REVELATION STUDY OUTLINE
(Compiled almost entirely from material by Jim McGuiggan as contained in his video lessons on Revelation, his commentary on Revelation, and articles on his web site)
One: Introductory Material
A. Some basic suggestions
A number of factors seem to intimidate would-be students, including these: (a) The book isn’t written plain speech like Acts or Genesis or the gospels. (b) There is so much disagreement about what it means that many feel hopelessly confused about the book.
But believe that God wouldn’t have written it if it couldn’t be understood. It isn’t as difficult as the “experts” have considered it to be, nor as obscure as they often give the impression that it is. Credit yourself with as much common sense as the people who paint wild pictures of what they say is going to happen in the near future. It is not a simple book, though, and it can be understood – by the experts or the average person – only after careful study.
Apocalyptic literature is not plain prose, but the notion that apocalyptic language was chosen so that God’s enemies could not understand it doesn’t make any sense. Very often the writer explains what he has just said with an image, or explains the vision he has just seen. The book of Revelation is not only written in apocalyptic style; it is an apocalypse. That is, it is an unveiling, a revealing, just as it says in Revelation 1:1.
In apocalyptic literature symbols, numbers and colors are used to convey truths. Often the image enhances the meaning. For example, to say a kingdom is savage and ruthless is one thing, but to describe it in an image as a devouring beast makes the description come alive.
If you have read the Old Testament prophets, you are no stranger to apocalyptic literature. For an example, read Daniel chapter 3 and then read chapter 7. In one case the writer tells what literally happened, without the use of images. In the other he tells of events of persons of the past, present and future and uses speech he doesn’t want us to take seriously (such as the lion with eagle’s wings and the leopard with four heads).
B. Have the prophecies in Revelation been fulfilled?
1. The book is mainly a prophetic call for loyalty to God and an assurance that victory belongs to the people of God no matter who the enemy is, but it also foretells some events that will unfold in the near future.
2. Revelation 1:1 says it is a revelation of “what must soon take place,” and 1:3 says “the time is near.”
3. Revelation 22:6, near the end of the book, repeats that the things shown “must soon take place,” and 22:10 emphasizes that “the time is near.”
4. It is true that God isn’t bound by time as we are, but he was speaking to us, in our language, and he knows the difference between “at hand” and the distant future.
For proof of this, compare Daniel 8:26 to Revelation 22:10. Daniel is told to seal up the vision because it deals with the distant future; John is told not to seal up the prophecy because the time is near.
5. The safest approach is to let John tell us what the time frame is rather than us telling John, so John’s prophecies must have been fulfilled long before now.
6. That said, it is also true that in a sense some of the prophecies in the latter chapters of Revelation are still being fulfilled:
After the defeat of Rome, there would be other onslaughts against the church, from which God would surely deliver his people. Some of those battles with Satan may yet be future.
The glorious church described in Chapters 21 and 22 still exists and will exist until the end of time as we know it. (Which means that the church is as beautiful as our usual mental picture of heaven itself, and is therefore to be honored and cherished by all who believe in Christ.)
C. Central message of the book:.
The central thrust of the book: Comfort in the knowledge of ultimate triumph!
D. Two major elements in the book
1. Predictive elements, which have been fulfilled. They are summarized and focused on Emperor Domitian, who stands for all that is the brutal and bestial Empire.
Even though the predictions have been fulfilled, it is still relevant for us today. OT prophecies of the birth and suffering of Christ in his earthly ministry have been fulfilled, but we know they are not useless. As McGuiggan writes, “There is profoundly more about life with God than having a calendar of future events in our pocket.”
2. Timeless truths. For example, God alone is Lord and worthy of praise and service. These truths, of course, will be true throughout all time.
E. Authors of the book
1. The apostle John (4, 11). John is the merely human by which the book came to us; he received it when he was on the island of Patmos on the Lord’s day (1:9). He describes himself in several ways in the introduction:
▪
The bondservant of Jesus Christ (1:1)▪ A witness to what he saw and heard of God’s word (1:2)
▪ A brother in Christ (1:9)
▪ A fellow sufferer (1:9)
▪ A brother in the kingdom of Christ (1:9)
▪ The one who was on Patmos for the word of God (1:9)
2. God, the Father (1:1). This passage indicates the book is the revelation of Jesus Christ, but that it was given to Him by the Father.
3. The Holy Spirit (1:4, 10; 4:2; 21:10). The Bible often reminds us that when men wrote scripture, they wrote as the Spirit moved them (see 1 Peter 1:11-12; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 Corinthians 2:13). In Revelation we’re told and then reminded repeatedly that John received his messages and visions while “in the Spirit.”
4. Jesus Christ (1:1; 5:5; 22:16). The Father gives it to the Son, who shows it to his servants, who receive it “in the Spirit.” Christ is described in numerous ways in the introduction:
▪ The faithful witness (1:5
▪ The firstborn from the dead (1:5)
▪ The ruler of the kings of the earth (1:5)
▪ The one who loves us (1:5)
▪ The one who loosed us from our sins (1:5)
▪ The one who made us a kingdom and priests (1:6)
▪ The coming one (1:70
▪ The high-priestly judge and the Son of Man (1:13-17)
▪ The Alpha and the Omega (1:18
▪ The Lord over death and hades (1:19)
▪ The Lord over the churches ((1:20)
F. Date the book was written: 67 to 69 A.D.
Revelation 17:8 says, “The beast that you saw was and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and to go to destruction. . . .” Verses 10 -11 say the seven heads of the beast are “seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while, and the beast which was and is not is himself also an eighth, and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction.”
