Michael Bull - Revelation: Cycle 1

Revelation – Cycle 1

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by Michael Bull

August 17, 2015

The shape of the book of Revelation is the key to its meaning, and this shape is found throughout the Bible right from its very beginning.

The Scribblings of a Madman

Someone once told me the Book of Revelation was the scribblings of a madman. It looks like a jumble of randomly selected Bible symbols with no obvious purpose or logic. Some dismiss it. Others become obsessed with it. But it comes with an instruction manual—all previous Scripture.

As with the books of the Old Testament prophets, familiarity with the Torah is crucial when it comes to reading the Revelation. It allows the reader to be “in on the joke,” that is, aware not only of the symbolic allusions to previous events and persons in the Bible, but also conversant in the rhythm built into the text, the “Creation/Covenant shape” of every stanza, every cycle, and indeed of the entire book.

Using the patterns found in the books of Moses, we can make sense of both the contents of Revelation and the order in which that content appears. It suddenly becomes apparent that these “scribblings” are the most compact, intricate, multi-layered, symmetrical and structured body of writing one could ever imagine. It has the appearance of something that was grown rather than written. It is irreducibly complex.

This enigmatic piece of literature, like the rest of the Bible, is a “fractal.” It has a crystalline structure, one within which every piece is a miniature of the whole, yet the unique character of each piece informs its location in the work. The book is sevenfold, thus the very first stanza is a sevenfold title, yet being the title, this piece finds itself at the very beginning.

Reading the text aloud, even in an English translation which keeps fairly closely to the order of the words in the Greek, reveals the sing-song nature of the text. This is a song written in cycles, in waves, in revolutions, like wheels within wheels. The book begins with Christ and ends with His bride, but the progress is not linear. Rather, it radiates outward from the “solar” brightness at the center.

These words sound from deep in the heart of the source of all things. They are from the mouth of the One who spoke all that is. And they interpret the world for us in the language of God. They show us the world of men as God sees it. Everything has meaning, and multiplied meaning that echoes in increasing circles. Everything is symbolic. Everything is word.

Revelation 1:1-8

TRANSCENDENCE

Creation – Initiation

TRANSCENDENCE
The revelation (Initiation)

HIERARCHY
of Jesus Christ, (Delegation)

ETHICS
which God gave him (Presentation)

to show (Purification)

to his servants (Transformation)

OATH/SANCTIONS
what must take place (Vindication)

SUCCESSION
without delay. (Representation)

• The first line in the first stanza of this first cycle alludes to the creation of Light on Day 1. However, this apocalypse is the tearing of a veil. The flesh of Christ which was torn on earth resulted in the tearing of the veil in the Temple. This revealing is the response of heaven to that event: the opening of heaven to reveal the flesh of a Man enthroned. The works carried out in the human body of Christ, as described by John in His Gospel, would now be carried out in His corporate body, the Church. As circumcision was a “revealing,” a bloody nakedness fulfilled in the death of Christ, so this final revealing would cut off the cutting off, bring an end to the Circumcision. Like Ezekiel, whose structure the Revelation follows, this book is a prophecy concerning the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, the “cosmic house” which had represented all creation before God as a sacrificial substitute but was now obsolete. Worse, it was a house filled with demons.

• Line 2 is the usual place for circumcision, the cutting of the sacrifice, the setting apart of the Man of God for service. In Tabernacle terms, it is the Veil in the Temple.

• This is followed by a reference to the seven-sealed scroll, which appears at step 3 in the structure of the book.

• The Lampstand appears at the center, like the governing lights at the center of the Creation Week.

• The servants in line 5 allude to prophetic testimony and martyrdom, which is the subject of this book. Just as Christ defeated the serpent in the Garden, so the Firstfruits Church would destroy the resulting Judaistic dragon in the Land, the “brood of snakes” which sought to murder the Church as Cain murdered Abel.

• The imperative in line 6 refers to Covenant Sanctions. The blessing and curses of the Law of Moses must be poured out upon Israel for the sake of the testimony of Jesus Christ. He would be vindicated in the destruction of Jerusalem and the shaking and reordering of the powers of Rome. Once again, in the entire book, it is at this point that Jesus is seen with a flaming sword in His mouth, the Covenant Oath.

• The final line of the stanza—so twisted and abused by exegetes—is in fact an ironic joke. “Soon” does not mean that Christ could return in judgment at any time. It means that the time was up. The future was now. The Son of Man was coming before the apostles had preached in all the towns of Israel (Matthew 10:23). The word appears at Succession, which refers to the future given to the faithful, while the wicked are cut off at Sanctions. Jesus was coming to give an inheritance to those who were faithful in their testimony, thus this is what we find in the final section of the book: a description of the age in which we now live.

• This first sentence, as mentioned, is a microcosm of the entire book. Although it recapitulates not only the Creation Week, the Covenant process, and also the furniture of the Tabernacle, perhaps the most crucial lens is the “praxeme” of sacrifice. What Christ reveals is the refining fire which will soon come, a fire which He Himself kindled by His Spirit at Pentecost, one which would shortly incinerate the wood, hay and stubble, and refine the saints like pure gold. All the hidden things would be revealed through this fiery trial, most importantly, who was the true High Priest, and who was the true King of the Jews.

