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Saint John on Patmos, Hans Baldung, about 1511, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Saint John on Patmos, Hans Baldung, about 1511, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Public domain.

The apocalyptic movement of the canon · the New Testament

The Book of Revelation

One book of visions, written in AD 95 or 96 under Domitian or, by an earlier position, between AD 64 and 68 under Nero.

What is the book of Revelation?

Summary

Revelation is the last book of the Bible, a prophecy sent as a letter to seven churches, and its visions show the risen Christ ruling over history until he comes again and makes all things new.

  • Its first word in Greek, apokalypsis, means an unveiling, and it gives the book its other name, the Apocalypse.
  • The writer names himself John four times and saw the visions on the island of Patmos, off the coast of Asia.
  • The visions are built in sevens, with seven letters to churches and then seven seals, seven trumpets and seven bowls of judgment.
  • The book closes the Bible where Genesis opened it, with the tree of life, a river and God dwelling with his people.

Revelation is the one book of the New Testament written as an apocalypse, a record of visions in which heaven is opened and the meaning of history is shown in signs. It is also a prophecy, and it carries a blessing on the one who reads it aloud. It is a letter as well, opening with a greeting to seven churches in the Roman province of Asia and closing with a blessing of grace, as the letters of Paul do.

The earliest Christian writers to name the book's author call him the apostle John, the son of Zebedee, and this site's authorship table gives him as John, by tradition. He never calls himself one of the Twelve, and a doubt first raised in the third century on the ground of his Greek style has been carried by some readers since. He was on the island because of the word of God and his testimony about Jesus, and he writes to the churches as one who shares their suffering.

Beside the four series of sevens, smaller sevens run through the book. It pronounces seven blessings in all. The seven spirits of God stand before the throne, the Lamb has seven horns and seven eyes, and the dragon and the beast from the sea each have seven heads.

Almost every vision is drawn in the language of the Old Testament. The beast from the sea is built from Daniel's four beasts, the living creatures and the river of life come from Ezekiel, and the horses and the two olive trees come from Zechariah. The plagues of the trumpets and the bowls repeat the plagues on Egypt. Christians have read the visions in four ways: as events still to come from Revelation 4 onward, as a map of the church's history, as an answer to the first century, and as a picture of the conflict between Christ and evil in every age. This site's tradition takes the first.

When was Revelation written?

The traditional date rests on the oldest witness to it, and the earlier position rests on the temple John is told to measure in Revelation 11, read as a building still standing.

The two positions on when Revelation was written, AD 64 to 96

A bar is the span of years one position gives.
Year AD

  1. The earlier position, under Nero

    1. RevelationAD 64 to 68

  2. The traditional date, under Domitian

    1. RevelationAD 95 or 96

The traditional date is the one this site's authorship table gives. The bar of the earlier position runs from AD 64, when Nero turned on the Christians of Rome, to AD 68, when he died, as the timeline on the Revelation book page dates those two events.

The four sevens of the book and the chapters they fill

The sevenChapters and versesThe seven in orderBetween the sixth and the seventh
The seven churchesRevelation 2:1 to 3:22Ephesus; Smyrna; Pergamum; Thyatira; Sardis; Philadelphia; and Laodicea.The seventh letter follows the sixth in the same chapter.
The seven sealsRevelation 6:1 to 8:1The white horse; the red horse; the black horse; the pale green horse; the souls under the altar; the great earthquake; and silence in heaven.In Revelation 7:1 to 17 the servants of God are sealed, and a multitude no one can count stands before the throne.
The seven trumpetsRevelation 8:2 to 11:19Hail and fire; the burning mountain; the star Wormwood; sun, moon and stars; the Abyss opened; the Euphrates; and the kingdom proclaimed.In Revelation 10:1 to 11:14 John eats the small scroll, the temple is measured, and the two witnesses prophesy.
The seven bowlsRevelation 16:1 to 21Sores; the sea; rivers and springs; the sun; the beast's throne; the Euphrates dried; and the words “It is done”.The seventh bowl follows the sixth in the same chapter.
Each seven is read from this site's page for the book, which names the seven stations of each series and the verses where it stands. The seven trumpets are given out in Revelation 8:2, straight after the seventh seal is opened in Revelation 8:1.

Revelation, from its first chapter to its last

The entry tells what happens in the book and lists the feature pages that open on it.

The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, Jan and Hubert van Eyck, about 1430 to 1432. Public domain.

Book 1 of 1 on the shelf

Revelation

John, by tradition AD 95 or 96 22 chapters

John is on Patmos when he hears a voice like a trumpet and sees the risen Christ among seven lampstands. Christ gives him letters for seven churches of Asia, and each ends with a promise to the one who overcomes. A door opens in heaven. John sees the throne of God and “a Lamb who appeared to have been slain”, and only the Lamb is worthy to take the sealed scroll.

The Lamb opens seven seals and seven angels blow seven trumpets. A dragon pursues a woman and her child and makes war on the saints through two beasts. Seven bowls of wrath are poured out, and Babylon the great falls in one hour. Christ rides out on a white horse, Satan is bound for a thousand years, and the dead are judged before a great white throne. The book ends with a new heaven, a new earth and the holy city coming down from God.

Open the book pageRead Revelation 1

Feature pages on Revelation26

Studies9

Show the next 3 titles

Places2

Symbols3

Doctrines11

Show the next 5 titles

Debates1

The pages this book opens on

Sources for this page

The author and the traditional date come from this site's authorship table, and the chapter count from its table of books. The earlier position, its years and the four sevens are read from this site's page for the book, which names the holders of both dates, and the storyline is written from that page and from the chapter summaries this site publishes for each chapter. The paintings, in the order the page shows them, are Saint John on Patmos, Hans Baldung, about 1511, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, Jan and Hubert van Eyck, about 1430 to 1432. Every one of them is in the public domain.