When we read Revelation we naturally think that John was talking about the oppressive Babylonian Empire when he references Babylon—but John’s audience knew he was talking about the oppressive Rome. They knew this because, for one, the Babylonian Empire had crumbled some 500 years earlier and, for two, John described the Lady Babylon with characteristics…
The End Times
People often say the end times are coming soon or that the end times are here, but from a Biblical perspective the end times started after Jesus was resurrected. He ascended into the heavens and now all He has to do is come back. Therefore, we are in the final pages of the grand story—we…
What’s the Mark of the Beast?
Is it a credit card? Your social security number? The bar code? RFID microchips? No, no, no and no. We must remember that while Revelation is partially about that which is to come, it was also very much about that which has already happened since it was a letter to seven communities 2,000 years ago,…
Is the Rapture Real?
I suppose we shouldn’t even call this post a “Revelation misconception” since there isn’t really anything in Revelation about people being taken to Heaven while everyone else gets “left behind.” In fact, there’s very little in the Bible that speaks to this view and the idea doesn’t really match the Biblical narrative. Christians have always…
Revelation’s Antichrist Beasts
Nero was an infamous brutal dictator that was so bad that his own senate declared him an enemy of the state and decided to have him executed, which he avoided by committing suicide. So in Revelation, John could be saying, “Nero is the second beast,” when he says the number of the beast is 666…
