The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament (288 page)

In the final analysis, all these perspectives have something to offer and draw attention to important aspects of Revelation. What is needed is an
integrative
view that recognizes the presence of multiple themes and perspectives that complement one another and add richness and depth to the book. Christianity's struggle against the mighty Roman Empire is certainly part of the picture, as are the spiritual challenges to faith and fidelity that confront believers bombarded by the claims of the world. So too, one can hardly deny that Revelation offers a message of ultimate hope that looks ahead to the consummation of history and the heavenly glorification of the saints. Less commonly appreciated is the attention Revelation gives to the First Coming of Christ, whose death and Resurrection constitute the theological basis of the book, as well as the coming of Christ in judgment against unbelieving Jerusalem, which was known to the early Christians as the city "where their Lord was crucified" (11:8). «

OUTLINE OF THE REVELATION TO SAINT JOHN

1. The Account of "What You See" (
1:1-20
)

   A. Introduction (
1:1-8
)

   B. Inaugural Vision (
1:9-20
)

2. The Account of "What Is" (
2:1-3:22
)

   A. Letters to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, and Thyratira (
2:1-29
)

   B. Letters to Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea (
3:1-22
)

3. The Account of "What Is to Take Place" (
4:1-22:21
)

   A. The Heavenly Liturgy of Creation and Redemption (
4:1-5:14
)

   B. The Seven Seals (
6:1-8:5
)

   C. The Seven Trumpets (
8:6-11:19
)

   D. The Seven Spiritual Figures (
12:1-14:20
)

   E. The Seven Bowls of Wrath (
15:1-16:21
)

   F. The Fall of the Harlot City (
17:1-18:24
)

   G. The Marriage Supper of the Lamb (
19:1-10
)

   H. The Judgment of the Beasts, the Devil, and the Dead (
19:11-20:15
)

   I. The New Heavens, New Earth, and New Jerusalem (
21:1-22: 5
)

4. Epilogue (
22:6-21
)

Chapters

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22

Essays and Charts

Who Is Babylon?

Introduction and Salutation

1
 
The
revelation
of Jesus Christ, which God
gave him
to show to his servants what must soon take place; and he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
²
who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.
³
Blessed
is he who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written therein; for the time is near.

4
 John to
the seven churches
that are in Asia:
 
*

Grace to you and peace
from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,
⁵
and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness,
the first-born
of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood
⁶
and made us a
kingdom, priests
to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
⁷
Behold,
he is coming
with the clouds, and every eye will see him, every one who pierced him; and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

8
 "I am the
Alpha and the Omega
," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

A Vision of Christ

9
 I John, your brother, who share with you in Jesus the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called
Patmos
on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
¹⁰
I was
in the Spirit
on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet
¹¹
saying, "Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Per'gamum and to Thyati'ra and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to La-odice'a."

12
 
Then I turned to see
the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw
seven golden lampstands
,
¹³
and in the midst of the lampstands one like a Son of man,
 
*
clothed with a
long robe
and with a golden sash across his chest;
¹⁴
his head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire,
¹⁵
his feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters;
¹⁶
in his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth issued a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

17
 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand upon me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last,
¹⁸
and the living one; I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I have the
keys of Death and Hades
.
¹⁹
Now write
what you see, what is and what is
to take place hereafter.
²⁰
As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are
the angels
of the seven churches and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

The Message to Ephesus [
Map
]

2
  
"
To the angel of the Church
in
Ephesus
write: 'The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.

2
 "
 
'I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear evil men but have tested those who call themselves apostles but are not, and found them to be false;
³
I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary.
⁴
But I have this against you, that you have
abandoned the love
you had at first.
⁵
Remember then from what you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and
remove your lampstand
from its place, unless you repent.
⁶
Yet this you have, you hate the works of
the Nicola'itans
, which I also hate.
⁷
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To
him who conquers
I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.'

The Message to Smyrna

8
 "And to the angel of the Church in
Smyrna
write: 'The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.

9
 "
 
'I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a
synagogue of Satan
.
¹⁰
Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for
ten days
 
*
you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
¹¹
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who conquers shall not be hurt by
the second death
.'

The Message to Pergamum

12
 "And to the angel of the Church in
Per'gamum
write: 'The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.

13
 "
 
'I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is; you hold fast my name and you did not deny my faith even in the days of
An'tipas
my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
¹⁴
But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the
teaching of Balaam
, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice immorality.
¹⁵
So you also have some who hold the teaching of
the Nicola'itans
.
¹⁶
Repent then. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.
¹⁷
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who conquers I will give some of
the hidden manna
, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone which no one knows except him who receives it.'

The Message to Thyatira

18
 "And to the angel of the Church in
Thyati'ra
write: 'The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.

19
 "
 
'I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first.
²⁰
But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman
Jez'ebel
, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and beguiling my servants to practice immorality
 
*
and to eat food sacrificed to idols.
²¹
I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her immorality.
 
*
²²
Behold, I will throw her on a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her doings;
²³
and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches shall know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you
as your works deserve
.
²⁴
But to the rest of you in Thyati'ra, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call
the deep things of Satan
,
 
*
to you I say, I do not lay upon you any other burden;
²⁵
only hold fast what you have, until I come.
²⁶
He who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, I will give him power over the nations,
²⁷
and he shall rule them with a
rod of iron
, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received power from my Father;
²⁸
and I will give him the
morning star
.
 
*
²⁹
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'

The Message to Sardis

3
  
"And to the angel of the Church in
Sardis
write: 'The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

"
 
'I know your works; you have the name of being alive, and you are dead.
²
Awake, and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God.
³
Remember then what you received and heard; keep that, and repent. If you will not awake, I will come
like a thief
, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you.
⁴
Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not
soiled their garments
; and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy.
⁵
He who conquers shall be clothed like them in white garments, and I will not blot his name out of
the book of life
; I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.
⁶
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'

The Message to Philadelphia

7
 "And to the angel of the Church in
Philadelphia
write: 'The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one shall shut, who shuts and no one opens.

8
 "
 
'I know your works. Behold, I have set before you
an open door
, which no one is able to shut; I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.
⁹
Behold, I will make those of the
synagogue of Satan
who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and learn that I have loved you.
¹⁰
Because you have kept my word of patient endurance, I will keep you from
the hour of trial
which is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell upon the earth.
¹¹
I am coming soon; hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.
¹²
He who conquers, I will make him a
pillar in the temple
of my God; never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.
 
*
¹³
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'