then, should we invest hard work to try to understand this difficult and discomforting document that stands at the end of our Bibles? Three reasons:
Seeing Jesus
First, its opening words—“the revelation of Jesus Christ”—promise a glimpse of the source of true joy, the subject of our heart’s deepest longing. “Revelation” reflects the Greek word apokalypsis, a compound term that paints a vivid picture: the taking “away” (apo) of a “veil” (kalymma), so that what (in this case, who) stands behind the veil can be seen. Revelation “unveils” Jesus. It makes visible his glory as the Lord of all history and his grace as the redeemer of his people, who cling to the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
Revelation is “of” Jesus in two senses. First, it’s revealed by Jesus—a series of scenes of the age-old, behind-the-scenes conflict between God and Satan that finds expression in the wars and woes that litter world history and our daily experience. As Revelation 1:1–2 explains, God entrusted this “unveiling” to Jesus, so that he could “show his servants the things that must soon take place.” He conveyed it through his angel to John, who in turn testified to “all that he saw.” So, Jesus is the revealer. But Jesus is also the revealed, the one whose true identity is displayed through this book: his divinity and humanity, his humiliating suffering, and sovereign command of everyone and everything. When the Lamb receives the scroll—God’s agenda for establishing his kingdom fully and finally, vanquishing every enemy—from the hand of the Enthroned One (Rev. 5), his opening of its seals (Rev. 6:1–17; 8:1) shows he’s not a mere messenger. The Lamb not only unveils but also executes the Father’s agenda for global, in fact universal, history. In the long run, what Revelation shows us about Jesus is even more important than what Jesus shows us about our history and experience in Revelation! More crucial than a map of what the future holds is deeply knowing who holds the future!
Receiving Blessings
God promises to bless those who hear and heed Revelation. We’re familiar with Jesus’
beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount, his surprising announcement that the poor in spirit, the
mourners, the meek, and the persecuted are the truly happy people, blessed under the favor of God (Matt. 5:2–12). The same Jesus who spoke those blessings on earth now speaks seven blessings on his faithful followers from heaven. The first of these (Rev. 1:3) assures “the one who reads” and “those who hear and keep” the things written in this book of prophecy. This wording implies the way the first generations of Christians received God’s word in Revelation and other New Testament books: since they had a single hand-written copy, one would read aloud to the congregation, while everyone else listened intently, eagerly taking in what they heard. That original scenario greatly helps us, who hold Bibles in our hands and can read them for ourselves, especially in two ways. First, since God’s people could receive God’s blessing by taking in and “keeping” the message of Revelation simply by hearing it read aloud, we can be confident that God has given us this book not to confuse us or to hide his truth, but rather to “unveil” to us realities that will bring us his blessing. Second, since Revelation was designed to be consumed by hearing, we can appreciate the effectiveness of its pervasive use of visual symbolism. John’s descriptions of what he saw paint vivid, dramatic pictures of our own imaginations, so we can recall the scenes and reflect on what they mean. The Lord Jesus’ promise of blessing to all who hear and heed Revelation’s message makes our quest worthwhile.
Preparing for Battle
Third, we are under attack. Revelation shows how much we need God’s blessing by bringing out
of the shadows vicious, violent, deceptive enemies who can easily destroy us if left to ourselves.
Symbolic visions in the heart of Revelation (chapters 12–18) show graphically how cunning and
ruthless the church’s enemies—the dragon, the beast, the false prophet, the whore—really are. The dragon, Satan, has been defeated decisively by the death and resurrection of Christ (Rev. 12). In his desperation and frustration, Satan still wages war against Jesus’ people through violent persecution (the beast), religious deception (the false prophet), and sensual seduction (the whore). Unmasked through John’s visions, their horrific hostility is unmistakable. And Jesus’ letters to the churches (Rev. 2–3) show what these foes look like in everyday life: plausible heresies, social harassment, sexual sin masquerading as Christian liberty, complacency in the illusion of affluent self-sufficiency, and so on.
John’s mention of the island called Patmos, the site of a Roman prison compound in the Aegean Sea (Rev 1:9), signals the conflict in which Christ’s churches find themselves. He and his hearers are partners in tribulation (in the present), kingdom (here now, but yet to come in its fullness), and patient endurance—the faith-fueled quality that leads to triumph over tribulation and coronation with the Lamb in his eternal kingdom. Revelation is worth the effort because we need its illusion-piercing insight in order to survive the spiritual warfare in which we find ourselves every day.
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This is an excerpt from Core Christianity’s Bible Study, Revelation. It is available here: Revelation
Footnotes
Richard Bauckham, The Climax of Prophecy: Studies on the Book of Revelation (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1993).
