Introduction—Eschatology and Moral Imagination

Biblical eschatology inevitably casts a moral vision—generating a corresponding ethic and giving promise of offering a unity of life and the possibility of total fulfillment.¹ The image of the future brings value into the present.² The horizon of eternal moral realities stirs moral imagination in relation to ones being and doing (1 Pet. 3:11-13; Rev. 21:8, 27; 22:10-15). It inspires and urges personal response. It comes as an imperative. The link between eschatology and ethics is organic, dynamic. Eschatological paradigms inform moral theory and ethical method.³

Revelation’s eschatology and ethics likewise interweave: informing Scripture’s ultimate moral/spiritual vision and urgent appeal. The book places us in a moral context—the cosmic conflict between Christ and Satan. It unfolds the universal and timeless moral themes of history past, present, future. It informs what moral questions need to be answered. It reveals the condition human life is in. It gives a sense of where we are and where we are going. It highlights moral agency and choice. Moral realities unfold against the vivid tapestry of an eschatological horizon comprised of a historical flow (past, present, future) and in the context of an overarching worldview with its vision of God who alone is holy and His redemptive re-creation. The book not only unfolds a heavenly perspective on redemptive history, it brings hope of consequently obeying the Lord of history.⁴ It’s ultimate aim is ethical.⁵ Revelation’s eschatology and ethics provides the philosophical map, the larger moral vision against which its various moral themes can be considered.

Reading Revelation is never ethically neutral.⁶ The history of ethical reflection on the implications of Revelation’s eschatology is laden with how powerfully dangerous its words and imagery can be.⁷ Some have thus concluded that the moral vision of the Apocalypse is not ethical,⁸ or, at the least, that the ethical message of the Apocalyptic is elusive precisely because its ethos is ambiguous in that it supports both liberationist and authoritarian readings.⁹ Others push back at such notions with more balanced and positive perspectives of the book’s moral vision and ethics.¹⁰ Few texts however, have excited human imagination like Revelation. It continues to leaven political, moral, religious and ethical vision and action. It exerts a profound hold on the imagination, fears and nightmares of our contemporary secular culture—and thus ethics because it continues to impact how we evaluate and define moral truths.

I propose that Revelation is an “everyday Apocalypse.” As Scripture’s last book, it brings a revealing of the incomparable Christ for our everyday life.¹¹ Its moral themes are timeless and universal. The moral imagination it stirs is relevant for every age. As such It forces us to consider significant moral issues that might not otherwise make it onto our religious or evangelistic agenda. Things like character and choice, values and integrity, fidelity and truthfulness, conduct and confession. Not to mention a host of troubling moral dilemmas that negatively affect our everyday lives and stir moral responses (reactions) like violence, injustice, power, overweening evil, unrelenting strife and conflict, collateral damage and seemingly unwarranted suffering, as well as anguished cries about God’s apparent delay, righteousness, and justice. As asserted above, Revelation not only unfolds a paradigmatic heavenly perspective of redemptive history, it brings hope of consequently obeying the Lord of history both within history as we know it and in the coming new creation (12:17; 14:1-5, 12; 21:7, 8, 27; 22:14-15).¹² Revelation gives hope of becoming like the exalted Christ it unveils in both life and character and in our world (1:1; 3:21; 14:1-5; 19:7, 8). The book’s moral vision is one of grace inspired and grace empowered living (1:4-6; 22:21), which in turn is true worship and in harmony with the moral reality of the eternal life and age to come (21:5-8, 27; 22:10-15).

The purpose of this essay is to outline a hermeneutic through which we can identify and explore Revelation’s moral themes. It examines the book ethically. It focuses the book’s moral themes and nuances. It asks after the ethical stance of the story Revelation tells and the eternal Christ it unveils. It facilitates a clearer discussion about how to read Revelation and how to live in imaginative obedience to its moral vision. It suggests the value of an ethical reading and a corresponding moral response. It provides a reading complementary to the somewhat narrow theological or evangelistic and sometimes doctrinal or social lines we have all too often focused ourselves toward. It wrestles with matters of ethical method and the context for ethical reflection, as well as the contours of ethical being found in the Apocalypse. Most of all it contributes to the dialogue on the moral vision which the book of Revelation casts and, in doing so, invites both conversation and a new paradigm for such reflection. It contributes to the discussion of the link between biblical eschatology and ethics.