 

BIBLE MATRIX	TEXT	CREATION/ TABERNACLE	SACRIFICE	FEASTS FULFILLED	REVELATION
Creation	The Revelation	Light & Darkness/ Ark of the Testimony	Initiation: Blameless animal chosen	Sabbath (New Creation): Perfect Life of Christ	Vision of Jesus
Division	of Jesus Christ	Veil/ Firmament	Delegation: Sacrifice cut	Passover (Sons covered): Blameless Death of Christ	Seven Churches Purified
Ascension	which God gave Him	Bronze Altar & Golden Table/ Dry Land & Fruit Bearers	Presentation: Flesh on the Altar	Firstfruits (Covenant Head): Ascension of Christ	Lamb with Seven Horns and Seven Eyes
Testing	to show	Lampstand/ Governing Lights	Purification: Holy Fire	Pentecost (Law given): Spirit sent	Seven Seals Opened
Maturity	to His bond servants	Incense Altar/ Swarms-Hosts	Transformation: Fragrant Smoke	Trumpets (Covenant Body): Testimony of Apostolic Church	Seven Trumpets: Legal testimonies of True and False Churches
Conquest	what things must take place	Mediators: Laver, Sacrifices, High Priest/ Spring & Rivers, Land animals & Man	Vindication: Pleasing Savor	Atonement (Land covered): Destruction of Jerusalem	Seven Bowls: Harlot and Bride
Glorification	without delay.	Shekinah/ Rest and Rule	Representation: Land and offspring	Booths (Glory of the Nations): The Gospel Age begins in earnest	The Millennium: the nations are no longer deceived

HIERARCHY

Division – Delegation

And he signified it (Genesis)

by sending his angel (Exodus)

to his servant John, (Leviticus)

who bore witness

to the word of God (Numbers)

and to the testimony (Deuteronomy)

of Jesus Christ, (Joshua/Yeshua)

even to all that he saw. (Judges)

• The theme of the second stanza is Delegation, which means that every line has two coordinates. To explain, line 1 of stanza 2 must somehow combine the themes of Creation and Division, Day 1 and Day 2, or the Ark hidden behind the Veil. So, quite brilliantly, the verb is “signified,” which means shedding light in a veiled way, as the prophets did. Like the parables of Jesus, the Revelation makes sense only to those whose eyes are opened by the Spirit of God, and it is written this way to confuse, infuriate and condemn those who refuse the Spirit (Matthew 13:10-16).

• Line 2 of stanza 2 is an angel sent from heaven, from the “waters above” to the “waters below,” like the lightning (Psalm 104:4; Hebrew 1:7).

• The lens of the Tabernacle furniture helps us with the position of John in this architecture. He is the Bronze Altar, and his witness is a kind of Levitical Firstfruits. The greatest Old Covenant prophet, John the Baptist, testified of Christ’s comings on earth, and John the Apostle would be the last trumpet concerning His coming from heaven in judgment. Both were Levites.

• The three Ethics lines contain legal witness, legal word and legal testimony, that is, ear, eye and mouth.

• Jesus was at line 2 in stanza 1: Division. Here he is at Conquest.

• The final line refers to the office of Representative, of Image, of God, the man who sees as God sees, and speaks on earth for the one in heaven. This was Israel’s intended role among the nations, and she failed in the book of Judges just as Adam failed to enter into God’s rest.

ETHICS

Ascension – Presentation

TRANSCENDENCE
Blessed (Initiation)

HIERARCHY
is the one reading (Delegation)

ETHICS
and those hearing (Presentation)

the words of the prophecy, (Purification)

and keeping the things (Transformation)

OATH/SANCTIONS
in it having been written, (Vindication)

SUCCESSION
for the time is near. (Representation)

• At Ascension, these words are given to the saints as if they are assembled at Sinai. Jesus is the voice speaking from heaven as a better Moses.

• Once again, there is a reference to time in the final line. Deliverance from Jewish persecution, Judaizing doctrine and Jew-Gentile Herodian/Neronic rule was at hand.

Testing – Purification

John | to | the seven | churches | in Asia:

Grace to you and peace

from Him the being
and the was
and the coming, (Priesthood)

and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, (Kingdom)

and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, (Prophecy)

the firstborn of the dead,

and the ruler of kings on the Land.

• The first line is fivefold, working through the basic covenant pattern. John now has “transcendent” authority, being filled with the Spirit of God as a human lampstand. It also contains the triune formula, radiating from the Sanctuary (John) to the people of God (Churches) to the nations (Asia). This is the Garden, Land, World structure of Israel but now given to Gentile believers.

• Grace and peace are the heaven and earth facets of line 2, but the sacred architecture in line 3 is also interesting, since it represents the three domains of the Tabernacle as a model of the primeval world. It is obvious that Christ is the present, the past and the future, but the same triune formula orders these three. This explains why it begins with the present rather than the past. Jesus speaks from the Garden-Sanctuary in heaven (with the Father). He is no longer the bloody mediator on the Land (a “son of the herd”). But He is soon coming to free His bride (purified and gathered by the Spirit). This threefold formula is Yahweh (“I am”) as a house.

• The seven spirits are the central line of the central stanza in this cycle, which might explain the multiplication. As this heptamerous “wave form” increases, these seven spirits are seen in the seven lampstands and then in the seven pastors of the churches of Asia.

• The triune formula which shaped the Priesthood line then shapes the entire Ethical section: Priesthood, Kingdom, Prophecy. Each begins with “from.”

