This paper will be a brief summary of every chapter in the Revelation of Jesus Christ. It attempts to give a general sense of the broad meaning of Revelation, providing a foundation for further study in the details of the book. This summary of the book of Revelation assumes the futurist view. That is, the events of chapters four through twenty-two are events that are still in the future, and will occur during or following the Great Tribulation on the earth. However, this paper follows John’s point of view in his recording of things he saw. He employs the past tense to describe what he saw, which pictures what was yet to take place from his own time. Therefore the past tense is used in this paper to indicate what John was seeing, even though many of the events are still future from even our own day.

John introduces himself as the recipient of the Revelation from and about Jesus Christ. John was instructed to write down was has been, what is, and what will be. This is the general pattern for the book. John saw a vision of Jesus Christ, and he told John the revelation was to be given to seven churches of Asia, each of which would be addressed particularly in chapters two and three.

The first letter is to the church at Ephesus. They are first commended for their hard work and their faithfulness to the truth, but they are confronted for walking away from Jesus, who they have shown love to from the beginning. The church at Smyrna was commended for her faithfulness despite her poverty, and it was warned of coming persecution, in which she must remain faithful, even if it meant death. The church at Pergamum was commended because she stayed faith to Jesus, even though the church was located in a stronghold city of Satan and evil. But they are warned not to follow false teaching, as some of them were already being led astray by. The church at Thyatira was commended for her abundance of good deeds, but she was confronted because she was putting up with false teaching by a woman compared to Jezebel.

The church at Sardis made everyone think that they were spiritually alive and doing well, but Jesus confronted them because they in fact were not doing well spiritually. They needed to go back to the basics of what they learned and start practicing it. The church at Philadelphia was commended for staying faithful to Jesus even though they were almost out of strength because of the struggle. Jesus promised them that he would continue to give them strength, and he would protect them. The church at Laodicea was strongly criticized for acting like they did not need Christ, even though they were not fully rebelling against him. They were useless to Jesus if they felt they did not need him. Jesus challenged them to change their minds and make a strong commitment to serving him.

John was invited to view the scene in heaven in his vision. He saw the very throne room of God, and he saw strange looking creatures who continually give praise to God for his holiness and power. God is considered worthy of praise because he created everything that is.

God held an ancient book, a scroll, and they began to search for someone who was worthy enough to open it, one seal at a time. At first no one could be found. But soon John noticed the Lamb, Jesus. He is the Messiah who as “the Lamb” is compared to the sacrificial lamb in the Old Testament (Johnson, 468). Through his death, he brought salvation to peoples from all over the world. This is what made him worthy to open the ancient book. And everyone around the throne of God worshiped Jesus.

Jesus began to open the first of seven seals on the ancient book. The first six were opened one right after another, and each opening brought about increasing death and destruction on the earth, through war, famine, and natural disasters (Walvoord, 128-9, 136). This was the beginning of the Great Tribulation on the earth. Ultimately, even strong people ran from God’s acts and cried out for the terrible events to end, and they recognized that God’s anger over their sin was at work. John also saw those believers who had been killed for their faith, and they were told to continue to wait, because more believers would be killed for their faith before God once and for all judged sin on the earth.

This chapter provides an parenthesis (Morris, 109) before the seventh and final seal was opened. There was a pause during which the angels could put a mark on the specially prepared servants of God (there were 144,000 of them, all Jews). The seal was a sign that they would be protected from harm. It also showed that they belonged to God and were genuine servants of his (Constable, 624). The view back in heaven that John saw was of an uncountable mass of people from all different parts of the world who were praising God for their salvation. John discovered that this group of people had been physically killed during the Great Tribulation because of their faith in Jesus Christ (Walvoord, 146). These martyrs have been given the assurance that they were now under the care of their Great Shepherd, Jesus.

When the seventh seal on the ancient book was opened by Jesus, there was a brief silence in heaven in anticipation of what God was about to do on the earth. Then seven angels, each with a trumpet, appeared. The prayers of God’s people were being answered (Constable, 625f.). The first four angels blew their trumpets, one following another, and great disaster and destruction took place on the earth. One third of the earth burned up, one third of the seas became blood, one third of the rivers became bitter, and natural light was diminished by one third.

With the fifth trumpet, a massive swarm of locusts was released from a bottomless pit in the earth. They acted like scorpions and could only harm those people who were not marked by God’s seal. However, they could not kill people, only torture them, and the people could not die even if they wanted to. The sixth trumpet brought four angels who killed a third of the people of the earth. Those people who escaped death still refused to turn to God for help, because they refused to give up their idols and their sins. They were fools who should have taken warning from what happened to the others.

This chapter begins another parenthesis in the book before the seventh trumpet is sounded (Rev 11.15; Morris, 133). An angel appeared with a little scroll which was open. Seven thunders shouted something, but John was not permitted to write down what they said. But he was assured that the fulfillment of the prophecies was about to take place with the blowing of the seventh trumpet. John was then made to eat the little scroll; it was at first sweet, but then bitter. It was sweet because it was a message from God, but the disturbing contents, the revelation of further judgment on the earth, was bitter (Constable, 630).