The five fallen kings are the first five Roman emperors – Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero. After Nero, a terrible persecutor of Christians, there were three inconsequential emperors, Galba, Otho and Vitellius, whose combined tenure during a time of terrible civil war was a year and a half (July 68-December 69). The next three emperors were Vespasian, Titus and Domitian.
How could John write in 17:10 that “one is” and in 17:11 that the beast “is not?” Simply that yes, Rome has an emperor while John is writing, but that Rome is not persecuting the saints. (There was some persecution going on, since John himself was exiled at the time because of his faith, but persecution on a grand scale as a policy of the Empire was not going on.)
The one who “is” at this time would be Vespasian, who brought the empire back to stability. Vespasian, whose reign began late in 69, would be replaced by Titus in 79, and Titus would reign for just over two years. Titus was succeeded in 81 by Domitian, who is the eighth and “one of the seven” heads of the beast which is the Roman Empire. It is Domitian, with his arrogant claims to divinity, who will exhibit the beastly persecution prophesied by John. Since that era appears imminent it appears that John wrote during the last part of Vespasian’s reign, somewhere in the range of 77-79.
This whole picture corresponds to that in Daniel 7, where Daniel speaks of the fourth beast as having ten horns and another horn which uproots three of the former horns. Same Empire, same emperors as In Revelation 13 and 17.
Two: Principal “Characters” in the Book
A. God, of course is the central character. That’s not unexpected, since God is the central character in every Bible book (even Esther). In Revelation we find him functioning as the Creator and Sustainer of that creation, the Eternal One, the Sovereign, the Judge, the Defender and Vindicator of his people.
B, The Roman Empire, under three images:
1 The sea-beast (13:1-10). This image presents Rome as a destroying military power. It is one of the beasts in Daniel 7 that comes out of the sea. Waters are used in prophetic writings as a symbol for the restless nations that clash against each other.
* Rome is described as an unbeatable power (13:4), part bear, part leopard and part lion (13:2). The three world powers before her (Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece) were likened to these animals in Daniel 7:2-6). They had passed away but Rome, like them, was an anti-God power and as long as Rome lived their spirit lived on (see Daniel 7:12).
* The sea-beast has seven heads (13:1) which represent seven emperors (17:9), but they also represent the seven hills on which Rome was built (17:9). [In 17:11 we hear of an eighth emperor; see the later comment on the number “eight.”]
* The beast has ten horns (13:1) that represent Rome’s allies who will later turn against her and destroy her (17:12, 13, 16). The horns are kings that give their authority to the sea-beast.
2. The earth-beast (13:11-18). This beast represents Rome as a religious power. It looks like a lamb but has the voice of a dragon (13:11). It looks innocent but is profoundly dangerous.
The earth-beast’s job is to make all nations worship Rome (13:4, 12-14). He is called the “false prophet” in 16:13 and 19:20; he leads people to see Rome as the divine kingdom (see 13:13-14 and 19:20). The Empire had its own priesthood, temples and sacrificial system; its priests urged worship of Rome as the goddess Roma. The emperor was the high priest.
3. The prostitute and the city (17:1, 18). The prostitute who is also a great city is also Rome, looked at as a vast commercial power. Every nation wants to make alliances with her (go to bed with her, so to speak – see 17:2 and 18:3).
* The reason for her seductiveness is that she is supported by the most powerful military force on earth.
* The prostitute rides on (is supported by the sea-beast (17:3). The most powerful nation was also the greatest buyer of goods, and if you wanted to do business with her you “got in bed” with her. Chapter 18 makes it clear that the prostitute is a vast commercial center, supported by unstoppable military power.
Later in Chapter 17 the sea-beast and its allies turn against the prostitute and tear her to shreds. Historians agree that the Roman Empire destroyed itself, just as other nations have done (think of Ireland, Russia, China – and the American Civil War).
C. The people of God (under four images)
(See later comments on the significance of numbers in prophetic and apocalyptic literature, particularly the numbers twelve and one thousand.)
a. They are called God’s servants (7:3).
b. They have the name of Jesus and the Father written on their foreheads (14:1).
In Revelation 3:12, non-Jewish believers are said to have Christ’s name written on them. The image of marking the faithful is also found in Ezekiel 9:4-6. But neither here nor in Ezekiel are people literally marked. Ezekiel saw it in a vision (8:3) and John Is seeing a similar vision. The marking is the visionary way of saying God’s followers are under his protection during the judgment.
c. They follow the Lamb, keep themselves pure and speak the truth (14:4).
They are not all literal virgins, but are chaste, as befitting saints of God. They’re called Jews in 7:4-8 because “Jew” was the term for God’s elect down through the centuries; yet they are not literally Jews. They represent the whole people of God (twelve tribes). An OT name is here applied to New Covenant people.
d. They are those who are redeemed from the earth and purchased from among men (14:3-4).
The sealing of the 144,000 is protection in the face of the judgment of the Lamb mentioned in 6:12-17. That judgment is not to fall on the servants of God who are sealed (7:3). But while the wrath of God is not directed at them, this doesn’t mean they don’t suffer. The assurance that the people of God have nothing to fear from God’s judgment is spelled out in 7:9-17.
In 7:9 it is “a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues” who are in white robes praising God and the Lamb. And 7:14 says these are the ones who have successfully come out against the great tribulation. Indeed this innumerable multitude and the 144,000 are the same!
Several times in the Bible people of God are represented as a woman; see Lamentations 1:1; Ezekiel 16:2, 32, Isaiah 47:1,5,7,8, and Micah 4:10 for examples. The woman is seen as the corporate whole and individuals are spoken of as “her children” (see Revelation 12:7).
a. She wears a crown of twelve stars (12:1), identifying her as the representative of the whole people of God.
b. She wears the sun and has the moon under her feet (12:1). She is the light-bearer. See Philippians 2:14 and Matthew 5:14-16.
c. Pregnant, she is persecuted by the dragon (12:2-4), who wants to devour her child, but she flees to the wilderness where God takes care of her. Unable to destroy the child or the woman, he turns on the “rest of her seed.”