• At line 6, the firstborn of the dead is the High Priest making his way out of the Holy of Holies just as Jesus exited His grave. The Covenant sign was thus changed from circumcision (womb, Land) to baptism (tomb, Sea).

• The final line is misinterpreted because the Greek word for “earth” also means “land.” These kings are the kings of Israel and the oikoumene which surrounded her as an extended “Land.” This false Feast of Ingathering would soon be judged and the enemies of the Church would be scattered.

Maturity – Transformation

TRANSCENDENCE
To him who loves us (Genesis)

HIERARCHY
and has freed us from our sins (Exodus)

ETHICS
by his blood (Leviticus)

and made us a kingdom, (Numbers)

priests to his God and Father, (Deuteronomy)

OATH/SANCTIONS
to him be glory and dominion (Joshua)

SUCCESSION
forever and ever. Amen. (Judges)

• Witness/martyrdom is a legal response to the hearing of the Gospel. The Law has been given, opened, and received by a better generation of Israel, a re-generation. The testimony of these human Trumpets will bring down the walls of the great city that exalted itself above the knowledge of God.

• The Exodus freedom of New Israel is the result of a better Passover, the Leviticus blood means the end of the Aaronic priesthood, and the Numbers testing will put an end to the “Balaamite” Judaizing false prophets in Jerusalem and the false apostles who troubled the Church. The fatherhood of God is an important theme in Deuteronomy. Likewise, prophets were “fathers” to kings, as seen in the ministries of Joseph and Samuel.

Conquest – Vindication

Behold, (Light)

he is coming with the clouds, (Waters)

and every eye will see him, (Land)

even those who pierced him, (Governors)

and will wail on account of him (Hosts)

all tribes of the [Land] (Mediators)

Even so. Amen. (Rest)

• The Creation motif is the prime lens here, but the Day of Atonement is also in view. The High Priest disappeared into a cloud of fragrant smoke, just as Jesus was taken up into the glory cloud, the Tabernacle-chariot of God. But when He returned from offering the blood, the Land was cleansed from sin. Jesus would soon return to remove the ungodliness from Jacob.

• Eyes usually appear in line 4, but here the reference seems to be to the “open eyes” of the disciples who met Jesus on the road to Emmaus, which relates to the breaking of bread. The reference to Zechariah 10:10 indicates that this “coming” that will be eye-witnessed by all is, at least in part, the sacrifice of the first century martyrs as the bridal Body, “filling up” (or multiplying) the sufferings of Christ” following the ascension of the Head.

• A common theme at line 5 is music but here there is wailing, which ties it to another theme found in line 5: plagues on the Land. Later in the book, the Judaizers, with imperial power, are represented by swarms of locusts and scorpions.

• Since Conquest corresponds to Oath/Sanctions, this stanza ends with the Covenant Oath, a legal double witness.

Glorification – Representation

TRANSCENDENCE
“I am the Alpha

HIERARCHY
and the Omega,”

ETHICS
says the Lord God,

OATH/SANCTIONS
“the being (Garden)
the was (Land)
and the coming, (World)

SUCCESSION
the Almighty.”

• Christ speaks here as the Lord God, since He is no longer a servant but the fully qualified representative and judge.

• The position of the Omega relates it to the “cutting off” of circumcision. As the Seed, Jesus ended the genealogies and the shedding of sacrificial blood. In conquering death, He ended the end.

• The literary structure rejects the variant that follows line 2, “the beginning and the end.” The “DNA sequence” pattern of biblical text means that it is self-correcting.

• The repositioned “the being, the was, and the coming” is now the sword of Conquest, the power to curse and the bless. The threefold “promise” at Ascension is now, contained within the structure as liturgical promise, already His actual possession. The prophecy itself begins in the Garden, moves into the Land, and finally into the World.

 

The Most Holy Place: GARDEN Jesus appears to John in the Sanctuary and ministers to the saints (Revelation 1-3)

The Holy Place: LAND Beginning with a single white horse, the four Gospels are sent from the Garden into the Land, bringing enlightenment, division, trials, and finally judgment upon the old order (Revelation 6)

The Courts of the Nations: WORLD On white horses, Jesus and the saints now ride from the ruins of the Land to take the Gospel into all the World (Revelation 19)

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If you are new to this method of interpretation, please visit the Welcome page for some help to get you up to speed.

For a detailed overview of the entire book of Revelation, see Michael Bull, Moses and the Revelation: Why the End of the World is not in Your Future. You can read the first section of the book here.

Reconciling Revelation

Reconciling Revelation

Because conservative evangelicalism has left its faith over the past several decades as seen in the Trumpian mandates of maga'ism (sic, white evangelical nationalism); and because those mandates will be so very harsh on the people affected by those Christians who voted democracy out and corporate rule by the wealthy in (oligarchy), I thought that reviewing the book of Revelation may be in order....

Firstly, since conservative evangelicalism accepts so much of its own ideology without truly understanding the harms, discriminations and oppressions which have, and will, occur... it seems that the book of Revelation which maga-Christianity intends to follow tooth-and-nail should be reviewed from two differing viewpoints: (1) from a post-evangelical viewpoint, ala Bart Ehrman and, (2) from a conservative evangelical viewpoint, ala the Bible Project (found further below).

