Revelation

Revelation is the sixty-sixth and final book of the Bible. It is traditionally attributed to the apostle John, exiled to the Aegean island of Patmos when he received the visions the book records. The book is generally dated to around AD 95, during the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian. It is the only book of prophecy in the New Testament and one of the most quoted, debated, and difficult.

The book opens with John on Patmos receiving a vision of the risen Christ, who dictates seven letters to seven specific churches in what is now western Turkey. Each letter assesses the church's spiritual condition and offers warnings or encouragement.

From chapter 4 onward, John's vision moves to the throne of God in heaven. He sees a sealed scroll that only the Lamb (Jesus) can open. As the seven seals are opened, dramatic events unfold on earth: war, famine, death, the cries of the martyrs, cosmic disturbances. The seventh seal releases seven trumpets, which release seven bowls of judgment.

The visions are filled with strange and vivid imagery: a dragon, a beast from the sea, a beast from the land, a woman clothed with the sun, four horsemen, locusts shaped like horses, a woman called Babylon riding a scarlet beast. The imagery has been interpreted in many ways across Christian history.

The closing chapters describe a final battle, a thousand-year reign of Christ, the last judgment of the dead, and a new heaven and a new earth where God dwells with his people, with no more death, mourning, or pain. The book, and the Christian Bible, ends with the invitation "Come, Lord Jesus."