Book of Revelation

The Four horsemen of the Apocalypse by Albrecht Dürer

The Book of Revelation, or simply Revelation, is the final book of the Christian Bible (The New Testament).

It records a series of visions dealing with the End Times which were received by John, an Apostle of Christ, while John was imprisoned on the island of Patmos. Jesus Christ Himself provided the visions to John.

Due to its prophetic nature Revelation is considered a difficult book to understand (though its imagery has made it a popular one). It has also given rise to a cottage industry of sorts with the almost endless number of books attempting to interpret the prophecies in light of modern-day political events.

Letters to the Churches

Chapters 2 and 3 consist of seven letters written to congregations located in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey): the congregations at Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.

Four of the seven churches (Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, and Thyatira) are commended for their actions but also warned that if they did not repent of certain deeds done, punishment would come upon them. The church at Philadelphia is commended only and not admonished; the churches at Sardis and Laodicea are not commended at all but only admonished (the wording for the Laodicean church differs from the others in that they are either told or warned of impending punishment -- the KJV says that he "would spew them out of his mouth", while other translations state that it was a warning of future punishment -- then told to repent).

There are three historical interpretations for the letters, all of which could be simultaneously true:

• The most common interpretation is that the letters were to the congregations directing them of certain actions needed (all seven cities historically existed and each was known to have a local congregation in it).
• Another interpretation posits that it is intended to describe different types of churches which exist (the Ephesus church being one doing a lot of good and commendable works but not doing them with a love for God, for example).
• The third interpretation is that each congregation represents various periods within the Church Age (in order from Ephesus to Laodicea, the latter being either the church just before or during the prophetic events described beginning in Chapter 4).

Prophetic Visions

From Chapter 4 through the end of the book are shown the numerous prophetic visions for which Revelation is best known, even in the secular world.

It is commonly believed that the visions describe events taking place at the End Times and the second coming of Jesus Christ; however, some groups such as Preterists disagree, believing that the book describes events fulfilled at other points in history.

The events of the book are largely centered around two periods: a seven-year period widely known as The Tribulation (during which the judgments revealed will take place), followed immediately thereafter by a 1,000-year period widely known as The Millennium ("millennium" means "1,000 years") when Jesus Christ will reign as King over all the Earth.

Tribulation

The events of the Tribulation are outlined in Chapters 4 through 18.

There is wide disagreement among religious scholars as to the fate of Christians before the Tribulation period. Revelation itself does not discuss this topic.

What is understood is that, at the outset of the Tribulation, a figure called the Antichrist (or the Beast) will rise on the scene. He will establish a one-world government to which all must pledge allegiance, by taking on themselves a mark consisting of the Number of the Beast (best-known by its numerical designation of 666) in order to buy or sell. He is accompanied by a religious figure, the False Prophet, who will establish a one-world religion in direct opposition to Christianity, to which all must adhere. Though there will be those who resist (notably the Two Witnesses and a group of 144,000 evangelists, often believed to be Jewish), the Antichrist will largely be successful in opposing and killing those who resist him.

The Antichrist will establish a peace treaty with Israel for seven years, allowing Israel to rebuild its long-awaited Temple and restore the Jewish sacrificial system. Once the Temple is completed at the mid-way point of the treaty, the Antichrist will reveal his true nature: he will enter the Temple and proclaim himself to be the awaited Messiah. At this point, the world will be subject to a series of ever-harsher judgments.

Ultimately world events will lead to a final battle between the nations of the world (led by the Antichrist) and Israel culminating at the Battle of Armageddon. Israel will find itself on the brink of extinction when Jesus Christ Himself will return with an army (commonly believed to consist of all Christians from all of history) and defeat the Antichrist and False Prophet.

Plagues

During the Tribulation period a total of 21 judgments are pronounced on the earth, grouped into three series of seven judgments each. The first seven are announced by the breaking of Seals, the next seven announced by the blowing of Trumpets, and the final seven announced by the pouring out of Bowls.

The first four seals are widely-known even in the secular world by their appearance as four horses and riders, commonly referred to as The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Traditionally they are referred to as Pestilence, War, Famine, and Death; however, the Bible itself only directly names Death. The first horseman is believed by some to refer to the Antichrist (as it appears early in Chapter 3), while other interpretations (common among those holding to Postmillenial views) equate it to world-wide Gospel preaching. Some scholars hold to a direct correlation between the events of the seals and the list of events found in the Olivet Discourse, as found in Matthew 24. According to this view, the first four seals are usually perceived as being the beginning of birth pangs (Matthew 24:4-8).

However, the sequence of the order of these plagues are disputed among prophecy teachers. There are two main camps:

• The "concurrent" or "overlapping" interpretation postulates that the judgements overlap each other, with the Seal judgments being the longest in duration, the Trumpet judgments being shorter, and the Bowl judgments the shortest.
• The "consecutive" or "crescendo" interpretation teaches that the next set of judgments occur after the previous set of judgments, and increase in harshness between them. As such, the Seal judgments are followed by the Trumpet judgments and finally by the Bowl judgments.

The Whore of Babylon

After the seventh Bowl judgment is pronounced on the Earth, Chapter 17 shows a vision of a harlot, riding on a scarlet-colored beast having seven heads, ten horns, and blasphemous names all over its body. Chapter 18 proclaims its destruction to the sorrow of the world's people.

The Whore of Babylon has been the subject of great controversy as to its representation. Historically Protestants have claimed the chapter refers to the Roman Catholic Church; this interpretation is not as common in modern times but is still prevalent, especially among fundamentalist groups.

In Popular Culture

Works and concepts based on Revelation include "666" as the number of the devil, the great writing by Dante in his Inferno, and Michaelangelo's Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel.

Interpretations

There is much modern emphasis that Revelation prophesizes the future and the end times. These views usually consider the end times to be relatively close to being fulfilled. Other views postulate that the writing describes a period of persecution in the early church either during the reign of Nero (54 - 68) or Domitian (81 - 96).

History

The Book of Revelation was one of the last books to be fully accepted into the New Testament Canon largely due to its difficulty in being understood.

See also

• Whore of Babylon
• Great Apostasy
• Chiliasm
• Christianity in Conservapedia
• Revelation, Book of (historical exegesis)
• Revelations to John (Translated)
• Post Apocalyptic World
• Homosexuality and Revelation controversy