The first five videos are from Dr. Ehrman and the next two videos are from the Bible Project (my fav is the first with Yin Jan Linn). You'll notice a large difference of cultural understanding between the two... mainly posing questions of why a God of love acts so unlovingly. Many of the church have asked this question over the eons which is a question I had asked myself not many years back. In fact, I had come to the viewpoint that if my Christian faith was to be worthy of being believed and followed, then the God I would worship would be a God of love stripped of biblical wrath and judgment.

And so, I have departed from my conservative evangelical heritage - and generally the traditional church's understanding of God as a dipolar God who both loves and doesn't love - and have chosen to follow a more singular model as that of a God who fervently loves ever and always. A God whose ways have been misunderstood by those in the bible and later, by the church, when reflecting on their eventful choices, experiences, woes and maladies as that come from the hand of an angry God. Curiously, Jesus had said the very opposite by showing by his life and ministry how God is a God of love.

...Thus my decision to go all the way into the metaphysical truism (at least for me) that God is One, and as One, is Love....

From God's love comes all of God's actions, deeds, and outreach of which the bible's collection of narratives has lent confusion to the picture by telling of a God who is less than loving. At least this is my understanding of man's evolving idea of God, religion, self, society, and environment. As a species, we've been around a long time (300,000 years as homo sapiens and 75,000 years as homo homo sapiens) and it's time we begin giving love a chance to be, grow, and become. Which all starts with how we picture the God of our evolving creation.

So that is one thing... the other thing is that by accepting God as love - unlike both Dr. Ehrman and the Bible Project's ideas of God - we, as the church of God, can get down to the tasks of loving each other and those around us. By accepting the multi-ethnic plurality of the world even as it's melting pot has become centered here in America (though quite honestly America is the least mixed melting pot around the globe). By receiving one another in loving embrace, and helping hand-and-heart, let's cease the distrust, shouts of acrimony and hate, and all such abhorrence as people of God.

This is the church's Golden Rule: IF GOD IS LOVE THEN HUMANITY MUST LOVE. Isn't that Jesus' commandments? "To love God and love one another?"

So excuse me for asking the questions of where love is in the bible if the God of the bible is  supposed to be loving and yet is shown to be unloving in large parts of the bible's narratives... including that of it's last book of the New Testament (Jesus) book of Revelation? Somewhere along the way the people of the early church didn't get the message... that "the people of the Old Testament got it wrong when thinking of God wrongly...." And after that, we get a lot of "he said, she said" between the Jewish religious institutes and the prophets of the Old Testament which continued into the Pharisaical religion of Jesus' day.

Oh, and by the way, as an apocalyptic book come of age originating out of the early Gnostic eschatological literatures of the Intertestamental period into the early Church period of the Apostles, let's assume that the Apostle John (or, John the Divine) of the Gospel of John and three Letters of 1, 2, 3 John IS NOT the same John of Revelation who identifies himself as "John on the island of Patmos." IF this is so, than it would be more natural to read Revelation by the hand of another than that of the Apostle of Love thought to be exiled to Patmos who spoke of Jesus in loving terms and addressed the Jerusalem Church in loving ways. Thus, the collection of Revelation is NOT from the Apostle John but from that of someone else. 

All for now. I'll try to come back next week with an outline of Revelation using a process theological viewpoint of expiation and reconciliation of land, lands, and people, as duty and journey of the human species... rather than using that of the sword, war, and hate.

Blessings,

R.E. Slater

November 27, 2024

* * * * * * *

The U.S. as the “New Jerusalem?” Revelation’s Influence on Immigration

Bart D. Ehrman & Yii-Jan Linn

37:56

As you can probably tell from my incredibly strong accent, I (Megan) am an immigrant to the United States. As such, the US immigration system has been a rather large feature in my adult life…but I’ve never before considered the relationship between American immigration and the Bible, or more specifically, the book of Revelation. It’s never really occurred to me that such a relationship even exists. In contrast, my guest today has written an entire - and absolutely fascinating - book on the subject, and we’re going to be diving right into it! We’ll be exploring how Revelation has been used throughout US history to categorize, demonize, and vilify immigrants, while also painting the US as the New Jerusalem, sanctuary for God’s chosen, which must be defended at all costs.

The Book of Revelation and the End of the World: Are the Signs Now Being Fulfilled?

Bart Ehrman

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1:03:15

Since the book of Revelation first appeared there have been Christians who have insisted the violent end of the world it predicts was to happen in their own day. Each one of these prophets of doom has been wrong, of course. But was Revelation even meant to predict distant events far in the author's future? If not, how are we to understand the book? In this episode we consider how historians approach the book in light of the persistent claims that the End if now, finally, here.

Why is the Book of Revelation in the Bible?

Bart Ehrman

44:09

Revelation is the least read and most misunderstood book of the New Testament. Many readers wonder why it is in there at all. In this episode we consider the debates about Revelation in the early Church, seeing why numerous church leaders found it offensive (for reasons modern readers would not expect) and why eventually it came to be included in the canon anyway.

-Martin Luther had difficulty understanding Revelation as part of the NT - he certainly wasn’t the first person to have that struggle. How was the book received among early Christians? 

Megan asks Bart:

-Do we have records of what people thought about it before the canon was finalized?

-Were early Christians more concerned about the graphic violence in the book, or about the heavily materialistic nature of the kingdom of heaven?

-Revelation was ultimately accepted as scripture. What was it that led Christian leaders to overlook its challenges and include it in the NT?

