100 Fun Facts About Book of Revelation

Where in the Bible does the Book of Revelation sit?

Last in the New Testament, Revelation ends the Bible where it began: Genesis opens with God creating heaven and earth, and this book closes on a new heaven and a new earth.

Revelation's first word in Greek is apokalypsis, which literally means what?

Unveiling is the literal sense of apokalypsis, a taking off of the cover; only in modern use did 'apocalypse' come to mean a world-ending catastrophe, after what this book describes.

On which island does the author of Revelation say he received his visions?

Patmos was a place of exile under the Romans, and John says he was there 'for the word of God'; its Cave of the Apocalypse is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Revelation is commonly dated to about AD 95, near the end of which Roman emperor's reign?

Domitian ruled from 81 to 96, and the date rests on Irenaeus, who wrote in the second century that the vision was seen 'almost in our own generation', at the end of that reign.

The seven churches that receive letters in Revelation all stood in which modern country?

Turkey holds all seven sites, in the region the text simply calls Asia; John is told to write what he sees in a book and send it to them, so the whole of Revelation is a letter.

What does Christ say he will do to the lukewarm church in Revelation 3?

Spit it out of his mouth: the church boasts that it is rich and needs nothing, and is told that it is in fact wretched, poor, blind and naked.

In Revelation, which of the seven churches is told it has left its first love?

Ephesus is praised for its hard work and for unmasking false apostles, yet warned that unless it repents its lampstand will be removed from its place.

Which of the seven churches is told to be faithful unto death through ten days of tribulation?

Smyrna is one of only two churches that receive no rebuke at all: it is told that it is poor yet really rich, and that the devil will throw some of its members into prison.

To the overcomer at Pergamum, Christ promises hidden manna and what object bearing a secret new name?

A white stone bears a new name known only to its receiver, a reward for holding fast in a city the letter calls the place 'where Satan's seat is', where Antipas was martyred.

The famous verse 'Behold, I stand at the door, and knock' is addressed to which church?

Laodicea, the last of the seven, hears it straight after being called lukewarm: the knock is an offer to come in and eat with anyone who opens the door.

How many elders sit on thrones around the throne of God in Revelation 4?

24 elders in white robes fall down before the throne whenever the four living creatures give glory, singing that God is worthy because he created all things.

In art, Revelation 4's lion, ox, man and eagle stand for whom?

The Gospel writers took one creature each in the scheme that prevailed in the West: Matthew the man, Mark the lion, Luke the ox and John the eagle, which is why Venice, Mark's city, has a winged lion as its emblem.

In Revelation 5, John weeps because no one is found worthy to do what?

Open the sealed scroll: an elder tells him the Lion of Judah has won the right, yet when John looks he sees a Lamb standing as though it had been slain.

At the sixth seal in Revelation 6, the kings of the earth beg what to fall on them?

The mountains and rocks: king and slave alike hide in caves and beg to be hidden from 'the wrath of the Lamb' as the stars fall and the sky is rolled away.

In Revelation 6, what colour is the horse ridden by Death?

Pale renders a word, chloros, that also means a greenish yellow and gives us 'chlorophyll'; Death is the only rider the text names, and Hades follows close behind him.

In Revelation 6, what does the rider of the black horse carry?

A pair of scales signals famine: a voice sets a day's wage as the price of a single measure of wheat, while oil and wine are to be left unharmed.

In Revelation 6, the rider of the white horse carries a bow, goes out conquering and is given what?

A crown goes to a rider nobody can agree on: some interpreters see Christ, who later returns on a white horse, while others see the Antichrist or plain conquest.

Which German artist's 1498 woodcut series on Revelation includes a famous image of the four horsemen?

Albrecht Dürer issued his Apocalypse, fifteen woodcuts on Revelation, in 1498, acting as his own publisher; The Four Horsemen is the best known of the set.

How many are sealed from the tribes of Israel in Revelation 7?

144,000 is the number John hears, 12,000 from each of twelve tribes; when he turns to look, he sees a crowd from every nation that no one could count.

When the seventh seal is opened in Revelation 8, what happens in heaven?

Silence for about half an hour falls before seven angels are handed trumpets; Ingmar Bergman took the title of his film The Seventh Seal from this verse.