We divide this study into two parts—hermeneutics and moral themes. The first questions are hermeneutical. How does the book of Revelation cast moral vision? How do we approach Revelation’s moral themes? What hermeneutic enables us to accurately and consistently identify and articulate them? We look for a framework and context for ethical reflection as well as the book’s broad interpretive keys. We suggest a methodology as well as an integrating context (philosophical map) in which moral imagery unfolds within the book’s narrative.

This is followed with questions regarding the book’s tacit and explicit moral content, themes and ethics: What are they? How are they nuanced? How do they integrate and cohere towards an overarching moral vision? We identify, draw out, shape, and outline the broad contours of ethical being found in Revelation.

What we can hope for with this approach is to gain a moral vision that draws the many aspects of Revelation’s inherent morality into a coherent whole and can guide our thinking about moral issues in our own times and cultures. We can hope to discern universal and unchanging principles that transcend cultural and historical differences. We can hope to discover that the book’s ethics is neither esoteric or irrelevant—but rather authoritatively speaks to every generation, and everyday life, with clear enough goals, values, virtues, perspectives, and hope for its hearers to both be and do. While the nature of our task will largely be descriptive ethics in that we will be identifying what the ethics of the Apocalypse is, we can hope too, that it will be normative ethics both in that it will help us to know how to think about our being and doing in the world, and that it comes to us from the eternal Christ who still challenges us, today (1:17; 2:23; 22:11-14). This book contains so much that is large with immortality and full of glory that all who read and search it earnestly receive the blessing promised to “those who hear the words of the prophecy and heed the things which are written in it” (1:3). May we be so blessed by such ethical reading. It is eschatology and ethics at its best.

Approaching Revelation’s Moral Vision

To date, there is no developed “ethics” per se of the book of Revelation. Nothing comprehensive. No extended discussion.¹³ Rather, one finds brief summaries in designated chapters in surveys of biblical ethics¹⁴ or New Testament ethics,¹⁵ a smattering of journal articles, scholarly papers and essays published in studies or readings of Revelation that deal with given moral issues,¹⁶ as well as a few books that focus specific ethical themes and/or approaches.¹⁷ One gets the sense that in many cases, the ethicists exploring Revelation are not trained biblical scholars, or that the biblical scholars doing ethics have a narrow (or fuzzy) definition of ethics.¹⁸ Many ethical readings of Revelation are more ideological readings¹⁹–expressing the personal, political, or social bias of the author or the “uncritical transference of one particular sociocultural environment (their own) onto the text of the Apocalypse.”²⁰ Such readings tend to be issue oriented, rather than describing the real context, shape, or concrete expressions of the moral vision that Revelation engenders. One reads about specific moral themes, on one or more aspects of the contours of an ethic, but not the larger comprehensive eschatological moral vision which Revelation unfolds.²¹ These are meaningful contributions but remain only fragmentary. More important, no one has posited a clear, systematic way of getting at the moral issues so that the book speaks for itself in a comprehensive way.²² The hermeneutic of even the best contributions is not always clearly articulated. There is no consistent method that yields an acceptable comprehensive ethic for the knowledgeable scholar.

For sure, Revelation uses neither the word ethics nor the word moral. These are philosophical categories rather than biblical categories of expression. Nor does it explicitly link eschatology with these themes. And yet, the book is interested in moral life and uses a rich vocabulary and imagery that convey these crucial concepts (“deeds,” “keep,” “hear” “holy” “true” “faithful”, “pure,” “white,” “just,” “judgment,” “righteous,” “unclean,” “liars,” “immoral,” “murderers,” “adultery,” “books,” etc.).²³ Additionally, it unfolds relevant principles, values and commands, which reflect authentic human realities of being and action with regard to key areas of moral life. Many of these however, largely “go-without-saying.” In other words, they are assumed, indirect, tacit. More often not explicitly at issue in the unfolding narrative. The varied nature of Revelation’s literature— its form and content, subtle allusions and rhetoric, narrative and commentary, appeal and warning—challenge our understanding of its real meanings regarding the human phenomenon and moral vision. Yet it opens for the attentive reader windows into multifaceted realities of human nature and moral being and casts an eschatological moral vision. It simply doesn’t employ our modern terms to convey such.