-Revelation seems to have enjoyed something of a renaissance in recent decades, with the rise of prophecy writers and popular media like the Left Behind books and movies. Has Revelation always been this popular, or is it a peculiarity of modern times?

Revelations about Revelation... and more

Bart Ehrman

2:10:20

A message from Lawrence Krauss for this episode:

I have admired Bart Ehrman’s writing for more than a decade. I remember how profoundly reading Christopher Hitchens’ God is Not Great reminded me of how little I had really understood about the scriptures. For me, Bart Ehrman took over from there. I recalled reading his 2014 masterpiece How Jesus Became God, which made it clear that the modern Western Interpretation of the Holy Trinity differs significantly from the earliest impressions of Jesus, and moreover that the notion of humans intermingling with deities has a long and checkered history. He also made it clear that the Resurrection, perhaps the cornerstone of Modern Christianity, is highly suspect, based on burial traditions at theme.

I have been trying to work out a time to record a podcast with Bart for some time, and was fortunate that his schedule opened up recently, following the publication of his newest book, Armageddon: What the Bible Really Says About The End. This book provides a detailed analysis of the Book of Revelation, and describes how perhaps the most iconic modern interpretation of End Times, The Rapture, is a modern mythological invention and is itself not even scriptural.

In our dialogue we explored Bart’s own intellectual adventure from fundamentalist youth to Biblical Scholar, from true believer to skeptical historian. We then explored some of the most enlightening aspects of his writing. It was a fascinating, entertaining, and informative discussion, and one that I hope will be widely viewed. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed recording it.

Is the God of Revelation the Same as the God of Jesus?

Bart D. Ehrman

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51:07

In this episode we consider the portrayal of God in the book of Revelation. Is he a God of love who seeks what is best for those he created? Or at least for those who seek to obey him? Does the book of Revelation provide hope for those who are unjustly suffering now? Or is God instead portrayed as a God of wrath and vengeance who shows no mercy on his enemies? If so, is this the God of love and forgiveness preached by Jesus himself? Would Jesus recognize John of Patmos as one of his followers?

In this episode, Bart addresses such questions as:

-For people who are familiar with both the old and new testaments, god appears to have a fundamentally different character. OT Yahweh is often spoken of in terms of wrath, and vengeance, while the NT god can be characterized by love and forgiveness. Generally speaking. Is this a result of people not actually reading the Bible the whole way through?

-Revelation is an incredibly violent book. How much of this violence can be directly attributed to god, and do we see anything similar in the rest of the NT?

-How does John’s language choice in Revelation reflect his views on the character of God? -Do we see of the wrath of god in the rest of the NT?

-Jesus talks about god’s judgment elsewhere in the NT, and Revelation shows clearly what John thinks that judgment will look like. How do Jesus’ thoughts on the matter line up with what John writes? Are the right people being judged, and are the punishments as Jesus described?

-Is what John describes in revelation judgment, or should it be more accurately be viewed as retribution?

-Does Jesus seem to expect god to enact retribution, or is this a concept that’s restricted to Revelation? -Many Christians obviously have a vested interest in trying to align the character of God in Revelation with that seen in the rest of the NT; how is this typically done, and are any of their arguments convincing?

* * * * * * *

Book of Revelation Summary: A Complete Animated Overview (Part 1)

by The Bible Project

Book of Revelation Summary: A Complete Animated Overview (Part 2)

by The Bible Project

article link

The Book of Revelation

Key Information and Helpful Resources

by the Bible Project

In the opening paragraph, the author identifies himself as John, which could refer to the author of the Gospel and letters of John, or it could be another leader in the early Church. Whichever John it was, he makes it clear in the opening paragraph that this book is a “revelation.” The Greek word used here is apokalypsis, which refers to a type of literature found in the Hebrew Scriptures and in other popular Jewish texts. Jewish apocalypses recounted a prophet’s symbolic visions that revealed God’s heavenly perspective on history so that the present could be viewed in light of history’s final outcome. These texts use symbolic imagery and numbers not to confuse but to communicate. Almost all the imagery is drawn from the Old Testament, and John expects his readers to interpret by looking up the texts to which he alludes.

Who Wrote the Book of Revelation?

Though most Christian traditions hold that Revelation (or The Revelation of Jesus to John) was written by the disciple John, his identity is not explicitly mentioned.

Context

The events described in Revelation take place in Asia-minor to seven specific church communities. Revelation was likely composed between 94 and 96 C.E.

Literary Styles

The book of Revelation is a compilation of apocalyptic literature and prose discourse.

Key Themes

• The hope of Jesus’ final return
• Faithfulness to Jesus throughout one's life
• The comfort of Jesus in suffering and persecution

Structure

Revelation can be divided into seven parts. Chapters 1-3 introduces John’s vision. Chapters 4-5, 6-8a, 8b-11, 12-16, and 17-20 focus on various visions of John. And chapters 21-22 are a concluding vision of the new heavens and new Earth.

Revelation 1-3: Jesus’ Words to Seven Churches in Asia Minor

John says that this apocalypse is a prophecy. A prophecy is a word from God spoken through a prophet to comfort or challenge God’s people. This apocalyptic prophecy was sent to real people that John knew. The book opens and closes as a circular letter, which was sent to seven churches in the ancient Roman province of Asia. The fact that The Revelation is a letter means that John was specifically addressing these first century churches. While this book has a lot to say to Christians of later generations, its meaning must first be anchored in the historical context of John’s time and place.