In Revelation, what is the name of the great star that falls and makes a third of the waters bitter?

Wormwood is a bitter herb, the one that flavours absinthe, and the vision turns a third of the rivers into it, so that many people die from drinking the water.

In Revelation 9, what comes out of the smoke of the bottomless pit?

Locusts with the power of scorpions are told to leave every green plant alone, the opposite of real locusts, and to torment for five months those who lack God's seal.

How large is the army of horsemen released at the sixth trumpet in Revelation 9?

Two hundred million is the figure John says he heard; their horses have lions' heads and breathe fire, smoke and brimstone, which kill a third of mankind.

In Revelation 10, John is told to eat a little book that tastes like what in his mouth?

Honey in his mouth, the little book turns bitter in his belly, as the angel warned; he is then told he must prophesy again before many peoples and kings.

In Revelation 11, the two witnesses prophesy for 1,260 days wearing what?

Sackcloth is the coarse cloth of mourning; anyone who tries to harm the pair is consumed by fire from their mouths, and they can shut the sky so that no rain falls.

While the two witnesses lie dead in Revelation 11, what do the people of the earth do?

Celebrate and exchange gifts: the world makes merry because the two prophets had tormented it, but after three and a half days they stand up alive and rise to heaven in a cloud.

In Revelation 12, the woman who flees from the dragon is clothed with what?

The sun clothes a woman whose newborn son the dragon waits to devour; the child is caught up to God's throne, and the earth swallows the flood the dragon spews after her.

Which archangel leads the war in heaven against the dragon in Revelation 12?

Michael and his angels throw the dragon, 'that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan', down to earth, where he turns his fury on the woman and her children.

How is the great red dragon of Revelation 12 described?

Seven heads and ten horns mark the dragon, whose tail sweeps a third of the stars out of the sky; he then waits to devour a woman's child the moment it is born.

In Revelation 13, what can nobody do without the mark of the beast?

Buy or sell: a second beast forces the mark onto the right hand or forehead of rich and poor alike, and has those who refuse to worship the first beast's image killed.

An early papyrus copy of Revelation 13 gives the number of the beast as what, instead of 666?

616 is the reading of a papyrus fragment from Oxyrhynchus in Egypt, one of the earliest known copies of the chapter, and some textual critics think it may be the original number.

Which Roman emperor's name is the most common solution to the number of the beast?

Nero fits because Hebrew letters double as numbers: 'Neron Caesar' written in them adds up to 666, and the text itself invites readers to 'count the number'.

In Revelation 13, the first beast has a leopard's body, a lion's mouth and the feet of which animal?

A bear's feet complete a creature built from the animals Daniel saw in his own vision, a lion, a bear and a leopard; the dragon then hands it his power and throne.

When the sixth bowl is poured out in Revelation 16, which river dries up?

The Euphrates dries up 'that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared', and three unclean spirits then go out to gather the world's kings for battle.

In Revelation 16, the kings of the earth are gathered for battle at a place called, in Hebrew, what?

Armageddon is usually traced to the Hebrew for 'mount of Megiddo', a city that saw important Israelite battles; the name appears nowhere else in the New Testament.

Which word of praise appears in the New Testament only in Revelation 19?

Hallelujah rings out four times in the chapter as a great crowd in heaven rejoices; in the Old Testament the word belongs to the Psalms.

The harlot of Revelation 17 sits on a scarlet beast and bears what name on her forehead?

Babylon the Great sits on seven hills and rules over the kings of the earth, which is why she is often read as a code name for imperial Rome.

In Revelation 19, what name is written on the white horse rider's robe and thigh?

King of Kings and Lord of Lords rides out at the head of heaven's armies in a robe dipped in blood, and the beast and the false prophet are captured.

Where are the beast and the false prophet thrown after the battle in Revelation 19?

The lake of fire, burning with brimstone, takes the pair alive, while the rest of their army is killed and left to the birds an angel had called to the feast.

For how long is Satan bound in the bottomless pit in Revelation 20?

A thousand years is the 'millennium' that gives millennialism its name: Christians still differ over whether it is a literal future reign of the saints or a symbol.

