A Guide To Reading Revelation

Revelation begins by saying that Jesus has “made it known” (1:1) to John. This “revelation of Jesus Christ” is what was “symbolized” (literal translation in the Greek). To read Revelation literally is to read it in light of the symbols that saturate the Book. Dennis Johnson has said, “[Revelation is a] Book of symbols in motion…to picture the true identity of the church, its enemies, and its Champion.”

These symbols are utterly dependent on a proper understanding of the Old Testament. New Testament scholar Dr. Greg Beale says, “As many as 278 of the 404 verses in Revelation contain references to the OT and there are over 500 allusions to the OT.” Therefore, we must always consider what Revelation is quoting or alluding to in the Old Testament to properly interpret its symbolic message.

The following is a brief explanation of what various symbols in Revelation mean and how they are to be interpreted:

• Alpha and Omega (Rev. 1:8, 22:13) = The eternal nature of God

• Babylon (Rev. 14:8, 17:5) = Worldliness and ungodliness

• Balaam (Rev. 6:5) = False prophecy

• Beast (Rev. 13:1) = Satan’s false “image”; Ungodly political empire

• Black (Rev. 6:5) = Famine

• Bowls (Rev. 16) = Judgments of God, resembles the 10 Plagues in Egypt 

• Bronze (Rev. 1:14-15) = Purity of judgment

• Clouds (Rev. 1:7) = Theophany from Exodus, manifest identification marker of God

• Crown (Rev. 4:4, 6:2) = Victory, reward or sovereign authority

• Dragon (Rev. 12:3-9) = Satan “fully grown”

• Earthquake (Rev. 6:2, 11:19) = Upheaval, judgment

• False Prophets = Other religions, false teaching

• Golden altar (Rev. 8:3) = Intercessory prayer

• Horn (Rev. 13:1, 17:12) = Power, authority

• Jezebel (Rev. 2:20) = Sexual immorality and idolatry

• Keys (Rev. 1:18) = Authority to access and open/close

• Lamb (Rev. 5:6, 7:17) = Christ as the Passover Lamb, propitiation/atonement

• Lampstands (Rev. 1:12-13,20) = Churches

• Lion (Rev. 4:7) = Christ as the True Son of David, King of Kings

• Morning Star (Rev. 22:16) = Christ coming like the dawning of the Sun

• Pale Green (Rev. 6:8) = Plague, disease, sickness, death

• Prostitute (Rev. 17:1-5) = Sexual sin, spiritual adultery

• Rainbow (Rev. 4:3, 10:1) = Noahic covenant sign, God’s victory over sin and assurance of common grace

• Red (Rev. 6:4) = Death (blood)

• Robe (Rev. 1:13) = Priestly/Kingly attire

• Sea (Rev. 13:1, 21:1) = Chaos

• Seven Stars (Rev. 1:20) = Angels

• Seven Lampstands (Rev. 1:20) = Churches

• Seven Lambs (Rev. 4:5) = The Holy Spirit

• Sodom (Rev. 1:18) = Wickedness

• Stars Falling (Rev. 6:13) = Cosmic destruction, divine judgment

• Sun darkened (Rev. 6:12, 8:12) = Divine judgment, 9th Plague in Egypt, happened at the Cross

• Sword (Rev. 1:16, 19:15) = God’s piercing and authoritative word

• White (Rev. 1:14, 6:2, 19:11) = Purity

• 7 = Completion, fullness

• 12 = Tribes of Israel, God’s people

• 666 = Number of the beast, incompleteness, mimicking God

• 1,000 = Many

• 144,000 = 12x12x1,000 → Symbolic for the full innumerable amount of God’s people from all ages