We are fast approaching the end of this series on “The New Testament in a Nutshell,” in which I explain in summary fashion each book of the Christian (“new”) Scriptures.  As is natural, we end with the final book of the New Testament which, as is also natural, is a detailed account of how the world as we know it will end, the book of Revelation.  (Please note!  It is not “Revelations” but “Revelation.”)

The Revelation of John, also known as the Apocalypse of John or just the Apocalypse (“apocalypse” is the Greek word for the Latin term “revelation” – both mean an “unveiling,” a “disclosure,” a revealing”) is the most mystifying and at-first-glance bizarre book of the New Testament, one of the the least read (people generally find it too strange), and the most widely misunderstood (since those who *do* read it take it to mean something other than it does).

If I were to summarize it in fifty words, I could probably do worse (and better, for that matter) than this: 

The Revelation of John is a graphic and highly symbolic narrative that describes how God and his Christ will bring a terrifying end to this world through a series of horrible disasters, ruthlessly destroying all their human and superhuman enemies before bringing in a new, glorious world for their followers. 

Here is a more expanded, but still fairly distinct, summary of the play-by-play, taken from my book The Bible: A Historical and Literary Introduction, 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2018).  This summary is not an explanation so much of what it all means – that will be the topic of the next post – but of what actually happens in the narrative.

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The title of the book comes from its opening words, “The revelation [or ‘apocalypse’] of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants, what must soon take place” (1:1). This particular revelation involves both a historical sketch of what is “soon” to take place and a heavenly vision of the realm of God in which all the action originates.

The author’s visions begin with an overpowering appearance of “one like a Son of Man” (Revelation 1:12-20), who is, of course, Christ himself. Christ instructs John to “write what you have seen, what is, and what is to take place after this” (Revelation 1:19). In other words, he is to (a) narrate the awesome vision of Christ that he has just had (“what you have seen”), (b) describe the present situation of the churches of his day (“what is”), and (c) record his vision of the end of time (“what is to take place after this”).

The first task is accomplished in chapter 1. The second is undertaken in chapters 2-3 as Christ dictates (to John) brief letters to each of the seven churches of Asia Minor describing their situations and urging certain courses of action. These churches were experiencing difficulties: persecutions, false teachings, and apathy. Christ praises those who have done what is right, promising them a reward, but upbraids those who have fallen away, threatening them with judgment.

The third task is accomplished in Revelation chapters 4-22, which record John’s heavenly vision of the future course of history down to the end of time. Briefly, the narrative unfolds as follows.

The prophet is taken up into heaven through a window in the sky. There he beholds the throne of God, who is eternally worshiped and praised by twenty- four human “elders” and four “living creatures” (angelic beings in the shapes of animals; Revelation chap. 4).

In the hand of the figure on the throne is a scroll sealed with seven seals, which cannot be broken except by one who is found worthy. This scroll records the future of the earth, and the prophet weeps when he sees that no one has the authority to break its seals; however, one of the elders informs him that there is one who is worthy. He then sees next to the throne a “Lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered” (Revelation 5:6). The Lamb, of course, is Christ.

The Lamb takes the scroll from the hand of God, amidst much praise and adoration from the twenty- four elders and the four living creatures, and he begins to break its seals (Revelation chap. 5). With each broken seal, a major catastrophe strikes the earth: war, famine, death.

The sixth seal marks the climax, a disaster of cosmic proportions: the sun turns black, the moon turns red as blood, the stars fall from the sky, and the sky itself disappears. One might reasonably think that we have come to the end of all things, the destruction of the universe. But we are only in chapter 6.

The breaking of the seventh seal does not lead to a solitary disaster but to a period of silence that is followed by an entirely new set of seven more disasters. Seven angels appear, each with a trumpet. As each one blows his trumpet, further devastations strike the earth: natural disasters on the land and sea and in the sky, the appearance of dread beasts that torture and maim, widespread calamity, and unspeakable suffering (Revelation chaps. 8-9).

The seventh trumpet marks the beginning of the end (Revelation 11:15); the coming of the antichrist and his false prophet on earth (chaps. 12-13); and the appearance of seven more angels, each with a bowl filled with God’s wrath. As the angels each pour out their bowls on the earth, further destruction and agony ensue: loathsome diseases, widespread misery, and death (Revelation chaps. 15-16).

The end comes with the destruction of the great “whore of Babylon,” the city ultimately responsible for the persecution of the saints (Revelation chap. 17). The city is overthrown—to much weeping and wailing on earth but to much rejoicing in heaven (chaps. 18-19). The defeat of the city is followed by a final cosmic battle in which Christ, with his heavenly armies, engages the forces of the antichrist aligned against him (Revelation 19:11-21). Christ wins a resounding victory. The enemies of God are completely crushed, and the antichrist and his false prophet are thrown into a lake of burning sulfur to be tormented forever.

Satan himself is then imprisoned in a bottomless pit, while Christ and his saints rule on earth for a thousand years. Afterward, the Devil emerges for a brief time to lead some of the nations astray. Then comes a final judgment in which all persons are raised from the dead and rewarded for their deeds. Those who have sided with Christ are brought into the eternal kingdom; those who have aligned themselves with the Devil and his antichrist are taken away and thrown into the lake of fire. The Devil himself is thrown into the lake, as, finally, are Hades and Death itself (Revelation chap. 20).

The prophet then has a vision of the new heavens and the new earth that God creates for his people. A new Jerusalem descends from heaven, with gates made of pearl and streets paved with gold. This is a beautiful and utopian place where Christ reigns eternal, where this is no fear or darkness, no pain or suffering or evil or death, a place where the good and righteous will dwell forever (Revelation chaps. 21-22). The prophet ends his book by emphasizing that his vision is true and that it will come to fulfillment very soon.

It may be true – but what does it mean?  I’ll delve into that in the next post….