When Satan is released in Revelation 20, he gathers which two named nations for battle?

Gog and Magog, a horde beyond counting, surround the camp of the saints and the beloved city, only for fire from heaven to devour them.

What name does Revelation 20 give to the final punishment after the last judgment?

The second death takes even Death and Hades, which are thrown in once they have given up their dead; earlier, the book promises it cannot hurt those who overcome.

In Revelation 21's vision of the new heaven and new earth, what does John say there is no more of?

Sea: in this book it is where the first beast rises and where the dead lie until the judgment, which is one reading of why the remade world has none.

The New Jerusalem of Revelation comes down from heaven prepared like what?

A bride adorned for her husband: an angel then offers to show John 'the bride, the Lamb's wife', and what he shows him is the city itself.

In Revelation 21, what shape is the New Jerusalem when the angel measures it?

A cube: its length, breadth and height are equal, as in the Holy of Holies of Solomon's temple, and John adds that the city has no temple because God himself is there.

In Revelation 21, each gate of the New Jerusalem is made from a single what?

Pearl: 'every several gate was of one pearl', which is where the phrase 'pearly gates' comes from; the street inside is pure gold, as clear as glass.

Whose names are written on the foundations of the New Jerusalem's wall?

The apostles of the Lamb are named on the twelve foundations and the tribes of Israel on the twelve gates, so both peoples of God are written into one city.

Why, according to Revelation 21:25, are the gates of the city never shut?

Because there is no night there, the gates never need closing: in the Bible city gates are shut at dark, as at Jericho, but here the glory of God is the light.

In Revelation 22, the tree of life's leaves are for what?

Healing the nations is the work of a tree that Genesis put out of reach, setting cherubim to guard the way to it after Eden; here it stands open and yields fruit every month.

In Revelation, 'I am Alpha and Omega' is followed by which matching phrase?

The beginning and the end: alpha and omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, so the title claims everything in between as well.

In Revelation 22, Jesus calls himself the root and offspring of David and what else?

The bright and morning star echoes a promise made to the faithful at Thyatira; in Latin 'morning star' is lucifer, a word that later became a name for the devil.

What are the final words spoken by Christ in the Bible, in Revelation 22:20?

'Surely I come quickly' is the third time he says it in the chapter; John answers 'Even so, come, Lord Jesus', and a single line of blessing then closes the Bible.

What does Revelation's closing warning threaten for anyone who adds words to the book?

The plagues it describes will be added to him, and anyone who cuts words out loses his share in the holy city; the curse echoes Deuteronomy's ban on adding to the law.

Which Protestant Reformer called Revelation 'neither apostolic nor prophetic'?

Martin Luther wrote in 1522 that he missed too much in the book to count it apostolic, but replaced that preface in 1530 with a longer, friendlier one that interprets its symbols.

Which major Christian tradition leaves Revelation out of the readings in its public worship?

The Eastern Orthodox Church accepts the book but never reads it at services; the Christian East hesitated for centuries over whether it belonged in the New Testament at all.

Which of the great early Bible codices is missing the Book of Revelation?

Codex Vaticanus breaks off partway through Hebrews and has no Revelation in its original hand; the copy now bound into it was added around the 15th century.

Which Old Testament prophet, echoed throughout Revelation, also sees four living creatures and is told to eat a scroll?

Ezekiel also supplies the mark on the forehead and the angel with a measuring reed; John reworks his great temple vision into a city that has no temple at all.

Which Steinbeck novel's title traces back to a vision in Revelation 14?

The Grapes of Wrath was a title suggested by Steinbeck's wife Carol, from 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic', whose vintage line echoes the angel who throws earth's grapes into the winepress of God's wrath.

In Revelation 1, the one like a son of man has hair white as wool and what coming from his mouth?

A sharp two-edged sword comes from his mouth, and his voice is like the sound of many waters; at the sight John falls at his feet as though dead and is told 'Fear not'.

At the last judgment in Revelation 20, which book is opened alongside the records of the dead?

The book of life decides the outcome: the dead are judged by their deeds, but it is those whose names are missing from it who are condemned.

Which famous end-times title, found in the Bible only in the letters of John, never appears in Revelation?