John says he was exiled on the island of Patmos, where he saw a vision of the risen Jesus standing among seven burning lights. The image, adapted from Zechariah 4, is a symbol of seven local churches in Asia Minor. Jesus addressed the specific problems facing each church. Some were apathetic due to wealth and affluence, while others were morally compromised. But there were others who remained faithful to Jesus and were suffering harassment and persecution. Jesus warned them that a “tribulation” was upon the churches that would force them to choose between compromise or faithfulness.

By John’s day, the murder of Christians by the Roman emperor Nero had passed, and the persecution by emperor Domitian was likely underway. Jesus calls the churches to faithfulness, by which they will “conquer” and receive a reward in the final marriage of Heaven and Earth. The opening section sets up the main plot tension throughout the book. Will Jesus’ people conquer and inherit the new world that God has in store? And why is faithfulness to Jesus described as “conquering?”

Revelation 4-5: Vision of the Heavenly Throne Room and First Judgment

John’s next vision is of God’s heavenly throne room, described with images from many Old Testament prophetic books. Around God are creatures and elders, representing all creation and human nations, who are giving honor and allegiance to the one true God. In God’s hand is a scroll with seven wax seals, symbolizing the scrolls of the Old Testament prophets and Daniel’s visions. Their message was about how God’s Kingdom would come on Earth as in Heaven.

However, no one is qualified to open the scroll until John finally hears of the one who can. It’s “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” and the “Root of David” (Genesis 49:9; Isaiah 11:1). These are classic Old Testament descriptions of the messianic King who would bring God’s Kingdom through military conquest. That’s what John hears, but what he sees is not a lion-king but a sacrificed, bloody lamb who is alive again, standing ready to open the scroll.

This symbol of Jesus as the slain lamb is crucially important for understanding the book. John is saying that the Old Testament promise of God’s future Kingdom was inaugurated through the crucified Messiah. Jesus died for his enemies as the true Passover lamb so that others could be redeemed. His death on the cross was his enthronement and his “conquering” of evil. The vision concludes with the lamb alongside the one on the throne, and together they are worshiped as the one, true Creator and redeemer. The slain lamb then begins to open the scroll, a symbol of his divine authority to guide history to its conclusion.

This brings us into the next section of the book with three cycles of sevens: seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls. Each cycle depicts God’s Kingdom and justice coming on Earth as in Heaven. Some people think these three sets of seven divine judgments represent a literal, linear sequence of events that happened in the past or present, or will happen when Jesus returns. Notice, however, that John wove them together. The seven bowls come out of the seventh trumpet and the seventh seal, and the seven trumpets emerge from the seventh seal. They’re like nesting dolls, each seventh containing the next seven. And each series culminates in the final judgment, all with matching conclusions. Because of this, it’s more likely that John is using each set of seven to depict three distinct perspectives of the same period of time after Jesus’ resurrection.

Revelation 6-8a: Vision of the Lord’s Slain Servants

As the lamb opens the scroll’s first four seals, John sees four symbolic horsemen (an image from Zechariah 1) who symbolize times of war, conquest, famine, and death. The fifth seal depicts the murdered Christian martyrs before God’s heavenly throne. The cry of their innocent blood rises up before God, and they’re told to rest because, sadly, more Christians are going to die. The sixth seal is God’s ultimate response to their cry. He brings the great Day of the Lord described in Isaiah 2 and Joel 2. The people of the earth cry out, “Who is able to stand?!”

At this point, John pauses the action to answer that question. He sees an angel with a signet ring coming to place a mark of protection on God’s servants enduring all this hardship. He then hears the number of those sealed: 144,000. It’s a military census of twelve thousand from each of the twelve tribes of Israel (Numbers 1). Now, the number of this army is what John heard, just like he heard about the conquering lion of Judah. In both cases, what he turned and saw was the surprising fulfillment through Jesus, the slain lamb. John is seeing the messianic army of God’s Kingdom. It’s made up of people from all over the world, fulfilling God’s ancient promise to Abraham. This multiethnic army of the lamb can stand before God because they’ve all been redeemed by his blood. They are called forth to conquer not by killing their enemies but by suffering and bearing witness like the lamb. With this, the seventh and final seal is broken. But before the scroll is opened, the seven warning trumpets emerge, and only then does the Day of the Lord come to bring final justice once and for all.

Revelation 8b-11: Visions of Judgment, the Temple, and Two Witnesses

When we come to the seven trumpets, John backs up and retells the story once again, this time with images from the Exodus story. The first five trumpet blasts replay the plagues sent upon Egypt, while the sixth trumpet releases the four horsemen from the first four seals. John then tells us that, despite these plagues, “the nations did not repent,” just like Pharaoh. God’s judgment alone does not bring people to humble themselves before him.

John then pauses the action again. An angel brings John the unsealed scroll that was opened by the lamb. John is now told to eat the scroll and proclaim its message to the nations. Finally, the lamb’s scroll is open, and we discover how God’s Kingdom will ultimately come.

