Home Pastors Articles for Pastors All’s Well That Ends Well: An Introduction to the Book of Revelation

All’s Well That Ends Well: An Introduction to the Book of Revelation

To take one example, Chapter 12 begins with a vision of a woman (Israel) giving birth to a son (Christ), whom the red dragon (Satan) tries to destroy when he is born, but who is miraculously protected and snatched up to heaven (the ascension of Christ after his incarnate life on earth). This passage is an interpretive key to the whole book, because we know the referent (the realities to which the symbols point). The details of the vision are not a literal portrayal of the earthly life and ascension of Jesus, but the details definitely call those circumstances to mind.

The four horse visions are similar (6:1-8). In this case, the symbolism paints a picture of warfare, famine, destruction, and death. To what do these horses refer? They are a visionary and symbolic version of what Jesus predicted directly in Matthew 24:7: “nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.” Similarly, the sealing of believers (chapter 7) is a symbolic account of how God will save eternally all who believe in him.

What we need when interpreting the symbolic visions of Revelation is a keen eye for the obvious. The things to which the details refer are for the most part familiar: God’s judgment of evil, his saving of those who believe, the decline of the earthly order of things. We are best advised to keep relating the symbols to familiar doctrines, events in salvation history, and happenings in the world around us.

The Structure of the Book of Revelation

Everything in Revelation, except for the prologue and epilogue, is part of a sevenfold pattern. This at once makes the book manageable, despite the multiplicity of details. There are seven seals (5:1-8:1), seven trumpets (8:2-11:19), seven great signs (12:1-14:20), seven bowls of wrath (15:1-16:21), and seven last events (17:1-22:5).

The book is also structured like a pageant—a succession of visions and brief snapshots. There is no single thread of action. In fact, the visions tend to be cyclical and repetitive rather than sequential, though there is an expanding scope as the destruction moves from a fourth of the earth (6:8) to a third of the earth (8) to the whole earth (15).

Finally, within each of the sevenfold units, there is a general movement from fallen earthly history—associated with evil and calamity—to the final consummation of history, in its two aspects of the punishment of evil and the glorification of believers in heaven. We can look for this general rhythm in all of the units.

The Key Places and Characters of the Book of Revelation

The setting of Revelation is cosmic, encompassing heaven, earth, and hell. References to earth are often to the whole earth, not just a localized part of it. Once we get beyond the cities named in the seven letters (2-3), the main settings of earthly action are a symbolic city of Babylon (the human race in community against God) and elemental nature (water, earth, sea, and sky). The single most memorable place is the concluding picture of the heavenly city of God—the new Jerusalem.

Christ is the central character, as even the opening phrase indicates (“the revelation of Jesus Christ”). His great antagonist is Satan. The remaining cast of characters consists of large groups—angels, Satan’s hosts, crowds of believers and of unbelievers. There are many crowd scenes in Revelation, with attention to stationing characters in a setting, and even to their costumes. In keeping with the visionary genre of the book, major characters include natural forces like the sun and stars, and fantastic animals like the dragon, the beast from the sea, and the beast from the earth. 

The Application of the Book

The book of Revelation concludes the Bible’s story of salvation history. At the same time, it is a thoroughly Christocentric story, with Jesus Christ as the exalted one who defeats Satan and wins heaven for his followers. Within that broad umbrella, this book contains numerous specific pictures of redemption, all based on the premise that believers have defeated Satan “by the blood of the Lamb” (12:11 NLT).

Revelation conveys important information about the present and future—information that we need to believe and live in light of. In the middle of his eschatological speech, the “Olivet Discourse,” Jesus told his disciples, “See, I have told you beforehand” (Matthew 24:25 NKJV), with the implication that the information that he imparted about the end times could help his followers make sense of what was happening, and not be overwhelmed by cataclysmic events when they happened. The book of Revelation can serve the same purpose; it can be a ballast amidst troubling times, and a guard against false information and speculation.

Revelation is also filled with information and pictures that can help Christians endure patiently through tribulation and persecution. As 13:10 puts it, “Here is a call to the endurance and faith of the saints” (ESV). Victory in Christ is assured, so the rest of life must be lived with that goal in view.

Another application of the book might be termed “doxological” (that is, “having the effect of moving one to praise”). There is a lyrical undertow to the book, and the notes of celebration and praise for what God has done continually break through the descriptions of events. As we read, we can allow these notes of celebration to draw us to worship the God who has promised us the victory in Jesus Christ.

By Leland and Philip Ryken

Philip Ryken (DPhil, University of Oxford) is the president of Wheaton College and the Bible teacher of Every Last Word radio and internet broadcasts. He preached at Philadelphia’s Tenth Presbyterian Church from 1995 until his appointment at Wheaton in 2010. Dr. Ryken has published many books, including The Message of SalvationArt for God’s SakeWhen Trouble Comes, and a number of expository commentaries.

This article originally appeared here.