The child, of course, represents Christ, born of lineage of God’s chosen people. The dragon, Satan, would have loved to destroy him and thus destroy God’s people as a corporate whole. Failing that, he tries to drag down individuals. As a whole entity, God’s people cannot be defeated, but individual saints can be.
The church’s wilderness experience here, for “a time and times and half a time,” is reminiscent of Elijah’s three and a half years in the wilderness, when God sustained him.
We saw that the Roman Empire was seen under the images of a wicked woman and a famed city. The people of God are seen as a glorious woman and a glorious city.
a. The city is described as a bride adorned for her husband (21:2, 9-10). Thus it is not a literal city. When the angel shows John the “bride of the Lamb” (21:9), it is a holy city that he shows him (21:10). The wife of the Lamb (21:9) is the people of God, the church of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:25-32).
b. The city is called “new Jerusalem” (21:2), apparently as a contrast to the old Jerusalem. Naming one city after another doesn’t mean that the first is gone; several places in America are named for places in England , such as New England, New York, New Hampshire. The “new Jerusalem” was around a long time before Revelation was written.
c. The city came down out of heaven (21:2). What is being stressed here is the divine origin and nature of the city. It’s coming down out of heaven is in sharp contrast to the origin of the two beasts that came up out of the sea and the earth (Revelation 13).
d. It is the tabernacle of God among men (21:3). The church is called the dwelling place of God several times (see 1 Corinthians 3:16; Ephesians 2:20ff and 1 Peter 2:5, for example). It is a great boon to the world that the church is the house of God and here on earth!
e. It is solidly built, in a square, with walls 216 feet thick and enormous dimensions – 1500 miles long, wide and high (21:16-17). It seems to be modeled after the Holy of Holies, which was a square; and Israel encamped in a square with the tabernacle where God dwelt in the center of that square. Thus the glorious city is secure, where God is, safe from attack. It has 12 foundations on which are written the names of the apostles of the Lamb (21:15-17; compare Ephesians 2:20).
f.. It is as fabulous inside as the mind can conceive: a golden street, walls of precious gems; gates that are each a single pearl, with angels on guard at the gates; a tree of life bearing twelve kinds of fruit twelve times a year with leaves which give healing to the nations (21:12-21; 22:1-2).
Chapter 18 gives a picture of the evil city when the whole story is told; chapters 21 and 22 give a picture of the glorious city when the whole story is told. The evil city had its day of glory and power, but God finally judges it and it is destroyed and humiliated. The glorious city has been trampled on (see 11:2), but it is finally vindicated and made to triumph.
Years of sermons may have convinced most of us that the city in Chapters 21 and 22 is heaven, and some may have a hard time letting go of that idea. But perhaps they can be consoled by the thought that applying that sublime description to the church leaves room for imagining that heaven will be even better and beyond mortal power to grasp or even imagine. On this point, Brother McGuiggan included the following in a recent email: “Whatever ‘heaven’ turns out to be, there'll be glory and life. And if the OT can use such speech of God's ancient city/people in triumph and John can use the same speech of the NT city/people in triumph we can use it for glory and triumphant life.
What is the reason for saying these two witnesses are the church? Zechariah helps us decide, for his Chapter 4 presents the vision of the two olive trees which supply the candlestick with oil. The two olive trees are identified for the prophet (Zechariah 4:11-14) as the “two anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.” These two “anointed ones” are the civil ruler (Zerubbabel) and the priest (Joshua, son of Jozedek); kings and priests were both anointed to their office. They led the nation; through them divine direction was given.
These two witnesses in Revelation 11 are said to be “the two olive trees and the two candlesticks, standing before the Lord of the earth.” The church is a “royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:5), combining in itself what its Master combines so gloriously – priesthood and royalty. So the two witnesses are the church of God.
a. They successfully proclaim the word of God while dressed in sackcloth (11:3). They are in trouble, but they still carry out their mission and can’t be stopped.
b. They are attacked and killed (11:7). Their enemies rejoice in what seems like a clear victory (11:7-10). But the two witnesses are raised, like their Master, and are taken up into heaven. (Compare Paul’s description of the church under hardship in 2 Corinthians 4:7-10 and 6:4-10, especially 6:9.)
D. The Devil
Satan, the great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, is described in the same way as the sea-beast which is Rome (13:1-10). That is because it is Rome through which Satan expresses himself in the book of Revelation. When we see Rome at work we see the dragon at work, because Rome exercises his authority (13:2, 4).
When God buried the Roman Empire, the dragon’s purpose as exercised in and through Rome was permanently defeated. Revelation 20:7-10 makes the point that Satan, though defeated in Rome, will show himself in some other form. The book assures us that whatever form he takes, God defeats him, the people of God triumph and the world benefits. (See Ephesians 6:12 and 2 Corinthians 4:4.)
The “star” fallen from heaven upon the earth is spoken of as a being – “he” opened the bottomless pit and released the plague, causing darkness. Jesus spoke of Satan as “fallen from heaven like lightning” (Luke 10:18), and this “star” in Revelation 9 is doing Satan’s work; so we can conclude that the fallen star represents Satan.
