Difference between revisions of "Revelation"

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Home > The New Testament > Revelation

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This page would ideally always be under construction. You are invited to contribute.

Summary

This section should be very brief. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Relationship to New Testament. The relationship of Revelation to the New Testament as a whole is discussed at ____.

Story. Revelation is treated here in seven major sections:

• Rev 1-3: John's commission and the church in the world today.
• Rev 4-7: Christ praised as the one able to redeem mankind and to open the seven seals.
• Rev 8-11: The seven trumpets.
• Rev 12-14: Lucifer's rebellion in heaven continues as persecution of the church.
• Rev 15-16: The seven bowls.
• Rev 17-20: Fall of the kings of the earth and Christ praised as king of kings.
• Rev 21-22: The New Jerusalem and John's commission.

Message. Themes, symbols, and doctrinal points emphasized in Revelation include:

• The eventual conquest of Christ over Lucifer and the kings of the earth.

Historical setting

This section should be brief and explain facts about the historical setting that will help a reader to understand the book. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Discussion

This section is for detailed discussion such as the meaning of a symbol, how a doctrinal point is developed throughout a passage, or insights that can be further developed in the future. Contributions may range from polished paragraphs down to a single bullet point. The focus, however, should always be on understanding the scriptural text consistent with LDS doctrine. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Relation to other scriptures

Several other books of scripture shed light on Revelation.

• D&C 77. Section 77 consists entirely of keys to the interpretation of Revelation. For those who accept the prophetic calling of Joseph Smith, it is foolish to study Revelation without the benefit of the answers provided in D&C 77. In fact, the wiki page discussing D&C 77 suggests that most discussion of that section should actually occur here on the wiki pages that address Revelation.

• Daniel 2, 7-8. Daniel contains three of the better known Biblical prophecies of the end times: (1) the vision of the statute in Daniel 2 (discussion); (2) the vision of four beasts in Daniel 7 (discussion); and (3) the vision of two beasts in Daniel 8 (discussion). There is broad consensus, with the benefit of modern day hindsight, both LDS and non-LDS, about the interpretation of these three visions. It can be helpful, before studying Revelation and its beasts, to become familiar with the use of beasts in Daniel as representations of earthly kingdoms.

• First Nephi 11-14. D&C 77:7 explains that the seven seals in Revelation each represent a single thousand year period of the earth's history since Adam and Eve. The broad consensus is that this means four seals BC, two seals so far AD, and a third Millennial seal to come in the future. Using this framework, the description of Nephi's vision in First Nephi 11-14 (discussion) covers roughly 600 BC to 2,000 AD, or in other words covers the fourth through sixth seals. When Nephi's vision reaches the seventh seal, however, Nephi is told not to write any more, and that John will write the rest of the vision (here in Revelation). (1 Ne 14:18-28). John, on the other hand, spends only two verses on each of the first four seals (Rev 6:1-8), three verses on the fifth seal (Rev 6:9-11), a couple chapters on the sixth seal, and most of the remainder of his book on the seventh seal. Since Nephi explicitly describes the record of his vision as being a complementary prologue to Revelation, it can make sense to read First Nephi 11-14 prior to Revelation.

• Ezekiel. Revelation owes the most to Ezekiel's prophecy. The most obvious parallel is that both end with descriptions of the eternal city, the temple, and fountains of water. But comparative outlines have been proposed for the entire books of Ezekiel and Revelation. Ezekiel cannot be tackled by a Sunday School teacher as merely one of many supplementary materials reviewed in the course of just a week or two. But for personal study that is not on a deadline, Ezekiel and Revelation can be fruitfully studied side by side.

• Prophecies of the signs of the times. Several other passages of scripture address the signs of the times that occur at the beginning of the seventh seal. Among the more prominent passages are: (1) the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24-25 (discussion), Joseph Smith-Matthew (discussion), D&C 45 (discussion), and Luke 13 (discussion); (2) Malachi 3-4 (discussion) and Third Nephi 24-25 (discussion); and (3) D&C 29 (discussion), D&C 86 (discussion), D&C 88 (discussion), and D&C 133 (discussion).

