Revelation

No. 21 Revelation 6:1-6
Revelation is a vision given to John, a Christian in exile, of history and its end, written in dense symbols. In heaven there is a scroll sealed with seven seals that only the Lamb, Christ, can open. As the...
No. 45 Revelation 7:1-8
In Revelation, the Lamb has opened six of the seven seals and the disasters have begun. This passage is a pause before the seventh. Four angels hold back the four winds so no wind blows on land or sea, and...
No. 51 Revelation 16:7-11
Revelation runs its judgments in sets of seven, and the bowls are the last and heaviest. Seven angels pour out seven bowls of God's wrath on the earth, and this passage is the fourth and fifth. The sun is...
No. 113 Revelation 4:1-11
Revelation has opened with letters to seven churches, all of them dealing with pressure, compromise, and fear. Then this passage: a door standing open in heaven, a voice like a trumpet, and John taken up to...
No. 299 Revelation 19:6-10
This passage is a burst of heaven's celebration. John hears something like the roar of a great crowd, like many waters and mighty thunder, crying Hallelujah, because the wedding of the Lamb has come and his...
No. 314 Revelation 21:1-8
This is the vision the whole Bible has been moving toward, and it is worth noticing which direction things travel. John sees a new heaven and a new earth, and then he sees the holy city, the New Jerusalem,...
No. 384 Revelation 15:1-8
This scene in Revelation stands at the threshold of the final judgments, and it opens not with the plagues themselves but with a song. John sees those who had conquered the beast, the ones who came through the...
No. 462 Revelation 14:12-20
This passage sits amid some of the most fearsome imagery in Revelation, two great harvests of the earth. One is gathered with a sickle by a figure like a son of man crowned in gold; the other, the grapes of...
No. 562 Revelation 9:1-6
This is one of the nightmarish visions of Revelation, and there is no point pretending it is anything else. A star falls and opens the shaft of the abyss; smoke pours out and darkens the sun; and from the...
No. 569 Revelation 1:7-11
Near the opening of Revelation, in the middle of a book about upheaval and persecution and the end of history, God speaks a self-description that anchors everything that follows. I am the Alpha and the Omega,...
No. 663 Revelation 9:7-11
Revelation is John's vision of the end, and this is the fifth of seven trumpets. A star falls to earth and is given the key to the abyss, and out of the smoke come locusts. They are not the insects that strip...
No. 704 Revelation 5:1-5
In the throne room of Revelation, John sees a scroll in the right hand of the One on the throne, written on both sides and sealed with seven seals. It holds, the vision implies, the whole purpose God means to...
No. 783 Revelation 19:17-21
Revelation's last great battle turns out to be strangely brief. An angel standing in the sun calls all the carrion birds of the sky to what he grimly names the great supper of God, to feast on the flesh of...
No. 869 Revelation 22:17-21
These are the last verses of Revelation, and of the whole Bible. The Spirit and the bride say Come. Anyone who hears is told to say Come. Anyone thirsty is invited to take the water of life freely. Then a...
No. 978 Revelation 12:13-17
In Revelation's great vision, a dragon has just been thrown down from heaven, and now, enraged, he turns on the woman who gave birth to the male child. She is given the wings of an eagle to fly to a place in...
No. 1014 Revelation 19:11-16
Heaven opens, and John sees a white horse whose rider is called Faithful and True, who judges and makes war in righteousness. His eyes are like fire, many crowns are on his head, he wears a robe dipped in...
No. 1055 Revelation 9:12-21
The sixth trumpet sounds, and a terrible judgment is released, an army of demonic horsemen, fire and smoke and sulfur, killing a third of humanity. It is a frightening, symbolic vision of devastation. But the...
No. 1142 Revelation 17:1-6
An angel shows John a vision of judgment on the great prostitute, called Babylon the Great, who sits on many waters and on a scarlet beast. She is dressed in purple and scarlet, glittering with gold and jewels...
No. 1195 Revelation 16:17-21
The seventh angel pours out the last bowl of God's wrath into the air, and a loud voice comes from the throne in heaven: It is done. There follow lightning, thunder, and an earthquake unlike any in human...