Mirror images occur numerous times in Revelation: There’s a glorious woman and an evil woman. There’s a glorious city and an evil city. The Lord’s followers have his name written on their foreheads and the followers of the beast have the beast’s name on their foreheads. Christ claims to have been alive, dead and alive forevermore (1:18), and there’s a best that lived, died and lived again (13:3, 14). In this case we have a fallen star that has the key of the abyss, and we have the Bright and Morning Star who has the key of death and of Hades (1:18 and 22:16). The fallen star has the key of the pit of evil form which he lets loose evil things to torment the people of the earth (see Ephesians 2:2). Everything this “fallen star” is the Bright and Morning Star is not.
E. Jesus Christ
1. Portrayed in various ways
a. As the church’s Leader (19:11-16)
Leading his people into battle is the King on the white horse; he is called the King of kings (19:16). He is also called the Word of God (19:13; see John 1:1, 14). When he makes war, it is a righteous war (19:11). His followers and his Father can depend on him because he is the Faithful and True (19:11). He leads the armies of heaven who wear white garments and ride white horses (19:14).
b. As the resurrected Lord (11:17-18)
The people of God, who will face death, need to know that their Lord has faced death, fully experienced it and over come it. Since that is so, it is possible for him to call his followers to be faithful to death, and promise them that he will give them life as a crown (2:8, 10).
c. As the faithful Witness (1:5 and 19:11)
The word “witness” is from the Greek martus, which is also the root of the word “martyr” (one who bears witness by his death). Jesus was one of those who took his words so seriously that he was willing to shed his blood to confirm the truth of what he spoke. And he was a faithful witness, who would never lie to people or about them.
d. As King of kings (17:14 and 19:16)
John sees a throne in 4:2. It is the throne that rules the universe, the throne of God and the kingdom of heaven. At the center of that throne that rules the world John sees a Lamb (5:6). Emperors would wade to their thrones through the blood of others, but the Lamb gained his dominion through the free shedding of his own blood (see Philippians 2:5-9).
e. As the Redeemer from sin (1:5 and 5:9)
The Roman Empire could offer jobs, roads, government, economic growth and even roman citizenship to the right people, but they could not provide freedom from sin. Jesus can do more than talk about sin. He can do more than describe it, condemn it, threaten it, denounce it, avoid it, analyze or expose it; he can forgive it!
2. The “coming” of Christ in Revelation
a. His coming in judgment on certain churches (2:5, 16; 3:3, 11, 20)
He made the promise (or threat) to come to several churches unless they repented of their errors. His coming depended on whether a church would repent. In the case of Ephesus he said he would come and remove their candlestick – that is, no longer consider them his church. Although there are indications in church history that the Ephesus church survived for some time; now it is gone; at some point Christ removed its candlestick. When he told a church he was coming “unless,” he was speaking not of a literal “second coming” but of effecting judgment on that church unless it repented.
b. His coming in judgment on the Roman Empire (22:12, 20)
Twice in this last chapter of the book, he says, “I am coming quickly,” indicating that his judgment against the Roman power would soon take place – and it did; for the continual unrest in the empire, due mostly to Domitian’s arrogant ways, resulted in his assassination in 96 A.D. In a similar way, Christ had predicted his “coming” in the judgment of 70 A.D., when Israel fell to Rome (Matthew 24:30, 34).
Three: Major Symbols in the Book
A. Seals and sealing (5:1-5, 9 and 7:1-8)
In ancient times, as it is today, some documents and places were marked as “off limits” to everyone except those authorized to be there or to handle this or that. The more powerful or important the person who put his seal on the document, the less likely that it would be interfered with. Rulers might throw a Daniel in a lion’s den and put their royal seal on it (Daniel 6:17, and see Matthew 27:66).
The only one allowed to remove seals is someone who is authorized or is powerful enough to face the consequences. This is the situation in 5:1-5, 9. The “little book” (scroll) is the immediate destiny of the people of God. It is unrevealed and John is afraid it can’t be opened, but he hears that someone is “worthy” to “unseal” it. Picture a rolled-up scroll with seven clasps holding it closed. Imagine someone tearing off one clasp and part of the scroll flapping back to reveal some of the writing that’s on it. He tears off another and another until the whole contents are revealed. That is sort of what’s pictured in this vision.
To seal is to forbid the unauthorized from interfering with it. To seal is both to protect and to keep (in the case of writings) the contents hidden. To tear off seals is to claim authority and (in the case of writings) to reveal.
B. Trumpets and bowls (8:2 and 16:1-21)
In the ancient world and in biblical literature, trumpets were used to call people to attention, whether that meant to bring them into an assembly or to raise an alarm (see, for example, Numbers 10:1-10). Bowls were used for making wine and for carrying blood or oil (in connection with the sacrificial system). The trumpets and bowls in revelation introduce us to plagues that are somewhat like the plagues on Egypt, although more intense and with some added elements. When Egypt refused to recognize God and persecuted his people, he sent the plagues. Each plague was a warning (a trumpet blast, so to speak), calling Egypt to let his people go. In Revelation, Rome persecutes God’s people (and half the world) and God sends plagues on them both to warn and to punish them (see 8:20-21). Like Egypt, Rome will not pay attention, so the full wrath of God is outpoured (bowls full of plague emptied onto the Empire).But is evident in the reading that these Revelation plagues are not literal events.
C. Measuring the temple (11:1-2)
In the Bible measuring is part of the process of separating and giving something special significance. Ezekiel 40-48 is one long measuring experience for the prophet as he watches a man measuring everything he comes across. In Ezekiel 42:20, the man measured the temple “to divide between the holy and the profane.” Revelation 11:1-2 also pictures a temple which is to endure attack from enemies who will be able to get into the outer areas but will not be allowed to breach the inner sanctuary. Since in the New Testament the people of God are seen also as his temple (see 1 Peter 2:5, Ephesians 2:21 and 1 Corinthians 3:16), here is another picture of the people of God being persecuted but protected; they suffer but are sustained. It fits the imagery running throughout Revelation, of persecution and protection, trouble and triumph. The last word is with God and not the Roman Empire!
