Why is revelations so scary

However, there is much about these messages that a reader might miss by not finishing Revelation. For instance, in the messages to the seven churches, Jesus constantly describes the future blessings and inheritance of those who remain faithful and loyal to him. This inheritance is hinted at all throughout the book, and then in the wonderfully climactic scene, the inheritance is revealed and received.

These promises to the faithful, that they will live and reign with Jesus, run like a thread throughout the book.

One of the dominant themes of the book is this, if you are faithful to King Jesus, you will be one day be glorified and will reign with him. So, when you read the messages to the churches in Asia, be sure to note the descriptions of Jesus, the warnings to those in rebellion, and the promises to the faithful.

All of these ideas and images are expounded upon throughout the rest of the book. These kingdoms and rulers existed in his day and his audience would no doubt have understood to whom he was referring. Revelation is cyclical. It describes cycles of evil empires and nations rising up, and when their wickedness is complete, having the wrath of God poured out on them. However, they gave us something far more valuable. This was done to prevent the book from being banished.

But as we have seen consistently throughout the New Testament, these writings about current events led to the creation of Biblical masterpieces that can be brought forward in time. Their messages just as relevant to the 21 st century as they are to the 1 st century. God-breathed words, through God created events that created stories and messages that are timeless. Also, included are letters to seven churches. These letters give guidance to these churches as how to become better Christians.

Instructions on how to move closer to Jesus. When you read these letters, you can identify weaknesses in these churches that are not much different than today. Still relevant criticisms that must urgently be addressed. The book also uses extensive numerology to tell its story of good and evil. The number seven, which for the reader means God or heavenly things, is mentioned well over one hundred times, explicitly or implicitly.

In the 1 st century, because so few could read, they received the Bible orally and numerology helped reinforce memory. There is also a sense of immediacy in the book.

And you get this from the first line, where it says, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants the things that must soon take place. While this call to action was spoken in the first century, it is really an eternal call to respond quickly to evil. And many have misunderstood this to only apply to the time of its writing. We are now in the 21 st century and the battle between good and evil still exists, so its sense of urgency is for all time.

In other words, whenever we are engaged or witness good or evil, we must quickly side with good in our actions and deeds. To do nothing is the same as siding with evil. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces At one point in the Revelation, a pregnant woman in white appears in the sky. However, before she has her child, an enormous red dragon with seven heads, 10 horns, and seven crowns on its heads will materialize in the Heavens as well, trying to steal her unborn child.

What will ensue, according to the author's prophetic vision, is a back and forth battle between the Dragon a symbol and messenger of Satan and the woman, who is protected by the Lamb, AKA God.

Essentially, it is a tale of good and evil, when taken allegorically. Historically, one can liken the dragon and the forces of "evil" to that of the Roman Empire and their attempts to persecute Christian worshipers, and the "good" of the Lamb prevails in this case.

However, the author warns the dragon will forever be at war with the Lamb, implying Christians will always be at risk to fighting off those who don't share their beliefs.

In the Book of Revelation, there is a scroll shown to the prophet, that is our author, John , which has seven seals. As each seal is broken, something happens or appears, and it is on the sixth seal things start to go south pretty quick. As written in the , it goes, "There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

Since the sky will be dark and essentially split open, and who-knows-what is going to happen next, mankind will be forced to clamor into mountain caves and crevasses to hide. When the seventh seal gets broken, the heavens will go silent for half an hour , and then come the fateful trumpets.

There will be a beast that initially comes out of the sea to spread damnation, but it is this second monster that will spring from the land and demonstrate enough power to really frighten people into submission. This second beast is said to have two horns like a lamb, but it speaks with the voice of a dragon.

It is this beast that is considered the False Prophet. He will order all people to worship the first beast from the sea, which will have been wounded after it emerges. As this wound heals, the second land beast will control mankind and force everyone to take what is known as, " the mark of the Beast ," that is, the number The Book of Revelation is no easy nut to crack, and to this day scholars from all sorts of backgrounds religious and not , tend to argue over its contents.

One important thing to note is that the story itself is nonlinear , meaning those who try to use it to predict future events AKA The Apocalypse , actually kind of struggle lining up supposed events, as they tend to move cyclically throughout the story. Overall, the book is jarringly violent, especially when translated into modern terms. A modern scholar once estimated the book's death count and projected it onto a modern world with around billion people.

If the end times were truly near, you would end up with nearly 4 billion people dying from war, famine, earthquake, and plagues. John of Patmos, the alleged martyr who wrote the Book of Revelation, starts out by addressing each of the largest Christian cities in Asia Minor at the time: Ephesus 2.

He scolds them for straying from piety and allowing sexual immoralities to go down. Overall, it's almost like a father lecturing their children for slacking on their prayers before bed, and it foreshadows a bit of the doom to come if they don't obey.

While that seems kind of spooky, it's important to look at this in a historical context. These cities would become very strategic politically , as they would serve as strongholds when Christians began to revolt against the reigning power of the Roman Empire. It's important to keep in mind no matter how gloomy and terrifying the Book of Revelation intends to be, it was written at a time in history when there was a specific style of apocalyptic literature present.

Tying into this is the fact ancient readers aren't very similar to the readers of today.