No. 1273 Revelation 12:1-6
John sees a great sign in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet, a crown of twelve stars, crying out in the pains of labor. Then a second sign, a great red dragon with seven heads and...
No. 1364 Revelation 3:1-6
To the church in Sardis the risen Christ sends a sobering word. I know your works, he says; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for...
No. 1380 Revelation 6:7-11
As the Lamb opens the seals, the fourth brings a pale horse, ridden by Death with Hades following, given authority over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine, plague, and beast. Then the fifth seal...
No. 1406 Revelation 8:6-13
The seven angels with the seven trumpets begin to sound. At the first, hail and fire mixed with blood fall, and a third of the earth and its trees and all the green grass are burned. At the second, a burning...
No. 1494 Revelation 22:1-5
Near the very end of scripture, John is shown the city of God in its glory. A river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb; on either side grows the tree of life,...
No. 1560 Revelation 21:15-21
John watches as an angel measures the new Jerusalem with a golden rod. The city is a perfect cube, its length and width and height all equal, twelve thousand stadia each way. Its wall is jasper, the city...
No. 1570 Revelation 16:12-16
As the sixth bowl is poured out, the great river dries up to prepare the way for the kings from the east, and John sees three foul spirits like frogs coming from the mouths of the dragon, the beast, and the...
No. 2046 Revelation 7:9-17
John sees a vision of the end: a great multitude beyond counting, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing before the throne of God and the Lamb, robed in white, crying out salvation to...
No. 2327 Revelation 18:20-24
John sees the final fall of Babylon, the great city that symbolizes the corrupt world-system opposed to God. An angel takes a stone like a great millstone and throws it into the sea, declaring that so Babylon...
No. 2383 Revelation 11:1-6
John is handed a measuring reed and told to measure the temple and those who worship in it, while the outer court is left to the nations, who will trample the holy city for a set time. Then God appoints two...
No. 2589 Revelation 3:14-22
The risen Christ has a word for the church in Laodicea, and it is blunt. You are lukewarm, he says, neither cold nor hot, and I am about to spit you out of my mouth. The church thinks itself in fine shape: I...
No. 2598 Revelation 8:1-5
When the seventh seal is opened, there is silence in heaven for about half an hour, a hush over the whole court of God. Then an angel takes a golden censer and, with much incense, offers the prayers of all the...
No. 2701 Revelation 20:1-6
John sees an angel come down with the key to the abyss and a great chain, seize the dragon, the ancient serpent who is the devil, and shut him away for a thousand years so that he can deceive the nations no...
No. 2773 Revelation 2:8-12
The letter to the church at Smyrna is short and carries no rebuke at all, only comfort for a suffering people. Christ introduces himself as the first and the last, who died and came to life, and then says: I...
No. 2803 Revelation 1:12-20
John turns to see the voice speaking to him and beholds the risen Christ walking among seven golden lampstands. He is robed to the feet with a golden sash, his hair white as snow, his eyes like flame, his feet...
No. 2814 Revelation 20:7-15
After the thousand years Satan is released, deceives the nations one final time, and gathers them like the sand of the sea against the beloved city. But there is no battle to speak of: fire comes down from...
No. 2852 Revelation 22:6-11
Near the very end of Revelation, the angel assures John that these words are faithful and true, and Christ declares, behold, I am coming soon; blessed is the one who keeps the words of this book. Overwhelmed,...
No. 2920 Revelation 2:13-17
Christ writes to the church at Pergamum, a place he calls the very seat of Satan's throne. He commends them: you hold fast to my name and did not deny my faith, even when Antipas, my faithful witness, was...
No. 3005 Revelation 13:1-10
John sees a beast rise from the sea, with ten horns and blasphemous names, given its throne and authority by the dragon. Its fatal wound is healed, and the whole earth marvels and worships it, asking, who is...
No. 3053 Revelation 16:1-6
The seven angels are told to pour out the bowls of God's wrath on the earth: sores on those who bear the mark of the beast, the sea and rivers turned to blood. These are fearsome images of final judgment, and...