• Joseph Smith Translation. The Joseph Smith Traslation made changes to the following verses in Revelation. This list is complete.^[1] The text of all changes is included in the Wayment reference below. The text of most changes is included in the footnotes to the LDS Edition of the King James Translation (linked here, select "show footnotes"). Changes not included in the LDS Edition footnotes are italicized (not yet done): Rev 1:1-8, 12, 16, 20 • Rev 2:1, 8, 12, 18-19, 22, 26-27 • Rev 3:1-2, 5, 7, 12, 14 • Rev 4:1, 4-6, 9-10 • Rev 5:1-2, 6 • Rev 6:1, 6, 14 • Rev 7:2, 4 • Rev 8:12 • Rev 9:1, 11, 14, 16 • Rev 10:4 • Rev 12:1-9, 11-17 • Rev 13:1 • Rev 16:7 • Rev 17:17 • Rev 19:2, 5, 10-13, 15-16, 18, 21 • Rev 20:1, 6 • Rev 22:9.

Symbols

• Seven. The number seven is routinely used in Revelation to indicate completion or perfection.

• Six. The number six, one less than seven, is used in Revelation to indicate the opposite of perfection, namely evil.

• Three and a half. The number three and a half is also used to indicate the opposite of perfection. Evil often prevails for three and a half times (times, time, and half a time) or three and a half years (1260 days = 42 months of 30 days each = 3.5 years).

Outline and page map

This section contains an outline for the entire book. Items in blue or purple text indicate hyperlinked pages that address specific portions of the book. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

A. The church in the world today (Chapters 1-3)

• John's commission (1:1-20)

1. John and the angel, the prophecy introduced (1:1-3)

2. the coming of Christ (1:4-8)

3. John's commission to the churches (1:9-20)

• promises to the church as it exists in the world (2:1-3:22)

• Ephesus (2:1-7)
• Smyrna (2:8-11)
• Pergamos (2:12-17)
• Thyatira (2:18-29)
• Sardis (3:1-6)
• Philadelphia (3:7-13)
• Laodicea (3:14-22)

B. Book with seven seals: first six seals opened (Chapters 4-7)

• God and Christ worshiped in heaven (4:1-5:14)

• God upon his throne in heaven worshiped by 24 elders and 4 beasts (4:1-11)
• Christ praised as the one able to open the book with 7 seals (5:1-14)

• the book in God's hand with 7 seals that none can open (5:1-4)
• Christ takes the book and is praised as as worthy to open by redeeming all (5:5-10)
• Christ praised by all creation as worthy of all praise (5:11-14)

• Christ opens the first 6 seals (6:1-7:17)

• 1st-4th seals: four horsemen bringing conquest, warfare, famine, and death (6:1-8)
• 5th seal: martyrs under the altar (6:9-11)
• 6th seal (6:12-7:17)

• the earth shakes and the heavens darkened, the great hide from the day of wrath of God and Christ (6:12-17)
• 144,000 righteous are sealed before the four angels hurt the earth (7:1-8)
• God and Christ praised by multitudes and by those in heaven (7:9-12)
• those praising God before his throne are the righteous tried in adversity (7:13-17)

C. Seventh seal: seven trumpets sound (Chapters 8-11)

• censer with prayers of the Saints cast into the earth (8:1-5)
• 1st-4th angels: destruction upon the third part of creation (8:6-13)
• 5th angel: locusts (armies) torment the unrighteous for 5 months, led by angel of bottomless pit (9:1-12)
• 6th angel

• looses four angels to kill the third part of men, but unrighteous do not repent (9:13-21)
• another mighty angel: do not write what the 7 thunders said, time is ended, John again commissioned to prophesy (10:1-4, 5-7, 8-11)
• two witnesses in Jerusalem slain and resurrected (11:1-14)

