Revelation is a New Testament book written by the disciple of Jesus called John. He also wrote the Gospel of John. Revelation was written at the end of the first century AD. John had been exiled to the island of Patmos because of his Christian beliefs. It was here that he received his visions.

When you first read Revelation it may appear very difficult to understand. But don't be discouraged. There is a verse in Revelation that I find very encouraging because it shows God's great desire for readers to understand it's contents, namely Re. 1: 3 (Revelation chapter 1, verse 3). God will surely help us if we sincerely ask Him for wisdom (this is important). The very name of this book -- "Revelation" -- means an unveiling or disclosure. Here are some helpful things to keep in mind as you read:

1). It is the revelation of Jesus Christ (Re. 1: 1). Look for Him in the book and seek to know Him better through it.

2). Re. 1:1 says that this prophetic revelation was "sent and signified ". The original Greek word for signified is Semaino from sema, a mark. This points us to an important principle, namely, that in the book of Revelation what is written is to be taken as symbolic or figurative unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. This is the opposite of what happens in the rest of the Bible where what you read is to be taken literally unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

3). In seeking to interpret the book of Revelation's symbols let the Bible explain itself. For example in chapter 12 a pure woman is described. In the Bible a woman can represent a church. In the book of Ephesians, for example, it says: " Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church…" (Ephesians 5: 25-27). If a symbol doesn't seem to have a Bible explanation please don't speculate. It could mean one of three things. You may not have found the Bible's explanation yet. It may be a minor item that is left unexplained because it is part of a larger picture. Or it may have a literal meaning.

4). As can be seen from point "3" above, we really need the whole Bible to study the book of Revelation fully. The main message of this book can still be understood without access, right away, to the complete Bible. But to study it fully the whole Bible is needed. We would suggest using one of the following versions: King James Version, New King James Version or New American Standard Version. These versions tend to use less paraphrase and be more faithful to the meaning of the original Greek.

5). Get familiar with the whole book of Revelation before trying to decipher the details. One reason for this is that one section of the book often explains another part. For example in Re. 2: 28 Jesus makes this promise to His faithful followers: "I will give him the morning star". The meaning of "morning star" is given in Re. 22: 16 where Jesus says: "I am the… Morning Star."

6). Revelation has certain structural features that are very helpful to know about:

a). Parts of the book are often arranged in sevens. For example: seven churches; seven seals; seven trumpets; seven "bowl plagues".

b). The book is arranged in a "chiastic" structure. This fancy term "chiastic" means that related sections of the book are arranged in pairs around a central point or climax. For example, if the climax or central point is represented by the letter "X" a chiastic structure would be like this: A B C X C B A. The two "B's" and two "C's" etc. share things in common. The chiasm in Revelation also has an additional structural twist (E D is reversed in the second half) as shown in the following list:

How can this chiasm help you understand Revelation? One way is by comparing the parallel sections. This can help clarify the meaning or deepen your understanding of the subject. For example, the first "B" section contains the messages to the seven churches. Each of the seven messages ends with a promise for the one who "overcomes". If you go to the "B" section in the second half of the book you will find that the fulfilment of many of these promises is described (e.g.. compare 2: 7 with 22: 2).

c). Re.11:18 is an important verse. It appears to be placed right at the mid-point of the book of Revelation. The content of the first half of the book, prior to this verse, is largely made up of messages relating to John's day and visions that take in the sweep of history from his day down to Christ's second coming. The passages after this verse are mainly related to the final events of earth's history. In addition to this Re.11:18 summarises the second half of Revelation. Each phrase in Re.11:18 summarises a section in the second part of Revelation as follows:

d). There is a series of scenes in Revelation based on aspects of the Jewish sanctuary (see Fig.1 below) and temple. The sanctuary was a tent-like structure set up at the time of Moses when the Israelite (Jewish) nation made their escape (exodus) from Egypt. It is described in the book of Exodus in the Old Testament. The sanctuary was designed by God to explain how people are reconciled to Him. People needed reconciling because they had broken God's holy law, namely, the Ten Commandments. These Ten Commandments were kept in a sacred chest (called the "Ark of the Testimony" ³) in the Most Holy Place of the sanctuary. It was based around the truth that a sacrifice (substitute) and a priest (mediator) were needed for reconciliation to take place. Every part of the symbolic furniture and service in some way pointed to the Person or ministry of Jesus Christ. Figure 1 illustrates the general layout of the sanctuary used at the time of the exodus. The temple that was eventually built in Jerusalem followed a similar design. The scenes in Revelation especially relating to this sanctuary include Re. 1:12-20; Re. chapters 4 and 5; Re. 8:3-5; Re. 11:19; and Re. 15:5-8. These scenes are used in Revelation to introduce different main sections of the book.

Basically, the way that the sanctuary worked was as follows: The Israelite who had sinned ⁴ by breaking the law of God contained in the Ark of the Testimony brought an animal such as a lamb into the courtyard. The lamb was to be sacrificed as his substitute. He confessed his sin over the lamb and then killed it with his knife -- a requirement that would help most people realise the ugliness and seriousness of sin. Killing the lamb also taught that sin leads to death. The priest then took the blood of the lamb and put some of it on the altar of burnt offering in the courtyard. The remainder of the blood was poured out at the base of this altar. After removing fat from the animal the rest of it was burnt on the courtyard altar except for a portion that was to be eaten by the priest. If a priest or whole congregation of Israelites had sinned the blood was taken and put on the altar of incense in the Holy Place instead. This procedure, and similar ones, continued daily throughout the year.

