Jesus In The Bible: The Book Of Revelation

The book of Revelation, is the last book of the Bible. It is a revelation that was written by the apostle John while he was in Roman exile on the Island of Patmos in the eastern Mediterranean. According to the first words of the book, God gave this revelation to Jesus, who entrusted it to an angel to pass on to John. Although not at first in chapter form, the book of Revelation is now divided into 22 chapters and can be broken up into four separate parts for an easier understanding of how it flows. Revelation has been dated near the end of the first century, around A.D. 96. Some writers think that the Apocalypse was written around A.D. 68 or 69, and the book is supposed to relate to the destruction of Jerusalem. Throughout the book there is

This represents Jesus' resurrection (the Lamb stands) in spite of the fact that he was crucified ("had been slain").Here we have a paradox--a juxtaposition of two seemingly contradictory symbols:The Lion: The dangerous predator that conquers (overcomes its prey).The Lamb: The vulnerable prey that is slain (overcome by its conquerors)

To fully understand this symbolism, we have to embrace both images.It is true that Jesus is a Lion from the tribe of Judah. He has conquered.But the way he has done these things is surprising and involves a reversal of expectations: He has conquered by assuming a position of vulnerability, by serving as the Lamb, and being slain--and raised again to stand despite this.This is not the only symbol in Revelation of this type. Also the White Robes That Should Be

Washing a robe in blood would make it red, not white! And so we we have a paradox two symbols:The robes that have been made white by washing and The blood of the Lamb that should have made them red rather than white.As before, we need to embrace both of these symbols in order to understand what Revelation means. It is true that the saints "wear white robes"--their sins have been removed (forgiven) and they have done righteous deeds (cf. Rev. 19:8). But the means by which these things are done (by which their robes are made white) is the shedding of Christ's blood on the Cross, by "the blood of the Lamb." Whose Blood?Another example of a paradoxical symbol in Revelation is found in chapter 19, where John sees one of the most intense sights in the entire book, when he sees Jesus on a white horse in heaven:Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. He is clad in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, followed him on white horses [19:11, 13-14]. Here, once again, we have an interesting juxtaposition of blood and white linen. We’ve already been given the key to why the followers of Jesus have white robes: They have been washed in the blood of the Lamb. That likely tells us something about the blood in which Jesus’ own robe has been dipped. The expected thing, for a