D. The lake of fire (19:20 and 10:14-15)
The Bible teaches that some people will suffer eternal punishment (2 Thessalonians 1:9; Matthew 25:46), but that isn’t the point of these passages in Revelation. The lake of fire is another symbol intended to convey the utter defeat and loss of God’s enemies. Isaiah prophesied concerning Edom (34:9-10): “Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch, her dust into burning sulfur; her land will become blazing pitch! It will not be quenched night and day; its smoke will rise forever.” This prophecy graphically foretold the fate of Edom, but it was not literally fulfilled. John uses similar language in Revelation to describe the ultimate, utter defeat of Rome and all who assist her.
E. A new heaven and a new earth (21:1)
The vision of a new heaven and a new earth speaks of a new environment, a new state of affairs for the people of God. The old world in Revelation’s context has been dominated by the cruel and evil Roman Empire – it was, so to speak, the Romans’ world. But they offended God and he attacked the empire. In Revelation its stars are torn down, its seas are turned to blood, earthquakes shred it and its vegetation is destroyed – the Roman world is dismantled. But none of that literally happened!
John now sees a new heaven and earth, but as surely as we’re not to believe in the literal dismantling of the Roman world, we’re not to believe in a literal creation of a new heaven and earth. Remember, Revelation is a book of pictures. It tells its messages in images and must not be interpreted like books that use strictly literal language. (When Matthew says they met a man carrying a water pitcher on his head, we believe that that’s what they actually saw. But when John says he saw a door open in heaven or that he saw a new city coming down to the earth, we’re not supposed to take that as literal.)
The vision of the new heaven and earth is Revelation’s way of saying the people of God will live to see the destruction of the world “owned” and shaped by the beast-empire of Rome. They are free from Rome, so Rome can no longer murder them or make them cry or mourn (21:4). There is no more sea (21:1); therefore, the Roman beast can rise from it no more (13:1).
The dismantling of the world of the oppressor is a common vision in the Old Testament prophets. Babylon’s world is dismantled in Isaiah 13 and 14. Edom’s world is devastated in Isaiah 34:4-15. Judah’s world is “uncreated” in Jeremiah 4:22-26, and so on. In none of these cases are we to think of a literal destruction of the world. Can you imagine what would happen if a star the size of Mount Everest fell on an earth the size of a grain of sand just so Edom could be destroyed?
F. A new and glorious Jerusalem (21:2, 9)
We’ve already looked at this city in some detail (see Two-C-3). The city John sees come out of heaven is called the New Jerusalem, but what does it symbolize? He identifies it for us, as the bride of the Lamb, which is the church, the people of God (see Ephesians 5:29-32 and 2 Corinthians 11:2). It isn’t heaven, it isn’t a literal city, and it isn’t the literal wife of anyone; it is God’s people in and through Jesus Christ, who are pictured as gloriously triumphant over their enemy (Rome, inspired by Satan).
G. A home within the wilderness (12:6, 14)
In ancient times a wilderness experience was to be endured by troubled people. Elijah spent three and a half years in a wilderness during a drought in Israel. God’s people earlier endured 40 years of wilderness wandering. In both cases God looked after his trouble people (Deuteronomy 8:2-5 and 1 Kings 17:1-16). So when the woman, who represents the people of God, flees to the wilderness, God protects and provides for her. By these images the people of God are told that tough times are ahead but are assured that God will be with them to protect them and bring them through to victory.
H. The battle of Armageddon (16:12-16; 19:11-21)
In 16:12-16 we’re told that the battle of Armageddon is between “the kings from the East (sun-rising)” and the two beasts and their allies. In 19:11-21 we’re told that it is between the people of God, led by Jesus Christ, and the two beasts and their allies. Thus the kings from the sun-rising in 16:12 are identified as the people of God. Jesus himself is said to be the bright and morning star (22:16 and see Malachi 4:2), and his followers are the kings from the sun-rising.
In 16:12 we hear that these royal ones (compare 5:10 and 1 Peter 2:9) cross water on dry ground. In the Bible only the people of God do such a thing. They did it in the days of Moses, and under Joshua. Elijah did it and so did Elisha. And when God speaks of rescuing his people from their enemies, he speaks about bringing them across water on dry ground (Isaiah 11:15). These kings advance from the sun-rising to dispel darkness from the earth. The battle pictures Rome, led by Satan, losing a pitched battle against the church, led by Christ.
Four: Numbers in the Book of Revelation
A. The number seven
The number seven speaks of completeness, perfection, fullness, that which lacks nothing but is all there. It describes the totality of a thing and is probably the most prominent number in Revelation.
1. Christ walked among “seven” churches (1:12, 13, 20-21), meaning that Christ dwells in the entire church.
2. “Seven horns” (5:6) indicate Christ’s fullness of power (horn is another symbol – of strength and authority.
3. “The seven spirits of God” (5:6) indicate that Christ has the fullness of the Spirit and God’s gifts, without limit (compare Isaiah 11:1-3).
4. Christ’s complete wisdom and vision is described by saying he has seven eyes (5:6).
5. Seven seals perfectly conceal the book (5:1), and ripping off seven seals is a full revealing of its contents.
6. Seven trumpets are a very strong warning (8:2).
7. Seven outpoured bowls are the full wrath of God (15:1; 16:1).
8. The power and authority of the beast is described in terms of seven heads, speaking not only of seven actual emperors and hills (17:9-10) but saying that as a bestial kingdom he is full of power. (This is not to suggest that he has power equal to that of Christ, but only that within his own sphere he is full of power.)
