Glossary · 70 terms
Glossary of terms
Each entry gives a plain definition, how the word is used in Revelation, and one or two references. Where faithful Christians read a term differently, the entry says so.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T W
A
Abyss
The deep; in the New Testament, the prison of demonic powers. Opened in the fifth trumpet, and the place where Satan is bound for a thousand years. (Rev 9:1–2; 20:1–3)
Alpha and Omega
The first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. A title of God in Revelation 1:8, claimed by Jesus in 22:13: the beginning and the end of the whole story.
Amillennialism
See Millennium.
Antichrist
A word Revelation never uses. In John’s letters, it means anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ, and John says “many antichrists” had already come (1 John 2:18, 22). The single end-times “Antichrist” of popular teaching combines those letters with Paul’s “man of sin” (2 Thess 2:3) and Revelation’s Beast; that combination is widely held but interpretive.
Apocalypse
From the Greek apokalypsis, “unveiling.” Both the name of the book and the kind of writing it is: visions and symbols that reveal the reality behind visible events. See Apocalyptic literature. (Rev 1:1)
Apocalyptic literature
A kind of biblical writing — Daniel, parts of Ezekiel and Zechariah, and Revelation — that speaks through vivid symbols and heavenly visions. Its pictures are meant to be seen and understood, not decoded.
Apollyon (Abaddon)
Greek and Hebrew names meaning “Destroyer,” given to the king of the locusts released at the fifth trumpet. (Rev 9:11)
Armageddon
From the Hebrew Harmagedon, “mountain of Megiddo.” The gathering place of the kings of the earth for the final battle, named only once in the Bible. Megiddo was a real site of decisive battles in Israel’s history; there’s no mountain there, and many scholars read the name as a symbol for the place where evil gathers to lose. (Rev 16:16)
Atonement
The setting right of the relationship between God and people through a sacrifice. Revelation’s picture of it is the Lamb, slain, whose blood washes his people clean. (Rev 1:5; 5:9; 7:14)
B
Babylon
Historically, the empire that destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC. In Revelation, the name for a corrupt world system of wealth, pleasure, and power built on violence — for John’s first readers, Rome; since then, every system that runs on the same appetites. (Rev 14:8; 17–18)
Beast
Two figures in Revelation 13: one from the sea (political power that demands worship) and one from the land (religious and cultural power that enforces it, later called the False Prophet). The first is built from the four beasts of Daniel 7. For John’s readers, the beast wore Rome’s face. (Rev 13; 17:8–14)
Book of Life
The register of those who belong to the Lamb. At the final judgment, works are the evidence, and this book is the verdict. Jesus promises never to blot out the name of one who overcomes. (Rev 3:5; 13:8; 20:12–15; 21:27)
Bowls of God’s Wrath
The seven final plagues, poured out after the seals and trumpets have been refused; their pictures come from the plagues on Egypt. (Rev 15–16)
Bride
God’s people together, pictured as the wife of the Lamb — never an individual believer alone. She descends at the end as the New Jerusalem. (Rev 19:7–9; 21:2, 9)
C
Christ
A title, not a last name: the Greek form of the Hebrew Messiah, “anointed one” — the king God promised to Israel. Christians believe Jesus of Nazareth is that king, crucified, risen, reigning, and returning. (Rev 1:1; 11:15)
Church
In the WEB, “assembly” (Greek ekklēsia): a gathered group of Jesus’ followers in a place, not a building. Revelation is addressed to seven of them. (Rev 1:4, 11; 2–3)
Covenant
A binding relationship God establishes with his people, with promises on both sides. The promise “I will be their God, and they will be my people” runs from Leviticus 26:12 to Revelation 21:3, where it’s finally kept in full.
D
Dragon
Satan, the ancient serpent of Genesis 3, grown huge. Revelation names him outright. (Rev 12:9; 20:2)
E
Elders (twenty-four)
Figures around God’s throne, in white with golden crowns, who cast the crowns down in worship. Read either as representing God’s people (twelve tribes plus twelve apostles) or as a council of heavenly beings; Revelation doesn’t say. (Rev 4:4, 10)
End Times
A broad term for the final period of history before Christ’s return. In the New Testament, “the last days” began with Christ’s first coming (Acts 2:17; Heb 1:2), so the phrase describes the whole age since as well as its close.
F
False Prophet
The second beast of Revelation 13, named later in the book: religion in the service of power, enforcing worship of the first beast through signs and economic pressure. (Rev 13:11–17; 16:13; 19:20)
Four Horsemen
The riders released by the first four seals: conquest, war, famine, and death. Most scholars read them as the recurring conditions of a fallen world between Christ’s first coming and his return; some as a future sequence. The first rider is read as conquest (many scholars today) or as Christ or the gospel (the oldest reading). (Rev 6:1–8)
Futurist view
The reading that takes Revelation 4–22 as mainly describing events still to come — the most common approach among evangelicals today. See Chapter 4.
