Book of Revelation
"Revelation, Book of." Macmillan Dictionary of the Bible. London: Collins, 2002. Credo Reference. Web. 15 Apr 2015.
| Structure |
| Prologue (1:1-20) |
| Letters to seven churches (2:1-3:22) |
| A vision of heaven (4:1-5:14) |
| Seven seals (6:1-8:5) |
| Seven trumpets (8:6-11:19) |
| Conflict between the church and evil powers (12:1-14:20) |
| Seven bowls (15:1-16:21) |
| God's triumph (17:1-20:15) |
| A new heaven and a new earth (21:1-22:5) |
| Epilogue (22:6-21) |
| Famous passages |
| Vision of Jesus risen from the dead (1:12-20) |
| Letters to seven churches (2:1-3:22) |
| 'Worthy is the Lamb' (5:1-14) |
| 144,000 in heaven (7:1-8; 14:1-5) |
| The fall of Babylon (18:1-24) |
| Satan is bound for 1,000 years (20:1-10) |
| A new heaven and a new earth (21:1-22:5) |
A most extraordinary book which is difficult to categorize. It is probably best described as an apocalypse, which is a special type of literature dealing with the last things, but it has the form of a letter and also exhibits several features of prophecy. It has been understood in various ways, as a message for the firstcentury AD churches, as a description of events immediately preceding a millennium (cf. 20:2-7), as a prediction of what will happen at the end of the world, or as symbolizing how Christians can survive under persecution. It was written to persecuted Christians in Asia Minor, probably during the period 90-5 AD when the Roman emperor Domitian demanded to be worshipped. The book's author was suffering in exile (1:9), and though he is called John, he cannot be certainly identified with the apostle John, because of differences with John's Gospel and Letters and the lack of any direct connection with the apostle or with Jesus' earthly life. The book's message depends on making a connection between the suffering of the early church and the attacks on Jesus and his church in every age. It encourages struggling believers that Jesus the Lamb of God now sits triumphantly on God's throne (chapter 5) and that Satan's final fall is certain (chapter 20). One of the extraordinary features of Revelation is its breadth of vision and purpose. By making use of visions and symbolic language and by its extensive reference to the Old Testament, it brings together the seen world with the unseen and the beginning of God's work with its end. In particular, its portrayal of God's work of creation in Genesis being completed in the final vision of heaven (chapters 21-2) shows how the totality of human history finds its fulfilment in the kingdom of God.
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