Likewise, Revelation does not articulate a textbook style system of ethics. There is no organized presentation of either ethical issues or moral practice. There is a system however, to its moral vision and the way that moral vision is articulated and to be received. That’s what we want to tap in to. We want to explore Revelation’s moral vision by following its own moral agenda, terminology, and frame of thinking: so that any systematic way of getting at the issues will flow from within the book’s patterns and themes rather than being unnaturally imposed on it. We want to let Revelation not only determine which moral themes open for our reflection, but which passages purposefully yield the moral content for such reflection (and their degree of importance). Our purpose is to have a clear sense that what we identify, explore, nuance, group, and organize reflects Revelation’s eschatological framed moral vision and ethics, rather than our own.

Interpretive Keys—The Beginning and the End

The ethical method suggested here reflects Revelation’s most basic literary structure and narrative character—a story (comprised of three interrelated stories) with an introduction and conclusion.²⁴ The threefold narrative unfolds with an intriguing cast of characters, an engaging plot and defining Christocentric worldview and philosophy of history.²⁵ Like any well written narrative, Revelation’s introduction (1:1-8) and conclusion (22:6-21) are instructive.²⁶ It is clear that John constructs his conclusion as a deliberate parallel to his introduction and to summarize the key themes of the whole book.²⁷ These verses are crammed with theological and moral meaning and give a viewpoint on the whole book, which facilitates considerably its interpretation—not just theologically, but ethically as well.²⁸ If we would connect with the book’s moral vision and purpose, we must be attentive to such focus as it begins and ends.

Threading these three interrelated narratives together are evocative transitional passages, which not only capsule the heart of each narrative just unfolded but signal important theological and moral themes to be developed in the next. They look both forward and backward. It is one of Revelation’s recurring literary patterns—the introduction to what follows a major passage is embedded in the conclusion that precedes it. To notice this is to find the author’s own explanation of what follows hidden in what precedes. To ignore it is to miss the author’s own moral / theological commentary or interpretation of both what went on before and what follows.²⁹ This hermeneutical principle is important because it helps us identify Revelation’s moral themes from within its own structure and unfolding narrative(s). While researchers have identified several of the book’s transitional passages,³⁰ our focus is on two transition which thread our three stories together (3:21³¹ and 11:15-1932). It is easy to read past these two transitional passages unaware of the strategic importance they hold in the theological/moral scheme of things. Yet, they are filled with incredible moral imagery.

The methodological importance of this simple narrative structure is that we find several of Revelation’s moral themes introduced and or reiterated primarily in the introduction, conclusion, and key transitional passages between the three interrelated narratives. In other words, the introduction, conclusion, and transitional passages posit the moral purpose of the unfolding narrative(s).

The moral imagery of Revelation’s narrative character is further expressed and nuanced in its hymns and sanctuary visions. It is hermeneutically significant that doxology is a prevailing context for unfolding Revelation’s theological and moral themes.³³ It nuances questions related to divine character, being and justice—theodicy.³⁴ Likewise, the book’s sanctuary motif typologically nuances similar moral themes through introductory sanctuary scenes and where the heavenly temple is seen as the center of all divine activities including assertions of divine character, moral commentary on Babylon, the final judgment, and Jerusalem’s insiders and outsiders. Complementary to its redemptive framework, the sanctuary “has cosmic implications and the work performed therein affects the entire cosmos in the context of the controversy between good and evil.”³⁵ John first encounter with sanctuary imagery leaves him lifeless before the penetrating gaze of the book’s High Priest (1:9-20).

Finally, Revelation is unique for its incredibly interwoven structure. The key to moral material at one end of the book may often be found at the opposite end or at its “seams” or even in the narratives themselves. The immediate context and moral significance of any passage may be as broad as the entire book.³⁶ This is a fundamental starting point for observing how Revelation’s eschatology informs ethics.