No. 3123 Revelation 6:12-17
When the sixth seal is opened, there is a great earthquake; the sun turns black, the moon like blood, the stars fall, the sky rolls up like a scroll. And then the kings of the earth, the princes, the...
No. 3207 Revelation 12:7-12
There is war in heaven: Michael and his angels fight the dragon, and the dragon and his angels are defeated and thrown down, the ancient serpent, the devil, the accuser who accuses God's people before him day...
No. 3241 Revelation 11:7-13
The two witnesses, having finished their testimony, are killed by the beast, and their bodies lie unburied in the street of the great city while the world looks on and gloats, even exchanging gifts in...
No. 3287 Revelation 13:11-18
John sees a second beast rise from the earth. It has two horns like a lamb, but it speaks like a dragon. It wields the authority of the first beast, works signs to deceive, even calling fire down from the sky,...
No. 3294 Revelation 14:6-11
In the midst of judgment, John sees an angel flying overhead with an eternal gospel to proclaim to every nation, tribe, language, and people. And its heart is a call to worship: fear God and give him glory,...
No. 3328 Revelation 19:1-5
Heaven erupts in praise: Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just. And a voice comes from the throne with a summons that gathers everyone in: praise our...
No. 3387 Revelation 10:1-11
John is given a little scroll and told to eat it: it will be sweet as honey in your mouth, but bitter in your stomach. And so it is, sweet to taste, bitter to digest. Then he is told, you must prophesy again...
No. 3476 Revelation 2:1-7
The risen Christ commends the church at Ephesus for much: their hard work, their patient endurance, their vigilance in testing and exposing false apostles. By every outward measure they were a strong,...
No. 3499 Revelation 21:22-27
John's vision of the new Jerusalem describes it largely by what it lacks, and each absence is a wonder. There is no temple in the city, because the Lord God and the Lamb are its temple; there is no need for a...
No. 3591 Revelation 2:18-29
The risen Christ commends the church at Thyatira warmly, their love, faith, service, and patient endurance, and he notes that their latter works exceed the first; they are growing, not coasting. But he has a...
No. 3599 Revelation 18:1-8
An angel announces the fall of Babylon the great, the symbol of a whole world system built on pride, luxury, and rebellion against God. And amid the pronouncement of judgment comes a call to God's people: come...
No. 3614 Revelation 14:1-5
After the dark visions of the beast, John sees a scene of triumph: the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him the redeemed, bearing his name and his Father's name on their foreheads. They sing a new song...
No. 3631 Revelation 1:1-6
John opens the book of Revelation, and before the visions of judgment and glory, he anchors everything in who Jesus is and what he has done. Jesus is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the...
No. 3813 Revelation 3:7-13
To the church in Philadelphia, a small and seemingly weak congregation, the risen Christ speaks words of great encouragement. He holds the key of David, opening what none can shut; and he says, I have set...
No. 3863 Revelation 11:14-19
The seventh trumpet sounds, and loud voices in heaven announce what all history has been moving toward: the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever...
No. 4000 Revelation 18:9-19
John describes the fall of Babylon the great, the symbol of a world system built on luxury, wealth, and self-indulgence, and the reaction of those who profited from her. The kings and merchants and shippers...
No. 4057 Revelation 17:7-18
In this vision full of beasts and kings arrayed against God, an angel explains its meaning to John. The massed powers of the world, symbolized by the beast and the ten kings, unite with one purpose and give...
No. 4090 Revelation 22:12-16
Near the very end of the Bible, the risen Christ speaks words of promise and self-revelation: Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha...
No. 4107 Revelation 21:9-14
An angel invites John to see the Bride, the wife of the Lamb, and shows him the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. And its glory is described: it shone with the glory of God, its...
No. 4209 Revelation 5:6-14
In John's vision of heaven, a scroll no one is worthy to open leaves him weeping, until one is found who can open it. And the one who steps forward is not a conquering lion as expected, but a Lamb, standing as...