The Book of Revelation

The word “apocalypse” originally meant (in Greek) revelation; something unveiled or revealed. It has come to mean the end of the world because the Book of Revelation is about that event. Revelation was the last book added to the canon, and its place there has been disputed at various times, for example by Martin Luther.

The Book of Revelation itself claims to be written by an author called John, and while early Christians understood this to be the apostle, modern scholars think it is highly unlikely to be either the apostle or the author of the Gospel of John. John was a very common name, however, so it is quite possible John was his name.

The events described seem to date the work fairly exactly to AD 95, but while the Gospel of John is very much a gentile work, distancing itself from the Jews, this is very much a Jewish work (perhaps why it was rejected by Luther). As such, it harkens back to the earliest days of Christianity, and indeed to the apocalyptic genre of Daniel.

The text is a letter to the seven churches of Asia; Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. There is a brief message to each individual church, before the main body of the text, which seeks to reassure Christians that it will all be alright in the end. At one time it was believed it was to reassure the churches as they suffered under Domitian’s iron hand, but that view of Domitian seems to have been revised.

Jesus as the Jewish Messiah

The author of Revelation understood Jesus to be the messiah in the Jewish sense; the king appointed by God to lead Israel back to greatness.

Revelation 6:1 Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, “Come[a].” 2 I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.

Revelation 6:9 When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; 10 and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O [k]Lord, holy and true, [l]will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

Revelation 7:4 makes clear that those who are saved are Jews, not gentiles; twelve thousand from each of the twelve tribes (and 14:4 also makes clear these are virgin men only!), though the chapter goes on to say that people of all nations will worship God, as long as they have washed their garments in the blood of the lamb.

This verse make clear Jesus is the king of kings.

Revelation 17:14 These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.”

The Woman

The text describes Jesus being born of a woman, symbolically of Israel.

Revelation 12:1 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; 2 and she was with child; and she *cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.
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5 And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to [a]rule all the [b]nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. 6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she *had a place prepared by God, so that there [c]she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

By the way, 1260 days is three and a half years, which is of course half of that magic number seven that features so often in this book, and features also in Daniel (assuming the year is 360 days long).

The beast and the whore

There are actually two beasts, one of the sea and one of the earth. The beast of the sea is likely Nero, who persecuted Christians for 42 months (three and a half years again) up to his death in AD 68 (and even Apollonius of Tyana called him “beast”). The number of the beast also fits Nero, following Hebrew numerology.

The beast of the earth is less clear, and could be the Roman Imperial cult, Judaism conspiring with Roman or a specific Roman administrator.

Following the Jewish idea that the covenant between God and his people was like a marriage contract, an idolator is analogous to a whore. Babylon, meanwhile, presumably refers to Roman, considered to be surrounded by seven hills (though that might be the author’s obsession with the number):

Revelation 17:9 Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits,

Lament

The lament in chapter 18 is very reminiscent of Ezekiel 28, where the prophet has a vision, and is told to lament the falling of the King of Tyre.

Revelation 18:9 “And the kings of the earth, who committed acts of immorality and lived [l]sensuously with her, will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning, 10 standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’

It is wishful thinking (as it is in Ezekiel); no more, no less.

Apocalypse?

The text is very much open to interpretation, and while some Christians believe it is about events still to occur, others say it is about events that were happening around that time. To my mind, the book is describing what has happened up to verse 20:2, and thereafter is predicting the future.

Jesus (and Paul) had been clear that the end times were near, and yet, despite the destruction of the temple, the world still went on. The authors of Matthew, Luke and John were obliged to move the timeframe (Mark, I suspect, was written around the destruction of Jerusalem, and he likely felt it was already happening), and the author of Revelation was no different. Very much pushing the event well into the future, Revelation tells us that, while the saints have already been resurrected (perhaps echoing Matthew) the general resurrection of the righteous was not due for a thousand years:

Revelation 20:4 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of [b]their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

This is when the dead will be judged, exactly following the events predicted in Daniel.

Revelation 20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose [g]presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and [h]books were opened; and another [i]book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the [j]books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if [k]anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Revelation also has the idea that God will adopt all the righteous as his son:

Revelation 22:7 He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.

The ultimate end of the Jewish Messiah belief was that Israel would be great once more, and we see that too:

Revelation 22:10 And he carried me away [g]in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God. Her [h]brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. 12 [i]It had a great and high wall, [j]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. 13 There were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

Curious that all twelve of the apostles get a foundation stone. Does that include Judas?

Revelation, then, follows the format of Daniel, describing as prophecy events that have already happened to give authenticity to the prophecy, and then following that with predictions about the future in which those who oppress the Jews come to a bad end, God’s kingdom comes to earth and the righteous are vindicated.