The Bible Book

318

T

he Greek word used in

the book of Revelation for

judgment originally meant

“to sift,” and from there it came to

mean choosing right from wrong. It

essentially means that each human

life will be examined according to

God’s standards and sorted into

what is acceptable and what is not.

However, unlike today’s conception

of judgment, which calls for justice

here and now, in the first century ce

people believed in an impending

judgment. For many in the Greek

and Roman worlds, this was at the

end of their earthly life, at the point

of death. Christians, however,

building on Jewish beliefs, looked

toward a future, Final Judgment

in which all people of all places

and times would need to give an

account of their lives before God.

In the Old Testament, this

future judgment is called “the Day

of the Lord.” In one of the prophet

Daniel’s visions, he sees a picture

of God’s throne room, where God

sits ready to judge the world. Many

beasts try to establish their rule

over the world, but then, at the

THE FINAL JUDGMENT

The Whore of Babylon is introduced

in Revelation 17 riding a beast with

seven heads. An angel tells John that

the heads represent the sinners Christ

will defeat in the battle at Armageddon.

climax of the vision, Daniel sees

“one like a Son of Man”—a clear

reference to the name Jesus takes

throughout His ministry—approach

God’s throne. God then gives Jesus

the authority and power to bring the

Final Judgment to the world.

Royal return

At Jesus’s ascension, the Apostles

were told that “this same Jesus ...

will come back in the same way

you have seen him go into heaven”

(Acts 1:11), which is thought to

mean that Jesus will return bodily

on earth one day. The image of a

king arriving to bring judgment

was familiar in the Roman world,

where an emperor occasionally

visited key cities to hold court—

he would punish his enemies and

reward his friends. The Greek word

for this is parousia, which means

“coming,” and early Christians

understood Jesus’s return as the

coming of God’s appointed king.

Jesus says that the criteria for

the Final Judgment will henceforth

be whether people trust Him as

IN BRIEF

PA S SAGE

Revelation 1:1–20:15

THEME

Justice for all

SETTING

God’s heavenly throne

room. An unspecified

future time.

KEY FIGURES

Jesus The key figure in the

Final Judgment, described

alternately as “the Son of

Man,” “the lamb on the throne,”

and “the First and the Last.”

All humanity All people,

who ever lived, from all

nations and all times.

John the Seer The author

of Revelation, who sees the

events described in a vision.

Therefore keep watch,

because you do not

know on what day

your Lord will come.

Matthew 24:42

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a savior: “If anyone is ashamed

of me and my words ... the Son of

Man will be ashamed of him when

He comes in His Father’s glory with

the holy angels” (Mark 8:38).

Many of Jesus’s parables speak

about a coming Final Judgment.

He explains in one parable that the

weeds will be burned by fire, while

the good crop will be harvested

into God’s barn. Whereas the crops

and the weeds grow side by side

in the present, one day each will

become distinct when Jesus

makes His judgment (Matthew

13:24–30). In another parable, Jesus

speaks of His role in the coming

Final Judgment as being like that

of a shepherd separating sheep

from goats (Matthew 25:31–46).

Signs and symbols

John’s visions, recounted in the

book of Revelation, paint a dramatic

picture of the Final Judgment. They

begin in the throne room of heaven,

where all the heavenly creatures are

preparing for the scroll containing

God’s final order for the world to

be opened. At first, the creatures

cannot find anyone who is worthy

to open the seven seals that keep

the scroll rolled. Then, however,

John sees a lamb that looks like it

has been sacrificed, standing alive

on the throne: a clear reference to

Jesus. As this lamb takes the scroll,

all of heaven sings with joy, “You

are worthy to take the scroll and to

open its seals” (Revelation 5:9).

Out of the first four seals ride

the “horsemen of the apocalypse,”

one of Revelation’s most enduring ❯❯

See also: The Prophet Ezekiel 162–63 ■ Daniel in Babylon 164–65 ■

Call for Repentance 172 ■ The New Jerusalem 322–29

ACTS, EPISTLES, AND REVELATION

Beliefs matching John’s visions in Revelation

Judaism

A day of judgment

Christianity Islam

Resurrection of the dead

Separation of the righteous

and the wicked

Book of Life

Book of Deeds

New Jerusalem

John the Seer

The author of Revelation

identifies himself as Jesus’s

“servant John” (Revelation

1:1). Since the second century,

it has been suggested that

this John is the same as

Jesus’s disciple John, brother

of James and author of the

Gospel and three epistles that

bear his name. However, even

from the third century ce,

Bible scholars have argued

that there is such a difference

in style between Revelation

and the other writings that it

is unlikely they could have

come from the same author.

Whoever he was, this

“servant John” wrote down

his visions toward the end

of the first century ce while

on the island of Patmos, off the

coast of present-day Turkey.

John writes that he is on the

island “because of the word

of God and the testimony of

Jesus”; scholars therefore

believe that he was living in

exile, and see this as further

proof that authorities were

already starting to persecute

Christians as troublemakers.

He will judge the world ...

by the man He has

appointed. He has given

proof ... by raising

[Jesus] from the dead.

Acts 17:31

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