G
Gospel
Literally “good news”: the announcement that Jesus, the Messiah, has died for sins, been raised, and reigns. Revelation’s angel carries “an eternal Good News” to every nation. (Rev 14:6)
Grace
God’s favor given freely, not earned. The Bible’s closing blessing: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with all the saints.” (Rev 1:4; 22:21)
Great White Throne
The final judgment scene: the dead stand before God, the books of works are opened, and the book of life decides. (Rev 20:11–15)
H
Hades
The Greek name for the realm of the dead (Hebrew Sheol) — not the same as the lake of fire, into which Death and Hades are themselves thrown. Jesus holds its keys. (Rev 1:18; 6:8; 20:13–14)
Historicist view
The reading that takes Revelation as a symbolic outline of church history from the apostles to the end. Dominant among Protestants for centuries; it has few defenders today. See Chapter 4.
I
Idealist view
The reading that takes Revelation as a timeless picture of the struggle between God and evil in every age, rather than a timeline. See Chapter 4.
J
Judgment
God’s setting right of the world: naming evil, answering the cries of the wronged, and destroying what destroys. In Revelation, it’s always framed by worship that calls God’s ways “righteous and true.” (Rev 15:3–4; 16:5–7; 20:11–15)
K
Kingdom of God
God’s reign — present wherever his will is done, and coming in full when Christ returns. The seventh trumpet announces it: “The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord.” (Rev 11:15; 12:10)
L
Lamb
Revelation’s favorite name for Jesus — slain, standing, worthy to open the scroll. The picture comes from the Passover lamb (Exodus 12) and Isaiah’s suffering servant (Isaiah 53). The Lamb remains central to the very end: the throne of the new creation is “the throne of God and of the Lamb.” (Rev 5:6–12; 7:17; 22:1–3)
Lampstand
In Revelation, a church — Jesus says so. The seven golden lampstands are the seven churches; the two witnesses are also called lampstands. (Rev 1:20; 11:4)
M
Mark of the Beast
The sign of allegiance to the beast, placed on the forehead or hand — the places God told Israel to carry his word (Deut 6:8) — and required for buying and selling. Revelation ties it to worship of the beast every time it’s mentioned; it’s a declared allegiance, not an accident. (Rev 13:16–18; 14:9–11; 20:4)
Messiah
See Christ.
Millennium
The “thousand years” of Revelation 20, during which Satan is bound and the saints reign with Christ. Read three main ways: premillennialism (Christ returns before it and reigns on earth), amillennialism (it pictures the church age now, with Christ reigning from heaven), and postmillennialism (the gospel’s triumph on earth before Christ returns). The earliest Christian writers leaned premillennial; the church from Augustine on was amillennial; scholars and teachers today divide. See Chapter 17. (Rev 20:1–6)
Mount Zion
The hill of Jerusalem where the temple stood and where God set his king (Psalm 2:6). In Revelation, the heavenly Zion where the Lamb stands with his people. (Rev 14:1; Heb 12:22)
N
New Heaven and New Earth
God’s renewal of all creation, promised in Isaiah 65:17 and seen in Revelation 21–22: not the destruction of the world but its healing.
New Jerusalem (Holy City)
God’s dwelling with his redeemed people, coming down from heaven as a bride. A perfect cube, like the Holy of Holies; no temple, because God and the Lamb are its temple; no need of sun, because God’s glory is its light. (Rev 3:12; 21:2–27)
Number 144,000
Twelve thousand from each of Israel’s twelve tribes, sealed before judgment falls, and later seen with the Lamb on Mount Zion. Read as a literal count of Jewish believers or, by many scholars, as a symbol (12 × 12 × 1,000) for the complete people of God. (Rev 7:4–8; 14:1–5)
O
Old Testament (Hebrew Scriptures)
The Christian name for the first and larger part of the Bible — the Scriptures Jesus read and quoted, which Jewish readers call the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh and which remain Israel’s living Scriptures. Revelation echoes them hundreds of times.
Overcomer
The one who “overcomes” — who holds on to Jesus through pressure, even to death. Every letter to the seven churches ends with a promise to the overcomer, and Revelation says how they overcome: “because of the Lamb’s blood, and because of the word of their testimony.” (Rev 2–3; 12:11; 21:7)
P
Patmos
A small, rocky island in the Aegean Sea off the coast of modern Turkey, where John received the vision “because of God’s Word and the testimony of Jesus.” Early tradition says he was banished there. (Rev 1:9)
Postmillennialism
See Millennium.
Premillennialism
See Millennium.
Preterist view
The reading that takes most of Revelation as fulfilled in the first century, especially in Jerusalem’s fall and Rome’s persecution. Partial preterists still expect Christ’s return and the final judgment; full preterists place even those in the past, a view outside historic Christian confession. See Chapter 4.
Prophecy
In the Bible, God’s word spoken through a messenger — sometimes foretelling, always calling for faithfulness. Revelation calls itself a prophecy and blesses those who keep it. (Rev 1:3; 22:7)
R
Rapture
The catching up of believers to meet Christ at his coming (1 Thess 4:17). Some Christians, especially in the dispensational tradition, understand it as a separate event before a final tribulation and find it pictured in John’s being called up to heaven in Revelation 4:1; others read that verse as John’s own experience and place the church’s gathering at Christ’s visible return. Revelation doesn’t use the word.