The scroll’s content is spelled out in two symbolic visions. First, John sees God’s temple and the martyrs within it, and he is told to measure and set it apart (it’s an image of protection drawn from Zech. 2:1-5). The outer courts and city, however, are excluded and trampled by the nations. Some think that this refers literally to a destruction of Jerusalem in the past or the future. But it’s more likely that John is using the new temple as a symbol for God’s new covenant people, just like the other apostles did (1 Cor. 3:16; Heb. 3:6; 1 Pet. 2:4-5). The vision shows that while Jesus’ followers may suffer persecution, this external defeat cannot cancel their victory through the lamb.

This idea is elaborated in the scroll’s second vision. God appoints two witnesses as prophetic representatives to the nations. Some think that this refers literally to two prophets who will appear one day. However, John calls these characters “lampstands,” one of his clear symbols for the churches (Rev. 1:20). It’s likely that this vision is about the prophetic role of Jesus’ followers, who like Moses and Elijah, are to call idolatrous nations and rulers to turn to God. Then a horrible beast appears, who conquers the witnesses and kills them (remember Daniel 7). But God brings the witnesses back to life and vindicates them before their persecutors. This results in many among the nations repenting and giving honor to the creator God.

Let’s pause and think about the story so far. God’s warning judgments through the seals and the trumpets did not generate repentance among the nations. Now the lamb’s scroll reveals the strange mission of his army. God’s Kingdom is revealed when the nations see the Church imitating the sacrifice of the lamb and loving their enemies instead of killing them. It’s God’s mercy, shown through the Church, that will move the nations to repentance. After this, the last trumpet sounds, and the nations are shaken as God’s Kingdom comes on Earth as in Heaven.

The message of the scroll is finished, but who was that terrible beast who declared war against God’s people? John turns to this question in the second half of The Revelation.

Revelation 12-16: Visions of the Dragon, Beasts, 666, and More

After exploring the surprising message of the lamb’s opened scroll, John offers a series of seven visions that he calls “signs” (Rev. 12-15). That word means “symbol,” and these cha­pters are full of them. The purpose of these visions is to expand further on the message of the lamb’s scroll.

The first sign reveals the cosmic, spiritual battle behind the Roman empire’s persecution of Christians, the ancient conflict that started in Genesis 3:15. The serpent in the garden of Eden, the source of all spiritual evil, is depicted here as a dragon. It attacks a woman and her seed, who represent the Messiah and his people. But the Messiah defeats the dragon through his death and resurrection, casting him to Earth. There, the dragon may inspire hatred and persecution of the Messiah’s people, but God’s people will conquer him by resisting his influence, even if it kills them. John is showing the seven churches that neither Rome nor any other nation or human is the real enemy. There are dark spiritual powers at work that can be conquered only when Jesus’ followers remain faithful and love their enemies.

John’s next vision replays the same conflict, this time with the symbolism of Daniel’s animal visions (Dan. 7-12). John sees two beasts, one representing national military power that conquers through violence. The other beast symbolizes the economic propaganda machine that exalts this power as divine and demands full allegiance from all nations. This is symbolized by taking the mark of the beast and his number 666 on the forehead or hand.

The meaning of this image is found in the Old Testament. The mark is the “anti-Shema.” The Shema is an ancient Jewish prayer of allegiance to God found in Deuteronomy 6:4-8. It was to be written on the Israelites’ foreheads and hands as a symbol of devoting all your thoughts and actions to the one true God. But now the rebellious nations demand their own god-like allegiance.

The number of the beast is also a symbol. John was fluent in both Hebrew and Greek, and his readers knew that Hebrew letters also function as numbers. If you spell the Greek words “Nero Caesar” or “beast” in Hebrew, both amount to 666. John isn’t saying that Nero was the precise fulfillment of this vision; rather, he’s a recent example of the pattern explored in Daniel. Human rulers become beasts when they assign divinity to their power and economic security and demand total allegiance to it. Babylon was the beast of Daniel’s day, followed by Persia, then Greece, and now Rome in John’s day. The pattern stands for any later nation who acts the same.

Standing opposed to the dragon’s beastly nations is another king, the slain lamb and his army, who have given their lives to follow him. From the new Jerusalem, their song goes out to the nations as “the eternal Gospel” (Rev. 14:6). All people are called to repent, worship God, and come out of Babylon. Then John sees a vision of final justice, symbolized by two harvests. One is a good grain harvest where King Jesus gathers up his faithful people. The other is a harvest of wine grapes, representing humanity’s intoxication with evil, which are taken to the wine press and trampled. With these “sign” visions, John places a choice before the seven churches. Will they resist Babylon and follow the Lamb, or will they follow the beast and suffer its defeat?

John then replays a final cycle of seven divine judgments, symbolized as seven bowls. Similar to the Exodus plagues, the bowls do not bring about repentance­ but the opposite. The people resist and curse God just like Pharaoh. With the sixth bowl, the dragon and beasts gather the nations together to make war against God’s people in a place called Armageddon. This refers to a plain in northern Israel where many battles had been fought against invading nations (Jud. 5:19; 2 Kgs. 23:29). Some think that this image refers literally to a future battle, while others think it’s a metaphor for final judgment. Either way, John has taken these images from Ezekiel 38-39, where God battles Gog, who is of rebellious humanity. And so in the seventh bowl, evil is defeated among the nations once and for all.

Revelation 17-20: The Final Battle of Armageddon

Now that John has fully unpacked the message of the lamb’s unsealed scroll, he expands upon three key themes intro­duced earlier: the fall of Babylon, the final battle to defeat evil, and the arrival of the new Jerusalem. Each one explores the final coming of God’s Kingdom from a different angle.

