The book of Revelation is famously one of the most difficult and controversial books of the Bible. It depicts strange supernatural scenes inhabited by angels, bizarre beasts, and demonic creatures. Everyone knows it has something to do with the end of the world, which many find dismaying. But what Revelation meant to its original author and readers, and how it applies to us today, seems difficult to grasp. Yet understanding and taking to heart “the words of this prophecy” (Rev. 1:3) is meant to provide the “blessing” of encouragement to the Church and faithful believers in a world of trouble and turmoil.
Through a series of startling visions, the apostle John received a “revelation of Jesus Christ” which shows him, and us, how human history will unfold in the redemption of believers, the judgment of the world, and the final triumph of Jesus Christ. “Apocalypse"—the book’s title in the original Greek—means an unveiling or disclosure of what was hidden and concealed. Revelation pulls back the curtain of everyday experience to show us the deeper reality of human history and the coming kingdom of heaven.
