Common to both ancient
Hebrew and
Christian literature, prophetic writing hailed
the end of the world and the triumph of
good over
evil. In the
Old Testament Daniel had apocalyptic visions, but in the
New Testament the apocalypse is most closely associated with the
Revelation ascribed to St
John the Evangelist. It was written at a time when Christians were suffering persecution, possibly in the 1st century AD, and is difficult to read today as many of the images are no longer clearly understood. The significance of certain numbers, especially
seven, is likewise
obscure, but some allusions may be to
Roman emperors. In the Revelation angels speak, mighty forces clash, and saints are rewarded;
God faces huge opposition but is finally triumphant.
Some passages from the Revelation are well known: God as the Alpha and Omega; the apocalyptic beasts surrounding the throne of heaven, resembling a lion, a calf, a man and a flying eagle, which were adopted as the attributes of the Evangelists; and the visions of God, of the Lamb and of the Seven Seals. Each seal opened to reveal a vision. The first four seals disclosed the four horsemen of the apocalypse: a conquerer with bow and crown, on a white horse; War, the destroyer with the sword, on a red horse; Hunger, with a pair of scales, on a black horse; and Death, the pale horseman, with Hell on his heels.
The fifth seal revealed the souls of those slain for preaching the word of God, who were given white robes. The sixth seal brought a great earthquake, when the sun blackened, the moon became blood red, the stars fell, heaven departed and men hid in the mountains from this day of wrath. An angel anointed the “seal of the living God” on the foreheads of his servants, while four angels held back the four winds of the earth. Silence filled heaven when the seventh seal was opened, until an angel threw a censer to earth and caused thunder, lightning and earthquakes. The call of seven trumpets released further revelations, of the wonders of heaven, of the Devil and his angels cast out of Heaven, and of the ‘whore of Babylon’, the scarlet woman, mother of harlots and of the earth’s abominations. The last decisive battle was fought at Armageddon before the Day of Judgment.