It isn’t hard to see how “seven” could come to stand for completeness, since it was after six days of work that God rested on the seventh day because his creative work was completed. The seventh day completes a week. Seven and its multiples came to stand for a condition, a state of affairs, a situation that indicates completeness. Thus when Christ calls his people to forgive “seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:22), he calls for forgiveness without limit.
B. The number three and one-half
This number, half of seven, indicates limitation – far less than the fullness of the number seven. It is a broken seven. It is also expressed as “a time, [two] times and half a time” (12:6, 14), as 1260 days (12:6) and as 42 months (11:2; 13:5). We know these expressions to be interchangeable: In 12:6 the woman flees to the wilderness for 1260 days and in 12:14 she is there for a time, times and half a time. The armies of the beast tread down the temple for 42 months and during that period the two witnesses preach for 1260 days (11:3). When the witnesses are slain, they aren’t dead for a full week (a seven) but for three and a half days and then they live again (11:9).
The woman is troubled, but it’s limited, only for three and a half years. The witnesses wear sackcloth, but only for three and a half years. Meaning that the people of God are troubled but triumphant, they suffer but are supported, they are down but never out. No doubt the drought of three and a half years, described in 1 Kings 17, contributed to the use of three and half years in this way in Revelation (see also Luke 4:25 and James 5:17).
C. The number six
This number stands for Man. The number seven functions as perfection and six falls short of that (see Romans 3:23). The earth-beast is given number “six, six, six” (13:18), which the same verse says is man’s number. (There is no indefinite article in Greek and only the context determines whether one should be supplied; it is unfortunate that the translators chose to insert an “a” before “man’s number” in this verse. An illustration of this is seen in Galatians 3:15, where “a man’s covenant” doesn’t mean a particular person; rather, it means “a covenant that humans make” – comparing it with a covenant God has made.) Just as there were “human measurements” (21:17, there was a “human” number, the number six.
D. The number one thousand
1. Like seven, the number 1000 carries the notion of fullness and completeness, but on a larger scale.
2. Psalm 50:10 has God claiming that the cattle on a thousand hills are his. Obviously, the cattle on hills numbered 1001 and above are also his, since claiming the cattle on a thousand hills is a claim to all of them.
3. God claims to be faithful to a thousand generations (Deuteronomy 7:9). Surely this doesn’t mean that he is unfaithful to generation 1001, for his faithfulness knows no limit.
4. Saying the devil’s defeat lasts 1000 years (20:1-3) does not mean chronology or a date on a calendar, just as a thousand generations was not a cut-off date for God’s faithfulness. When Revelation describes the beast’s limited authority, it calls it three and one-half years of authority, and when it describes the devil’s defeat or the victory of the saints it calls them a thousand-year defeat or a thousand-year reign.
5. The death of the witnesses is robbed of its power by being called a three-and-a- half-year death, while the defeat of the beast’s allies is seen as thousand-year death (20:4-6) – having nothing to do with dates on a calendar.
6. When the battle in Revelation 19 has been fought, the devil has not just lost a skirmish. Instead, John sees a picture of chains, a hole in the earth, and a 1000-year incarceration.
7. On the other hand, the people of God have triumphed completely over the beasts and the dragon, as emphasized by the picture of saints enthroned with Christ for 1000 years.
8. While Satan was utterly defeated as far as his use of Rome was concerned, he would yet have a “little season” (as contrasted with 1000 years) to attack the people of God; but he would be defeated and cast into the lake of fire (a symbol) with all his allies (20:7-15).
One thousand means literally one thousand in many Bible occurrences, but the context usually makes that clear since it occurs in historical books rather than poetic or apocalyptic writings.
E. The number eight
Eight is the number of a new beginning, the day that begins a new week after seven days, the jubilee years following 49 years and when everyone gets a new start, when all debts are canceled and all property goes back to the original owners. It’s the day of circumcision when a child enters into a new relationship with God. Early Christians called it the first day and the eighth. Christ was raised on the first day of the week, and the New Covenant people began on Pentecost, the first day of the week.
In Revelation 17:11 the sea-beast has an eighth head; it is Domitian, the emperor by whom persecution of the Christians began again. Nero has persecuted God’s people and died (see 11:7; 13:3, 11; 17:11). With Nero the beast died but with Domitian it came alive again.
Five: A Brief Sketch of Revelation
A. The introduction (Chapter 1)
The revelation (unveiling) from God concerns things that are soon to transpire. It came from the triune God (1:4) to John while he was in custody, a prisoner exiled to Patmos (1:9), a small island in the Aegean Sea, a few miles from Miletus, a coastal city in Asia Minor. His first vision is of the resurrected Lord, who twice tells him to write down everything he sees.
In that first vision the Lord is dressed in high-priestly garments (1:13). His white hair speaks of majesty and purity and his burning eyes (1:14) say he can see into the heart of things. His bronze feet can tread down his enemies (1:15, and see Micah 4:13), while his word pierces in judgment (compare Hebrews 4:12). He has experienced death and conquered both it and Hades (1:18). He speaks the truth and is the ruler of the kings of the earth (1:5). He dwells in the church, which is imaged as a seven-branched candlestick (1:13, 20). Although the letter is written to seven actual churches in Asia Minor, the “seven” reminds us that it speaks to the universal church.
All these qualities of our Lord would be especially comforting to the Christians who were about to undergo persecution by the Roman Empire. Those who would be lied about knew He spoke the truth; those were to die would know that He had conquered death. And so on.
