A Simple Outline of Revelation

Reaching the end of the semester in a survey of the NT class means getting to give a lecture on the book of Revelation, which almost always draws the interest of the students.  The book’s apocalyptic style (revelatory visions in a narrative framework) is mystifying enough to many to draw the conclusion that it is indecipherable.  The more I do this lecture, however, the more convinced I am that the narrative structure is simpler and more straightforward than typically assumed.

Here is the “simple outline” of Revelation I share with students:

I.  Introduction and Letters to Seven Churches:  chapter 2-3

II.  Throne Vision:  chapters 4-5

III.  Seven Seals—Seven Trumpets—Seven Vials:  chapters 6-16

IV.  The Fall of Babylon:  chapters 17-19

V.  The Defeat of Satan and Final Judgment:  chapter 20

VI.  A New Heaven and a New Earth:  chapters 21-22

JTR