The antichrist is named only in 1 John and 2 John. Revelation's villains go by other names, such as the beast and the false prophet.

In Revelation 5, the one worthy to open the sealed scroll is called the Lion of which tribe?

Judah was King David's tribe, and the same verse adds the title Root of David. Jacob's blessing in Genesis 49 had already pictured Judah as a lion's cub.

Which great river dries up at Revelation's sixth bowl to prepare the way for kings from the east?

Euphrates is also where four bound angels are set loose at the sixth trumpet, so the same river marks the sixth judgment in both the trumpet and the bowl series.

The seven churches addressed in Revelation stood in the Roman province of Asia, in which modern country?

Turkey holds the ruins of all seven, which lay in Greek-speaking Anatolia when the letters were written. The island where John saw his visions lies across the water in Greece.

Which chorus, closing Part II of Handel's Messiah, takes its words from Revelation 19 and 11?

Hallelujah draws on Revelation 19:6, 19:16 and 11:15. Handel finished the whole oratorio in just 24 days.

At the close of Revelation 11, heaven's sanctuary opens to reveal which sacred object from Israel's past?

The ark of the covenant, the sacred chest that held the Ten Commandments, appears amid lightning, an earthquake and great hail.

In Revelation 15, those who conquered the beast sing the song of the Lamb and the song of which prophet?

Moses sang after Israel crossed the Red Sea in Exodus 15, and Revelation's singers likewise stand beside a sea, this one made of glass.

At the last judgment in Revelation 20, the dead whose names are missing from what are condemned?

The book of life is opened alongside other books that record each person's deeds, and the dead are judged by what those volumes contain.

Revelation 17 says the beast's seven heads are seven mountains, an image most often tied to which city?

Rome was famous as the city on seven hills, and a coin minted under the emperor Vespasian pictures the city as a woman seated on them.

Which building does John find missing from Revelation's New Jerusalem, a city of high walls and twelve gates?

A temple is unneeded because, John writes, the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are themselves the city's sanctuary. Earlier chapters had shown one in heaven, with an altar and incense.

Which US president, writing in 1825, the year before he died, dismissed Revelation as a maniac's ravings?

Thomas Jefferson told Alexander Smyth the book was no more worth explaining than a night's dreams. Five years earlier he had pieced together his own gospel with a razor and glue.

Which Royal Society scientist left a study of Daniel and Revelation that was published after his death?

Isaac Newton's Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse appeared in 1733, six years after he died. It followed his Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended, another posthumous work.

Which Old Testament queen's name is given to a false prophetess in one of Revelation's seven letters?

Jezebel was the wife of King Ahab, and she promoted the worship of Baal over Israel's God. Revelation borrows her name for a teacher accused of leading believers into idolatry.

Which of Revelation's seven churches is told it has a name for being alive but is really dead?

Sardis is told to wake up and strengthen what remains before it dies. Only a few of its members, the letter adds, have kept their garments clean.

In Revelation 21, the street of the New Jerusalem is made of which material, said to be clear as glass?

Pure gold, yet transparent like glass, paves the street. The same chapter says the entire city is built of it, on foundations set with every kind of jewel.

With what will the male child born to the woman of Revelation 12 rule all the nations?

A rod of iron comes from Psalm 2, where God's anointed king shatters the nations like a potter's jar. Revelation uses the phrase three times.

Where does the woman of Revelation 12 flee after giving birth, to a place God has prepared for her?

The wilderness is where she is fed and kept out of the dragon's reach. Later in the chapter she is given the two wings of a great eagle to fly there.

Three unclean spirits come from the dragon, beast and false prophet in Revelation 16 looking like what?

Frogs recall the second plague of Egypt in Exodus. These spirits work miracles and gather the world's rulers for the great day of battle.

In most English Bibles, which single word closes Revelation's final verse, and with it the whole Bible?

Amen ends the closing blessing of grace in most versions, though some manuscripts lack it. Revelation 3:14 even uses the word as a title for Christ himself.

What flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the city in Revelation 22?

The river of life runs clear as crystal down the middle of the city's street, with the tree of life growing on both its banks.