B. The seven churches addressed (Chapters 2-3)
Each letter is addressed to “the angel” of the church (2:1, etc.), yet the letters are repeatedly indicated to be what the Spirit says “to the churches” (2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). In 2:23 Jesus says the judgment on Jezebel and her followers will be a lesson to “all the churches,” another indication that these letters are relevant to Christians in subsequent ages. Some think the “angel” is a messenger dispatched to each church. McGuiggan sees the angel as the essence, the inner nature, of the church, and says that everything in the book has an “angel,” whether it is a river, a book, the wind a trumpet or a plague.
The Lord commends each church where he can, rebukes if he must, appeals to them and warns them. He threatens the disobedient that he will come and deal with them if they don’t repent (2:5, 16, 25; 3:3, 11, 20). Those who overcome are those who remain faithful during this time of trial. They will be blessed with things like white stones (2:17), immunity from the second death (2:11), reigning with Christ (2:26-27), and so on. The mention of overcoming implies that there is a test ahead.
C. The throne and its occupants (Chapters 4-5)
These two chapters form the door into the central thrust of the book, placed at the beginning of the series of visions to assure the saints that no matter how frightening the things they read of after this, everything is going to be all right. The throne that rules the universe is not in Rome, the center of the Empire where the emperors rule, but in heaven. And heaven is open to the people of God, who are called “those who dwell in heaven” (4:1-2; 13:6, and see Philippians 3:20). Those who worship the beast, on the other hand, are said to be “dwellers on the earth” (13:8, 12, 14).
Around the throne is a rainbow (see Genesis 9:12-16), and the living creatures (cherubim) who are the executors of God’s retributive justice (see Ezekiel 1). The church is there represented by 24 elders dressed in priestly white. They are crowned with stephanoi, the crowns of overcomers, rather than the diadems of titled kings, and they reign with God (3:5, 21; 4:4).Chapter 4 has God as Creator and Chapter 5 has God as Redeemer (5:6). In the middle of the throne that rules the world is the Lord in the image of a lamb, which bears the marks of having been slain, yet it is standing and it reveals the immediate destiny of the saints by removing the seals from “the little book” (5:1-5). Then a song of praise goes up and redemption is acknowledged (5:9-12).
To remove seals from a document (scroll or book) is to reveal the contents. Removal of the first seal reveals Jesus Christ as a warrior, on a white horse, going forth conquering and to conquer (6:2). Only one other white horse is singled out in Revelation and its rider is the Word of God (1911), who leads his followers on white horses.
The second and third seals are torn away and they show great trouble that is soon to begin. These seals reveal that war, death and Hades will slay many people, using the sword, famine, plague and wild beasts (6:3-8). Ezekiel called these destroying elements the “four sore judgments of God” (Ezekiel 14:21). So these awful things are not just “bad luck.” While evil people are involved in bringing them about, they are the holy judgments of God.
In the face of this trial the saints are still to trust in God. In the course of the troubles to come, many believers would die (6:9), and these are shown under the fifth seal with a question for God: Would the ungodly get away with it? The righteous are told to be patient until God fulfills his purpose through the evil ones (6:11) and God would render judgment that would right all wrongs; this judgment is shown under the sixth seal (6:12-17).
Here emerges a pattern that exists throughout the book. Because the saints are to face a trying time, they are given numerous visions to assure them that they are safe in God’s hands. While the saints are exempt from the horrific judgment to come upon the earth, they are not exempt from the pain generated by that judgment. The sixth seal closes with the question, “Who is able to stand?” and Chapter 7 answers, “Those who are God’s and wear his mark.” So the judgment is announced and now it begins with the trumpets.
The seventh seal reveals seven trumpets. These are warning judgments. And as the seventh seal contains the seven trumpets, so the seventh trumpet will contain the seven bowls (8:1; 10:7). The trumpets take the form of plagues and we’re reminded of the plagues that fell on Egypt when God warned them to let his people go. But as in the case of Egypt so it was with Rome; they did not repent despite the warning judgments (9:21).
Since they won’t repent, they will be warned no more (10:6). A mighty angel now commissions John to eat a book (10:8-11; see Ezekiel 2:8-3). He is to tell his message of judgment wherever he goes in the whole Roman world and to its allies, a message of judgment similar to that preached by Isaiah (Isaiah 6).
The warning plagues of Chapters 8 and 9 should have brought the followers of the dragon to repentance, but they did not. Since the enemy is so bent on evil, the righteous need to be assured. In Chapter 11 God’s people (the temple and the city) are seen trodden under by the enemy, but their center can’t be taken – the inner sanctuary remains untaken. God’s people (the two witnesses) may wear sackcloth all the while they preach during the enemy’s “time” of power (42 months, 1260 days), but they can’t be stopped in their proclamation. And when it seems they have been stopped by being killed, they are dead for only three and a half days before being resurrected.
In Chapter 12 the people of God (the glorious woman and her seed) endure a wilderness experience, but they are protected and nourished while they are there. The dragon loses against the woman, against the child, and against Michael the archangel. All this assurance is needed in view of Chapter 8 and of the two beasts about to be described in Chapter 13.
The sea-beast is the Roman Empire as the powerful brute kingdom, and the earth-beast is Rome as the sly religious kingdom. The sea-beast has seven heads (13:10, and in 17:9-10 we’re told that these heads represent two things – the hills on which the harlot sits (coins and etchings show Rome as built on seven hills), and seven kings. These kings/emperors are (1) August, (2) Tiberius, (3) Caligula, (4) Claudius, (5) Nero, (6) Vespasian and (7) Titus. (Three others are excluded from the list because they were of little consequence since they ruled – more or less – during the period of civil war between the death of Nero and Vespasian’s ascension to the throne.)