Redemption
Being bought back — the language of freeing an enslaved person or ransoming a captive. Revelation says the Lamb “bought us for God with your blood.” (Rev 5:9; 14:3–4)
Repentance
Turning around: a change of mind that changes your direction. Jesus calls five of the seven churches to it, and the trumpets and bowls fall on a world that refuses it. (Rev 2:5; 9:20–21; 16:9)
Resurrection
Being raised bodily from the dead, as Jesus was — “the firstborn of the dead.” Revelation’s “first resurrection” is read either as the bodily raising of the faithful at Christ’s return or as the believer’s new life in him now. (Rev 1:5, 18; 20:5–6)
Revelation
The unveiling of Jesus Christ, given by God, shown to John, and written for the churches. (Rev 1:1)
S
Saints
Not a special class of Christians, but all who belong to Jesus — “holy ones,” set apart as his. Revelation uses the word for the whole people of God, including those the beast makes war on. (Rev 5:8; 13:7; 14:12; 22:21)
Salvation
Rescue — from sin, death, judgment, and the powers that destroy — into life with God. Heaven’s song credits it to God and the Lamb. (Rev 7:10; 12:10; 19:1)
Satan
“The adversary.” Revelation calls him the dragon, the old serpent, the devil, the deceiver of the whole world, and the accuser of God’s people — thrown down from heaven, bound, and finally destroyed. (Rev 12:9–10; 20:2, 10)
Scroll (seven-sealed)
The document in God’s right hand, sealed shut with seven seals, which only the Lamb is worthy to open; its contents are God’s purposes for judgment and redemption. The WEB calls it a “book.” (Rev 5:1–9)
Seal (on a scroll)
A lump of wax or clay stamped with an owner’s mark, closing a document until the owner or his authorized agent breaks it. The seven seals on the scroll release the judgments of Revelation 6–8. (Rev 5:1; 6:1–17; 8:1)
Seal (on God’s people)
A different use of the same word: God’s mark of ownership and protection on the foreheads of his servants, set before judgment falls (compare Ezekiel 9). It keeps them through suffering, not around it. (Rev 7:2–4; 9:4; 14:1)
Second Death
The lake of fire — final separation from God, into which Death and Hades themselves are thrown. The overcomer “won’t be harmed by the second death.” (Rev 2:11; 20:6, 14; 21:8)
Seven Churches
The seven real congregations in the Roman province of Asia to which Revelation was sent. Christians in every age read their seven letters as addressed to the whole church. (Rev 1:11; 2–3)
Seven Trumpets
Seven angelic blasts bringing partial judgments — alarms, sounded while there’s time to turn — and ending with the announcement of Christ’s reign. (Rev 8–11)
Sin
Turning from God — in thought, word, and deed — and the condition of a world that has done so. Revelation’s picture of its cure is robes washed white in the Lamb’s blood. (Rev 1:5; 7:14)
Son of Man
Jesus’ most frequent name for himself in the Gospels, from Daniel 7:13, where “one like a son of man” receives an everlasting kingdom. John sees him among the lampstands. (Rev 1:13; 14:14)
Synagogue
A Jewish house of assembly for prayer and Scripture. The phrase “synagogue of Satan” in two of the seven letters refers to a local conflict in Smyrna and Philadelphia, not to Jewish people; see Chapter 6. (Rev 2:9; 3:9)
T
Torah
The Hebrew word for “instruction,” used for the first five books of the Bible and, more broadly, for God’s law. Revelation’s warning against adding to or taking from “this book” echoes the Torah’s own (Deut 4:2).
Tribulation
First, simply suffering or pressure — the ordinary Greek word, which the WEB often renders “oppression” or “suffering.” Some Christians use “the Tribulation” for a proposed final period of distress before Christ’s return; whether Revelation 7:14 points to that period, to the whole long pressure of church history, or to both is a question faithful readers answer differently. (Rev 1:9; 2:10; 7:14)
Two Witnesses
The two prophets of Revelation 11 who testify for 1,260 days, are killed, and are raised. Read as two future prophets, as Moses and Elijah (or figures in their spirit), or, by many scholars, as the witnessing church. (Rev 11:3–12)
W
Woman of Revelation 12
God’s covenant people, from whom the Messiah comes: Israel, and — since “the rest of her offspring” hold Jesus’ testimony — the people of God across both testaments. (Rev 12:1–6, 17)
Wormwood
A bitter plant; the name of the star that falls at the third trumpet and turns a third of the waters bitter. In the prophets, the bitterness God’s people bring on themselves. (Rev 8:10–11; Jer 9:15)
Worship
Giving God the honor that belongs to him alone. Revelation’s central contest is over it: heaven worships the one on the throne and the Lamb; the beast demands worship for himself. (Rev 4–5; 13:4, 8; 14:7; 22:9)