The first fourteen verses of this chapter continue the break in the sequential action. John was told to measure the temple of God, except for the outer court. This symbolized that God knows who belongs to him, that is, those who worship him (Morris, 142). The nations symbolized people who are hostile to God, and they were not to be measured, because they were not under God’s ultimate protection. Two witnesses appeared who would be able to speak God’s words for three and one-half years (probably the second half of the seven-year Great Tribulation, but it is hard to say for sure; Walvoord, 177). These two witnesses for God were very powerful, and could not be threatened by evil people while God was using them to speak his words. Finally, Satan was allowed to kill them, and the people of the world celebrated. But three days later, they rose from the dead, to everyone’s amazement, and they were delivered miraculously to heaven.

Chapters twelve through fourteen form another parenthesis which discusses seven main characters or groups in the Great Tribulation (Walvoord, 187). John saw a pregnant woman being chased by a dragon. This pictured Israel long ago when Jesus Christ was to be born, being threatened by Satan to prevent the coming of God’s Son to the earth (Constable, 634). John then saw a war in heaven between Satan and Michael the angel. Satan and his angels were thrown to the earth, which resulted in great conflict on the earth because of Satan’s anger and his desperation to avoid defeat. He specifically targeted Israel and all the people of God, which resulted in great danger and persecution for them.

John saw a strange-looking beast come out of the ocean to partner with Satan, the dragon. This beast was given power for three and one-half years, and it was even able to persecute the people who believe in God, killing many of them. The people of the world worshiped this beast, but the believers were called upon to continue to trust in God despite the difficulties they were experiencing. This beast was joined by another beast, who caused the people of the world to continue to worship the first beast, even more so than they were. He also made everyone take an obvious mark on their bodies as a sign of loyalty to the beast.

John then saw the Lamb, Jesus, along with the 144,000 servants of Jesus who had been faithful to him. He also saw of series of angels who had a message for the people of the world. One angel called upon the people to worship the true God. Another angel announced that “Babylon” had been defeated, referring to the anti-God, pro-evil system of the earth. This announcement was before the actual event, but it showed that the event would certainly happen (Constable, 640). They were also told that those who worship the beast would be punished with torment that would last forever and ever. Those who believe in Jesus Christ were told to continue to endure in spite of the difficulties. In fact they were told that those who physically died would be happy because their difficulties would be over, and they would be rewarded in heaven for their endurance. It was then announced that it was time for God’s well-deserved anger to be revealed, and for those who had rejected God to be punished.

John saw a sign in heaven; seven angels each had a plague which would conclude the outpouring of the anger of God on the earth. The seven angels were being prepared to pour out the just anger of God by each receiving a bowl, which contained specific judgments. But John also saw a vision of believers who had died for their faith in the God in the Great Tribulation, as they sang together in praise to God.

The first angel brought about a bad-smelling and painful sore on everyone who had the mark of allegiance to the beast. The second angel caused the sea to become blood, and everything in the sea died. The third angel caused the rivers and springs of water to become blood. The angel said it was only just and fair, because the people of the earth had killed the people who worshiped God. The fourth angel caused people to be burned by the sun, but the people still did not turn to God. The fifth angel brought about world-wide darkness. The sixth angel dried up the Euphrates River as part of the preparation of gathering the armies of the world together to be defeated once and for all by God. The seventh angel destroyed cities by storms, earthquakes, and huge hailstones. Destroyed also was the city which was the stronghold of rebellion against God.

John was shown a symbolic prostitute who represented Babylon, essentially the world-system of rebellion against God and the worship of false gods (Constable, 644). John was told that the city would be destroyed in a great war where all the kings of the earth unite together with their evil leader to fight a war against the Lamb, Jesus.

An angel came and spoke a funeral message about the fall of the great city, Babylon, representing the evil system of the world. The people of the world had celebrated the city, and had enjoyed the evil that was in it, but in one hour, the city was destroyed once and for all. This was cause for rejoicing for the people who worship God.

The people of heaven began to praise God together because Jesus, the Lamb, was about to come to earth for his people. This would be the end of the Great Tribulation on the earth. John then saw the appearance of Jesus leading a charge of the armies of heaven. With his words he was able to defeat the rebellious armies of the earth, and threw the beast and his prophet (who had caused everyone to worship the beast) into the Lake of Fire, the place of eternal punishment.

An angel threw Satan into confinement in a bottomless pit for one thousand years, after which he would be let loose for a little while. For the time in which he was confined, he was unable to lead the earth in rebelling against Jesus the King. Believers in Jesus who had already been to heaven, including those who had been killed in the Tribulation, ruled on the earth along with Jesus for one thousand years. Finally, Satan was released from his confinement, and he led many people on the earth in a final rebellion against King Jesus, but they were destroyed by fire from the sky, and Satan was once and for all thrown into the Lake of Fire. Then everyone who had ever lived but who did not trust in God were judged by God, and based on their actions he condemned them to eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire, because all of them had rebelled against God.

Heaven and earth were recreated, and they were united as the dwelling place for God and his people, centered in the new city of Jerusalem. It is a place of great joy because of the presence of God and the absence of any wrongdoing of any kind. It is also a place of great beauty and wealth.

The city was a place of paradise, where the people of God could worship their God without any interruptions because of sin, like in the original place of paradise, the Garden of Eden (Constable, 658).

John concluded the book by encouraging the reader to realize that the time for these things to happen was near, and that they should always be prepared for the return of Jesus for them. Even though they live in a world dominated by evil, they should realize that Jesus would soon come to deal with the evil and begin his reign on this earth. We still wait.

The summary study of Revelation reveals that ultimately Jesus Christ will rule on this earth, even though there is great hostility against him here. Jesus will reign, and believers must continue to trust in Him, waiting for that time when Jesus will reveal himself and deal with evil on this earth.