But John mentions an “eighth” king in 17:11. His name is Domitian, who was both the 11th emperor and the “eighth.” With the death of Nero, persecution of Christians ceased, and with the accession of Domitian it began again. This is why John says the beast “was and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss” (17:8). While John wrote, there was a Roman emperor, but he was not persecuting Christians, so he could say the beast “is not,” but the brute beast was about to come to life and persecute again.
Revelation 17:10 says of the seven kings, “Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he comes, he must remain a little while.” The five “fallen” kings are Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero. The one who “is” is Vespasian. The one who is about to come for a little while is Titus, who reigned a little over two years. Then came Domitian, who began a persecution that was increasingly severe and ended in A.D. 311, with the Edict o Tolerance under Galerius and Constantine. John takes Domitian as the fitting representative of all that Rome was and stood for.
The ten horns of the beast are ten kings allied with Rome, who gave their authority over to Rome (17:12-18). It is through these allies that the Empire will eventually be destroyed, disintegrating from within (17:12-18).
These chapters lift the heart of God’s people. John sees God’s people (the 144,000) marked with God’s name, faithful and victorious, singing praise and joy. Angels proclaim the good news of the imminent fall of Babylon (Rome) (14:6, 8, 9, 17). The headlines they announce are fulfilled one by one in the rest of the book. The evil city is going to fall (14:8 and Chapter 18). The beast’s worshipers will be judged (14:9-11; 20:11-15), and the righteous are to be gathered in like wheat to a barn (14:18-16; compare Chapters 21-22).
Chapter 15 announces the arrival of the seven angels who have the final plagues, the full outpouring of God’s wrath (15:1, 7-8). These follow because the trumpets had failed to bring the beast and its allies to repentance.
The effects of the bowls are similar to those of the trumpets but more severe. Remember the plagues on Egypt for an idea of how the plagues function here. And remember these are pictures, not to be taken literally.
The woman of Chapter 17 is a great city, the city that rules the world in John’s day (17:18), and she is built on seven hills (17:9). She’s the world’s leading commercial power (Chapter 18) – and is not a church. In Chapter 18 she is burned with fire. Nero set fire to Rome and it survived, but God would set fire to it and it would not survive.
The celebration in 19:1-10 takes place even before the battle of Armageddon is fought; that speaks of assurance. The armies in the battle are named *in keeping with Chapter 16) and an angel proclaims the result even before the war commences (19:17-18). The evil army is defeated, the two beasts are thrown into the lake of fire (19:19-20), and their followers are killed by Christ (19:21). Rome has perished! She can never again be a threat.
The defeat of the dragon in Revelation is the defeat of the dragon in his use of Rome. That defeat was not partial; it was utter, complete, final. So it is described as a 1000-year incarceration. The victory of God’s people over Rome is not a partial victory but a triumph so total and unlimited that it is described as a reign with Christ for a thousand years.
But what about those who were faithful unto death in the conflict with Rome? John is given another vision (in addition to those in Chapter19 and 20:1-3). The picture is the apocalyptic way of saying that those who die in Christ and for righteousness are victorious, while those who die for Rome and unrighteousness are losers.
The resurrection image is not uncommon in the Bible. See Ezekiel 37:1-14 for an illustration of this point. See also Colossians 2:12-3:3; Romans 6:1-7, and John 5:25-27. In Revelation 20:4-6, see what John is seeing. After the war of Chapter 19 there’s a battlefield with thousands of dead. As he watches, many of them come to life and join others sitting on thrones, and they reign with Christ 1000 years. The rest of the dead on the battlefield remain dead all the while the saints are reigning in triumph. Then they rise from the dead only to be judged and die again in the lake of fire (20:5, 11-15). In the picture there are two resurrections. One is to life and triumph – that’s the one he sees “first.” The one he sees next is “after” the 1000 years because the first resurrection picture only pictures the followers of Christ. That 1000-year reign tells their story in imagery. The second resurrection to a second, endless death is the story of the followers of the beast told in imagery. These visions are not a description of literal and actual events. Chaining a dragon and throwing him into a hold and putting a lid on him for 1000 years isn’t the description of a literal event.
As the visions unfold, Satan is pictured as freed for a little while, getting an army from the four corners of the earth, but all to no avail.
These visions assure the people of God that it makes no difference how, when or where Satan might show himself, he loses and they win. This is not a prediction of a still future war. It is God assuring his people that their future is secure and Satan’s final end is destruction.
When the smoke clears, we find the New Jerusalem (the church, the wife of Christ), not in rags or blood-spattered but looking like a bride (21:2). That’s the city that John sees in 21:9-10. It isn’t a literal city; it’s the wife of the Lamb.
While John is dealing with eternal realities, he is not dealing with occurrences in eternity. You’ll notice that there are still nations to whom the city gives light (21:24), that the nations still need to gain health and that the city provides it (22:2), that nations still bring their riches to the city, and that some people could lose their share to the tree of life (22:19).
John is describing the triumphant state of the church. By his redeeming and sustaining grace it has come through its trial with the brutal beast-kingdom Rome, demonstrating that dominion belongs to the Lord and his Christ.
This is timeless truth! Every judgment rendered by God is a shadow of a “prophecy” of the final and complete judgment when evil will be totally obliterated. Rome (like Assyria, Babylon, Egypt and the rest) is a perfect illustration in the history of the world of the coming obliteration of all evil. It’s more than an illustration, though; it is meant to proclaim the certainty of a future glorious finale. But Revelation, like Nahum and other Old Testament books, relates to a definitive judgment in time past. And the glory of the triumphant church in Revelation relates to its victory over the Roman Empire. It speaks as surely now as it did then.
—Travis Allen