• 7th angel: the earth is the Lord's, Christ praised by 24 elders for taking power over the earth (11:15-19)

D. The dragon, the beasts, and the whore (Chapters 12-14)

• the dragon and the woman (12:1-17)

• dragon pursues woman's child, child and woman preserved (12:1-6)
• Satan is cast out of heaven (12:7-9)
• proclamation of consequent salvation (12:10-12)
• dragon pursues woman and her seed, woman preserved (12:12-17)

• two beasts, one mortally wounded and healed (13:1-18)
• seven angels cry out and bless the patient (14:1-20)

C. The seven bowls poured out (Chapters 15-16)

• the plagues poured out (15:1-16:21)

B. Seven angels survey judgment on earth (Chapters 17-20)

• fall of Babylon and the kings of the earth (17:1-18:24)
• Christ praised by multitudes as king of kings (19:1-16)
• fall of Satan and the kings of the earth (19:17-20:10)
• final judgment (20:11-15)

A. New Jerusalem (Chapters 21-22)

• fulfillment of promises made to church as it will exist in heaven (21:1-22:5)
• John's commission (22:6-21)

1. John and the angel (22:6-9)

2. the coming of Christ (22:10-15)

3. John's commission to the churches (22:16-21)

Unanswered questions

This section is for questions along the lines of "I still don't understand ..." Please do not be shy. The point of these questions is to identify things that still need to be addressed on this page. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Prompts for life application

This section is for prompts that suggest ways in which a passage can influence a person's life. Prompts may be appropriate either for private self reflection or for a class discussion. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Prompts for further study

This section is for prompts that invite us to think about a passage more deeply or in a new way. These are not necessarily questions that beg for answers, but rather prompts along the lines of "Have you ever thought about ..." Prompts are most helpful when they are developed individually, thoughtfully, and with enough background information to clearly indicate a particular direction for further study or thought. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Resources

This section is for listing links and print resources, including those that are also cited elsewhere on this page. A short comment about the particular strengths of a resource can be helpful. Click the "edit" link to edit or add content to this section. →

Translations and Lexicons.

• Amplified (The Amplified Bible, 1987 update)

• NASB (New American Standard Bible, 1995 update)

• NIV (New International Version)

• RSV (Revised Standard Version)

• Interlinear text (English-Greek), (Greek-English)

• Strong's Greek Concordance and Lexicon

References cited on this page.

• Wayment, Thomas A., ed. The Complete Joseph Smith Translation of the New Testament. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 2005. (ISBN 1590384393) BX8630 .A2 2005.

Other resources.

• LDS Institute New Testament Student Manual (PDF version): Chapter 53/56: Revelation 1-3  •  Chapter 54/56: Revelation 4-11  •  Chapter 55/56: Revelation 12-16  •  Chapter 56/56: Revelation 17-22. Salt Lake City: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2014.

• Draper, Richard D. Opening the Seven Seals. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1991. (ISBN 9781590386385) (ISBN 0875795471). A slow read that will take time to digest, but the most thorough discussion of Revelation by an LDS scholar.

• "Book of Revelation Overview." Ensign, October 1983. This may be the single most helpful short introduction to Revelation from an LDS perspective, especially the discussion of Revelation 12-14.

Notes

Footnotes are not required but are encouraged for factual assertions that average readers cannot easily evaluate for themselves (such as the date of King Solomon’s death or the nuanced definition of a Greek word). In contrast, insights rarely benefit from footnoting, and the focus of this page should always remain on the scriptures themselves rather than what someone has said about them. Links are actively encouraged on all sections of this page, and links to authoritative sources (such as Strong's Bible Concordance or the Joseph Smith Papers) are preferable to footnotes.

1. ↑ Wayment, The Complete Joseph Smith Translation of the New Testament, p. 316-26.

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