Interesting facts about Revelation.

Armageddon: In the battle of Armageddon the nations of the earth are gathered for battle and surround the camp of God's people but there is no actual battle because fire came down from heaven and devoured them. See Rev 20:8-9 compare with Rev 16:16 and 19:19-20.

Last book in the Bible: Revelation is the last book in the bible and probably the last to be written. It also uses vivid imagery to describe the final state of the overcomers and the cowardly. It also describes the final end of Satan in the lake of fire, and a new earth and a new heaven where there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.

Apocalypse: The book is sometimes call the Apocalypse after its Greek first word apokalupsis (reveal, disclosure, unveil). It is frequently miss-named "Revelations" (plural), but it is the "revelation of Jesus Christ" (singular not pleural) Rev 1:1.

Antichrist: The word 'Antichrist' never occurs in Revelation, it is only found within John's epistles, 1 John 2:18, 2:22, 4:3 and 2 John 1:7.

Deity of Christ: Revelation contains one of the clearest evidences of the deity of Christ in Rev 22:13 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End."

Erasmus: When Erasmus was compiling his Greek New Testament which would later be the basis for the KJ translation he was missing the last six verses of Revelation in the Greek and so he used the Latin Vulgate and translated those verses into the Greek. He made a few mistakes such as using "book of life" instead of "tree of life" in Rev 22:19. This mistake still occurs in the KJV today.

Divine Authorship: It contains the most explicit claim of divine authorship of any book in the bible

(Rev 1:1-2 NIV) The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, {2} who testifies to everything he saw--that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Blessing: It promises a blessing to those who read or hear the words of the prophecy and take to heart what is written within it (Rev 1:3). People are sometimes afraid to study or comment on it because of the warning in Rev 22:18-19, which warns about adding or taking away from the words of the book. However this is most likely to be a warning about tampering with the word of God. Since there is a blessing for those who read or hear and take to heart its message we should certainly not be afraid to study it and find out what God is saying to us through it.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: The four Horsemen of the Apocalypse appear with the opening of the first four seals described in Rev 6:1-8. As each seal is opened a different coloured horse and its rider is seen by John.

Nicolatians: The word Nicolatians, meaning follower of Nicolaus, which in the Greek comes from the two Greek words nikos (conquer) and laos (people) in other words conquer the people. The word Baalam is a Hebrew word meaning not of the people or destroy the people. In other words Nicolatians and Balaam mean the same thing in Greek and Hebrew. They represent false prophets who infiltrate the church to destroy the people of God through idolatry and sexual immorality.

What is the mark of the beast? Revelation says it is " the name of the beast or the number of his name." The number of the beast is 666, which has tantalised people for ages. Most likely it is a gematria, and the most likely candidate is Nero. It marks a man as an idolater because he worships the beast rather than God. Rev 14:9, 14:11, 19:20, 20:4 one message of Revelation is to worship God (Rev 14:7). The beast represents the state (emperor or Antichrist) and we must not put the state before God. We pay taxes to Caesar and give worship to God (Mat 22:21) because taxes belong to Caesar and worship belongs to God. When Caesar demands worship he takes what belongs to God alone, and he becomes the beast, as only God is to be worshipped as the Creator and supreme Lord. I do not think it is a computer chip. For more details see:- The mark of the beast and 666

Popular expressions originating in the Apocalypse and the bible

pearly gates (Rev 21:21)

Streets paved with gold (Rev 21:21)

four corners of the earth, (Rev 7:1)

the writing is on the wall (Dan 5:5 )

straight and narrow. (Mat 7:14)

Powers that be (KJV Rom 13:1)

do not cast pearls before swine (Mat 7:6)

fire and brimstone (Luke 17:29 also Rev 14:10, 20:10, 21:8) see The Phrase Finder for more

Revelation sometimes interprets its own symbology

We should get the idea that Revelation is a symbolic book because there are certain symbols that are explained within Revelation itself. There are at least eleven verses where Revelation explains its own symbology. Indeed Jesus himself explains the first unknown symbol.

Rev 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Other verses where Revelation gives its own interpretation are listed below:

Rev 5:6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the centre of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

Rev 5:8 And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

Rev 12:9 The great dragon was hurled down--that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

Rev 4:5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God.

