Jonathan M. Henry
St. John Henry Newman Writing Group
The Book of Revelation is full of frightening imagery and doomsday scenarios. From the four horsemen (6:1–8) to an abundance of both cosmic and earthly turmoil (6:12–14), it is no wonder that this book strikes fear into those who read it. But what if we were to read the Book of Revelation not as a doomsday text, but as a cautionary tale? Certainly the frightening imagery stands out and catches our attention. Perhaps it is the initial fear of this imagery that tends to hide the message of hope. Wait. Among these scary images, there is hope? Yes! God will never abandon us. He wants to save us from sin and death. In allowing him to save us, we allow him to lead us to goodness and life.
When the end time comes, John explains that those who have “not worshiped the beast or its image” or “received its mark on their foreheads or their hands” (Rev 20:4), as well as those whose names are written in the book of life (see 20:12–15), will all live in the new Jerusalem. In other words, anyone who does not follow Satan, false gods, and idols will have eternal life with God. In contrast, the one “whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire” (20:15) where Satan and his followers will likewise be thrown at the end of time (20:10).
The Book of Revelation may seem like Pandora’s box, full of fear and horrible things, but like the box, it contains hope—a hope that outshines any amount of evil and illuminates any amount of darkness.
While John’s apocalyptic work is full of destruction, despair, and death, its ultimate message is one of salvation, hope, and life. So long as we follow God and his commandments, we shall not taste death, but instead rise with him to eternal life.