John is shown a stunning woman who is dressed like a queen but drunk with the blood of the martyrs and all innocent people. She is riding the dragon from the sign visions and is called Babylon the prostitute. All the detailed symbols of this vision were clear to John’s first readers because he was depicting the military and economic power of the Roman empire. But there’s more to it. The vision quotes language and imagery from every Old Testament passage about the downfall of Babylon, Tyre, and Edom (Isaiah 13, Isaiah 23, Isaiah 34, Isaiah 47; Jeremiah 50-51; Ezekiel 26-27). He’s showing that Rome is simply the newest version of that old archetype of humanity in rebellion against God. Nations that exalt their own economic and military security to divine status aren’t limited to the past or the future. Babylons will come and go, leading up to the day when Jesus returns to replace them all with his Kingdom.

Up to this point in the book, the Day of the Lord has been depicted as a day of fire, earthquake, or harvest. Here at the conclusion of the book, it is described as a final battle (Revelation 19:11-21, Revelation 20:7-15) that results in the vindication of the martyrs (Revelation 20:1-6). John takes us back to the sixth bowl as the nations gather to oppose God. Jesus appears as the great hero, riding a white horse and ready to “conquer” the world’s evil. Notice, however, that he’s covered with blood before the battle even begins (Revelation 19:13). It’s his own. And his only weapon is “the sword of his mouth,” an image adapted from Isaiah 11:4, Isaiah 49:2.

John is trying to tell us that Armageddon is not a bloodbath. The same Jesus who shed his blood for his enemies comes proclaiming justice, holding accountable those who refuse to repent of the ruin they’ve caused in God’s good world. The destructive hellfire that they have caused in the world justly becomes their God-appointed destiny.

After this, John sees a vision of Jesus’ followers who have been murdered by Babylon. They are brought to life to reign with the Messiah for one thousand years. After this, the dragon once again rallies the nations of the world to rebel against God, but they are all brought before God’s throne of justice and face the consequences of eternal defeat. The forces of spiritual evil and all those who do not want to participate in God’s Kingdom are destroyed. They are given what they want, which is to exist by themselves and for themselves. The dragon, Babylon, and all those who choose them are eternally quarantined, unable to spoil God’s new creation ever again.

There’s a lot of debate about the relationship between the one thousand years that comes in between these two battle scenes. Some think that it refers to a literal, chronological sequence of Jesus’ return, followed by his one thousand year Kingdom on earth and final judgment. Others think the one thousand years are a symbol of Jesus and the martyr’s present victory over spiritual evil, while the two battles depict Jesus’ future return from two different angles. Whichever view you take, the point is that John promises the return of King Jesus to deal with evil forever and vindicate those who have been faithful to him.

The book concludes with a vision of the marriage of Heaven and Earth (Revelation 21:1-22:9):

The New Heaven and Earth

1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

5And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He *said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” 6Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. 7He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. 8But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

9Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”

The New Jerusalem

10And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 11having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. 12It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. 13There were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west. 14And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates and its wall. 16The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal. 17And he measured its wall, seventy-two yards, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements. 18The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; 20the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. 21And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

22I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. 25In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; 26and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; 27and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

The River and the Tree of Life

1Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; 4they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. 5And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.

6And he said to me, “These words are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must soon take place.

7“And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book.”

8I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. 9But he *said to me, “Do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book. Worship God.”

An angel shows John a stunning bride, symbolizing the new creation that comes to forever join God and his covenant people. God announces that he has come to live together with humanity forever and make all things new (Revelation 21:5).

Revelation 21-22: The New Heaven and Earth

This vision is a kaleidoscope of Old Testament promises. It depicts a new Heaven and Earth (

Isaiah 65:17), a restored creation that’s been healed of the pain and evil of human history. It’s also a new garden of Eden (Genesis 2) and paradise of eternal life with God:

The Creation of Man and Woman

1Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. 2By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

4This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven. 5Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. 6But a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground. 7Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. 8The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. 9Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers. 11The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12The gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there. 13The name of the second river is Gihon; it flows around the whole land of Cush. 14The name of the third river is Tigris; it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

15Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. 16The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

18Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” 19Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. 20The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. 21So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. 22The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. 23The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones,

And flesh of my flesh;

She shall be called Woman,

Because she was taken out of Man.”

24For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. 25And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

However, it’s not simply a return to the garden; it’s also a step forward into the new Jerusalem (Isaiah 2). It’s a great city where human cultures in all their diversity work together in harmony. But in the most surprising twist, there is no temple. The presence of God and the lamb, once limited to the temple, now permeates every inch of this new world. This is when the new humanity will fulfill the calling that was placed on them back on page one of the Bible (Genesis 1:26-28), to rule as God’s image and partner with God in taking his creation into new, uncharted territory.

So ends both John’s apocalypse and the epic story of the Bible. John did not write this book as a secret code for deciphering the timetable of Jesus’ return. It is a symbolic vision that brought challenge and hope to the seven first-century churches and every generation since. It reveals history’s pattern and God’s promise, showing how every human kingdom eventually becomes Babylon and must be resisted. But the Messiah, Jesus, who loved and died for our world, will not let Babylon go unchecked. He will return one day to remove evil from his good world and make all things new. This promise should motivate faithfulness in every generation of God’s people until the King finally returns.