Once a year the Most Holy Place was entered by the High Priest. This was on the solemn Day of Atonement (see Leviticus 16: 1-34; 23: 26-32). God's presence was symbolised in the Most Holy Place by a brilliant light, called the shekinah glory, which hovered over the Ark of the Testimony. More details about the Day of Atonement are given later in this web site.

The courtyard area was symbolic of Christ's ministry on earth with the laver of water pointing to His baptism and the altar of burnt offering to the cross. The tent itself, with the Holy Place and Most Holy Place, symbolised Christ's work of mediation in heaven.

How did the sanctuary symbolise reconciliation to God through Christ? In general terms, as follows: It represented the way into the presence of God (symbolised by the shekinah glory) in the Most Holy Place. We begin our journey by entering the courtyard. This represents a confession of our need and sinfulness -- we have broken God's law of love, the Ten Commandments. On entering we find ourselves facing the cross of Christ (represented by the altar of burnt offering with its bleeding victim). As we put our trust in Christ's sacrifice we receive forgiveness and a new heart. We are then baptised -- symbolised by the laver of water. After this we are to grow in our knowledge and likeness to the perfect character of Christ. This is done through studying the Bible, prayer, and the Holy Spirit who ministers to us and uses us to minister to others. These three things are symbolised, respectively, by the table of showbread, the altar of incense, and the lampstand. Finally, the Day of Atonement ministry is applied to your case. This is the judgment. If you are abiding in Christ you pass the judgment and, by God's grace ⁵, are prepared for heaven. Although your cooperation is needed in this process, your own works, or any supposed merit of your own does not save you. Every good thing supplied to you (the blood, the water, the showbread, the incense, the light, the priest) comes from God. All is of grace -- God's favour to undeserving people.

7. The book of Revelation often "alludes" to the rest of the Bible, especially the Old Testament. An allusion is a reference to another Bible passage that God wants you to know about in order to help you understand what is being said in Revelation. Although an allusion often uses some of the same words as the passage it is alluding to, it is different from a quotation where many identical words in the same order are used. Allusions can be determined by looking for common ideas, common words, and common background themes. Some allusions are quite easy to notice and appear to be definite while others are not so definite. An example of a definite allusion would be Re. 13: 1-3 with respect to Dan. 7: 1-7 (ie. Re.13:1-3 alludes to Dan. 7:1-7). How can we know this? In both cases there are animals ("beasts") coming out of the sea. Also the beast in Revelation 13 is composed of parts of all four of the beasts mentioned in Daniel chapter 7. In this allusion there are common words and a very strong thematic association (fierce beasts -- lion, bear, leopard, ten-horned monster -- coming up out of the sea). There are many allusions in Revelation. A Bible with cross-references in the centre-margin can be a great help in finding them.

8. Finally, we need to understand the change in identity of "Israel" that occurred as a result of Christ's first coming. What does this mean? The first thing to understand here is that ever since the times of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob ⁶ God has had a special people through whom He has sought to reveal Himself and prepare the world for the coming of the Messiah (Christ). This special group has not always been obedient to God but, nevertheless, He has used them to preserve and spread a knowledge of Himself. Before the first coming of Christ this group of people consisted of the nation of Israel. That is, the Jewish people and religion. After the coming of Christ, however, the identity of this special group was changed to the worldwide Christian church (ie. the Christian people of the world). Why did this happen? It was because the Jewish nation rejected their Messiah (Matthew 21: 33-46). Thus, in the New Testament "Jews " are those who have Christ's Spirit in their hearts rather than those who are circumcised (Romans 2: 28, 29). This can, of course, include people, like Christ's original disciples, who are Jewish by birth. In the New Testament Abraham's descendants are those who belong to Christ (Galatians 3: 29) and the Christian church is called "a chosen generation,… a holy nation, His own special people,… " (1 Peter 2:9).

What significance does this have to the book of Revelation? It means that in the book of Revelation when it refers to the people of God using Old Testament terms (like "children of Israel" or "Mount Zion") it is usually ⁷ referring to the worldwide Christian church rather than to the race and geographic area of the Jews. Likewise, when it mentions Babylon, the enemy of the Jews, it is not referring to the physical ancient city but a worldwide anti-Christian power. The things that were once local and physical in Old Testament times have now become worldwide and spiritual.

For an example of this principle please turn to Re. 16: 12. Here it talks about the waters of the river Euphrates being dried up because an angel pours out the contents of a bowl on it. What does the river Euphrates mean here? Revelation 16 describes seven angels with seven bowls. In Revelation chapter 17 one of these seven angels comes to explain about a prostitute who sits on water and who is called "Babylon" (Re. 17:1-5). The ancient city of Babylon was built with the river Euphrates running through it. Thus the waters that the prostitute "Babylon" is sitting on in Revelation 17 must be the river Euphrates. In Re. 17: 15 we are told that these waters represent the peoples and nations of the world. Therefore, in Re. 16: 12 when it talks about the river Euphrates being dried up it is not referring to the local geographical river. It is pointing to a worldwide spiritual application -- the people and nations of the world withdrawing their support from the anti-Christian power "Babylon".⁸