In Revelation 1, which objects around the Son of Man figure are said to stand for the seven churches?

Lampstands, or candlesticks in the King James Version, stand for the churches, while the seven stars in the figure's right hand are their angels.

On which day does John say he was in the Spirit when a trumpet-like voice began Revelation's visions?

The Lord's day is a phrase found nowhere else in the New Testament. Christian tradition has generally read it as Sunday, the day of worship.

Which sect is condemned by name in two of Revelation's letters, the first for deeds Christ says he hates?

Nicolaitans appear by name nowhere else in the Bible. Irenaeus and other early writers traced them to Nicolas, one of the seven deacons chosen in Acts 6.

In Revelation 4, what encircles God's throne and is said to look like an emerald?

A rainbow circles the throne, echoing the sign of God's promise to Noah after the flood. Another one crowns the mighty angel of chapter 10.

In Revelation 5, what do the bowls of incense held by the elders stand for?

The prayers of the saints rise again in chapter 8, where an angel offers them with incense on the altar before the trumpets begin to sound.

In Revelation 7, what does the countless multitude in white robes hold while standing before the throne?

Palm branches were waved at the Feast of Tabernacles and at Jesus's entry into Jerusalem. This crowd, John is told, has come out of the great tribulation.

Revelation 9 gives the angel of the abyss the Hebrew name Abaddon and which Greek name?

Apollyon means Destroyer, much as Abaddon means destruction. He is king over the tormenting swarm released when the fifth trumpet sounds.

On which mountain does the Lamb stand with followers marked with his Father's name in Revelation 14?

Mount Zion is the Jerusalem hill long tied to King David's city. The followers gathered there sing a new song that no one else is able to learn.

In Revelation 14, the one like a son of man seated on a white cloud holds which tool?

A sharp sickle is swung twice in the chapter: first for the grain harvest, then by an angel who gathers the grapes of the earth for the winepress.

In Revelation 22, the leaves of the tree of life are said to be for what purpose?

Healing the nations is the work of its leaves. In Genesis the same tree was put beyond humanity's reach after Eden.

In Revelation 10, whose message is John forbidden to write down and told to seal up instead?

The seven thunders speak when a mighty angel roars like a lion. Theirs is a rare secret in a book whose final chapter tells John not to seal up its words.

Which tribe of Israel is left out of Revelation 7's list of the sealed, though Levi and Joseph both appear?

Dan is missing, while Ephraim is covered by the name of his father Joseph. In the Old Testament the town of Dan housed one of King Jeroboam's two calf idols.

Which school of interpretation reads Revelation's visions as events already fulfilled in the first century?

Preterism often treats the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70 as the turning point. Futurism, by contrast, places most of the visions still ahead.

Which bishop of Alexandria listed Revelation among the 27 New Testament books in his Easter letter of 367?

Athanasius gave the earliest known list matching today's New Testament exactly, and he was the first to describe those books as canonized.

Which Renaissance scholar, lacking a full Greek manuscript, translated Revelation's last six verses back from Latin?

Erasmus was preparing the first published Greek New Testament in 1516. The leaf with those verses was gone from his manuscript, so he turned the Vulgate's Latin into Greek himself.

Tradition places John's exile and the writing of Revelation under which emperor, the last of the Flavians?

Domitian was assassinated by his own court officials, and the Senate then condemned his memory to oblivion.

Which Old Testament figure, hired to curse Israel, is named in one of Revelation's seven letters?

Balaam is best remembered for his talking donkey. Revelation says he taught King Balak to lure Israel into idol feasts and sexual immorality.

In Revelation 18, a mighty angel hurls what into the sea to show how the great city will fall?

A millstone sinking without trace is the angel's picture of the city's end. The image echoes Jeremiah 51, where a scroll is tied to a rock and sunk as a sign.

The wall of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21 is built of which gem, also its first foundation?

Jasper is also what the one seated on the throne looks like in chapter 4, and the city's own radiance is compared to it, clear as crystal.

In Revelation 1, the risen Christ tells John that he holds the keys of what?

Death and Hades are his to unlock because, he says, he was dead and is now alive for evermore. Peter's famous keys, by contrast, are those of the kingdom of heaven.