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New Testament

Revelation

Revelation is a vision given to John in exile, written to encourage suffering Christians that Jesus reigns and wins. Behind its striking imagery is a simple, steadying promise: God will dwell with his people, and wipe every tear from their eyes.

More about Revelation

Revelation is unlike anything else in the New Testament, and it helps to know what kind of book it is before you start. By tradition it was written by John, exiled to the rocky island of Patmos for his faith, who received a series of visions and wrote them down for churches that were themselves under pressure. It belongs to a style of writing, full of symbol and image, that its first readers understood far better than we instinctively do. So the strange beasts and trumpets and bowls are not meant to be decoded like a calendar of future events. They are vivid pictures meant to reveal something true: that however things look on the ground, Jesus reigns and Jesus wins.

Behind the dramatic imagery, the message to those first churches was steadying and simple. They were small, sometimes persecuted, wondering whether following Jesus was worth the cost while empires and idols seemed to hold all the power. Revelation pulls back the curtain to show them the throne at the centre of everything, the Lamb who was slain now reigning, and history moving towards a sure end in God's hands. It opens with Jesus declaring in 1:8 that he is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, and announces in 1:7 that he is coming with the clouds, so that the suffering and the watching are not in vain.

For all its thunder, the book moves towards one of the gentlest scenes in all of Scripture. In 21:4 John sees a new heaven and a new earth, and hears that God will dwell with his people and wipe every tear from their eyes, and that there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. This is where the whole sweep of the Bible is headed, the undoing of every sorrow, God himself at home among us. And near the very close, in 22:13, Jesus says again that he is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end, gathering all of history into himself.

If you find Revelation intimidating, you are in good company, and you do not have to crack every symbol to be fed by it. Read it for its big, clear notes: Jesus reigns, evil does not get the last word, and God is making all things new. It was written to comfort frightened believers, not to frighten comfortable ones. So if you are weary, or grieving, or wondering whether faith will prove worth it, let the end of the book do its work. Revelation 21:4 has been whispered at more deathbeds than almost any verse there is, because it promises the day when God dries the last tear with his own hand.

Questions about Revelation

Who wrote Revelation and where?
By tradition it was written by John, who tells us he received the visions while exiled on Patmos, a small rocky island in the Aegean Sea, on account of his faith. He wrote to seven real churches in what is now western Turkey, communities that were often small and under pressure. Whether this John is the apostle has been discussed since the early church, but the long-standing ascription is to John, written from that island exile. He frames it as a revelation given to him to pass on, a message of encouragement to suffering Christians that Jesus reigns and that God's purposes will not fail.
How should I read Revelation without getting lost?
Start by remembering what kind of book it is. Revelation is written in a style full of vivid symbols and images, which its first readers understood far better than we do, and it is not meant to be decoded like a literal timetable of future events. Read it for its big, clear message rather than puzzling endlessly over every beast and number: Jesus reigns, evil is defeated, and God will make all things new. Let the throne room, the Lamb and the new creation steady you. It was written to comfort believers under pressure, so its main notes are reassurance and hope, not fear.
What does Revelation 21:4 mean?
It is the Bible's picture of the end of all sorrow. John sees a new heaven and a new earth and hears that God will live among his people and wipe every tear from their eyes, and that death, mourning, crying and pain will be no more, because the old order of things has passed away. It is not vague optimism but a definite promise: God himself will deal with everything that breaks our hearts. This is why the verse is read so often at funerals and in grief. It does not deny present pain; it tells us where the story is finally going, and who is waiting there.

Topics in Revelation

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