Rev 17:9-10 "This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. 10 They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for a little while.

17:11 The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction.

17:12 "The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast.

17:15 "The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages.

17:18 The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."

Rev 19:8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear." (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)

Beatitudes: If you look carefully at the beatitudes (Mat 5:3-12) they all find their fulfillment in Revelation chapters 21 and 22.

Who are the two witnesses described in Rev 11:3-12? I believe that they represent the church witnessing in the power of the Holy Spirit.

i. The church received power to witness at Pentecost, see verse 3 'I will give power to my two witnesses and they will prophecy...' cf. Acts 1:8 and 2:18.

ii. Two is the number to establish a witness, testimony (Deu 17:6, John 8:17, 2 Cor 13:1), for example our Lord sent his disciple out in twos, Mark 6:7.

iii. They are described as 'the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth' 11:4. We have already seen that the church is symbolised by lampstands in 1:20. The olive trees represent the power of the Holy Spirit with which the witnesses had received (Acts 1:5, 1:8, 2:17).

iv. They prophecy for the same period (1,260 days) as the worshippers, temple of God and holy city is trampled on by the Gentiles (42 months). These three designations are all indicative of the church.

v. They rise from the dead and are raptured as is the church (11:11-12).

vi. 11:7 indicates that '...the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them' i.e. the two witnesses this parallels the warning in 13:7 that the beast 'was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them' see also the warning in 13:10. If the two events are indeed parallel then the two witnesses are the saints.

Who are the 144,000 described in Rev 7:4 ? I believe that they represent the church.

i. They are described as the servants of our God in verse 3, a term that refers to the church, and is used more than 11 times in Revelation, see 1:1, 1:6, 5:10, 6:11, 7:15, 19:2, 19:5, 19:10, 22:3, 22:6, 22:9. The book of Revelation was written to God's servants (1:1, 22:6).

ii. The NT Church is called the Israel of God (Gal 6:16). Both Jews and Gentiles are members of Christ's body and share the same promises, the church is Abraham's offspring (Eph 3:6, Gal 3:6-9, 28-29). See also James 1:1.

iii. Judah is the firstborn instead of Reuben. Jesus is the firstborn of the dead (Col 1:15 ) and he is descended from Judah (Heb 7:14). Note while Jesus was on earth he went through the initiation rights of both Jews (circumcision) and Christians (baptism). Judah offered himself as a substitute for his brother Benjamin (Gen 44:33) and is therefore a type of Christ.

iv. Levi the tribe of priests is included in the census, they are normally excluded from a census (Num 1:47), the saints are described as priests in 1:6, 5:10 and 20:6.

v. Joseph, who is a type of Christ is included (instead of Ephraim), there is nothing wrong spoken about him, see verse eight for more detail.

vi. Dan and Ephraim who went off into idolatry are excluded, they are replaced by Levi and Joseph, there are no idolaters in the church, 21:8, 22:15. Irenaeus thinks that the antichrist will come from Dan and quotes, Jer 8:16.

vii. Those in an OT census are ransomed people (cf. Exo 30:12).

viii. The number 144 (12*12 i.e. OT * NT) and 12,000 occur again in the description of the New Jerusalem, Rev 21:12-17, which is clearly both OT (twelve tribes and 12 gates) and NT church (twelve apostles and 12 foundations). This could also be a description of the Jewish and Gentile church, but the emphasis is that it is the complete church.

ix. The 144,000 are found again in 14:1 where they have the name of the Lamb and the Father written on their foreheads. In the description of the new Jerusalem, 22:3-4, we also find God's servants with his name on their foreheads. The 144,000 in 14:1-5 are described as followers of the Lamb, they sing a new song, they are pure and blameless, they are redeemed from the earth.

x. Milligan points out that if the seal is the antithesis of the mark of the beast which is on all his followers then the seal of God will be on all His followers and not just a part.

xi. God is sealing all of his people against the coming trumpets not just a part just as all God's people escaped the plagues on the Egyptians. All those who put the blood of the lamb on the door posts and lintels escaped from the destroying angel.

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