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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 willbecome 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 322–29ACTS, EPISTLES, AND REVELATION
Beliefs matching John’s visions in Revelation
JudaismA day of judgmentChristianity IslamResurrection of the deadSeparation of the righteous
and the wickedBook of LifeBook of DeedsNew Jerusalem
John the SeerThe 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.
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