Casting Moral Vision

Revelation communicates moral vision across varying modes of conceptual imagery.³⁷ This is in keeping with human moral reflection and the essential ingredients of a comprehensive ethical theory.³⁸ These modes of conceptual imagery include the following forms of moral discourse:

Worldview—as reflected in Revelation’s sustained confession of God as Creator and the cosmic war which impacts the human condition and choice.³⁹

Principles—universal and timeless, as exemplified in themes of holiness, righteousness, justice, judgment, truthfulness, and covenant faithfulness (4:8; 5:3, 4; 21:27; 22:11, 15; 11:18-19).

Rules of Action—as evidenced in references to the covenant commandments of God (12:17; 14:12), specific areas of moral behavior in the messages to the seven churches and throughout the book.⁴⁰ These reflect the book’s worship motif,⁴¹ which includes the moral implications of the seventh-day Sabbath.⁴² Being and doing are proscribed (22:11; cf. 2:23; 1:3; 22:9).

Normative Narratives—as evidenced in Revelation’s narrative character where the Apocalypse is not only a story in itself, but contains numerous sub-stories (including three interrelated stories, some of which contain sub-narratives and or imbedded interpretive narratives (interludes), i.e., within the seals, trumpets, plagues, and cosmic war).⁴³ These narratives engender normative models for moral reflection, unfolding a rich tapestry of moral imagery.⁴⁴ The characters and plot as well as caricature of characters within the unfolding narrative inform moral imagination in keeping with the biblical worldview with its timeless and universal values and principles.⁴⁵

Divine Character and Action—as reflected in who God is in His person and character along with how He acts within the cosmic conflict: “Great and marvelous are your works, O Lord God, the Almighty. Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations. Who will not fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous deeds have been revealed” (15:3, 4).⁴⁶ God’s character, action, words, sentiments are morally significant, paradigmatic.⁴⁷ Revelation’s various ethical materials are placed within the overarching narrative of who and what God is doing in history. The story of God’s redemptive work casts a pregnant moral vision upon our moral intelligence. Thus, Revelation does not teach independent ethical universals. God is the universal, and God’s acts supply the referent, means and power for ethics.

Values—as expressed in a fallen world absorbed with buying and selling (18:1-24), critical choices between alternatives of the beast and the Lamb, true and false worship, the city Babylon and the Holy City, the seal of God and the Mark of the beast, the moral realities of the insiders and outsiders of the Holy City (21:8, 21; 22:14, 15) as well as a final invitation to come—each which determine eternal destiny.⁴⁸ Revelation concerns itself with the great issues of life and deals heavily with values. It provides God’s scale of preference and is the ultimate authority in value formation.

Trajectory—as illustrated in Babylon’s fall, the final judgment on evil powers and sinners, redemptive re-creation, access to the tree of life and the Holy City with its insiders and outsiders.⁴⁹ Revelation’s covenant commands, timeless and universal principles, unfolding narrative, display of who God is and what He is doing in the world, its worldview, and the moral values the book expresses together lead or push in a particular moral direction. There is trajectory through history. There is need to look for the broad moral direction which Revelation is pointing on issues it does not fully develop. The moral vision which Revelation thus casts tells us that we should not only be going in that same direction ourselves but opening ourselves to ever deepening or new concrete expressions of the moral implications expressed in that direction. This is how Revelation’s eschatology informs moral imagination in keeping with the wider moral thrust and witness of Scripture.

Hymns / Doxology—as reflected in the songs, which appear throughout the book: John’s doxology in the introduction (1:5-6), paeans of praiseful worship in heaven (4:8, 11; 5:9-10, 12, 13), the anguished cry of theodicy by souls under the altar (6:10), the redeemed and angels ascribing salvation to God alone (7:9-12), and celebrations of God’s righteous acts of judgment/redemption in history including the song of Moses and the Lamb (15:3, 4; 16:4-7; 19:1-7. These hymnic passages bring moral commentary on reality, which engages heart and imagination in powerful ways. They unfold a worldview in which God, human existence, and the spiritual/moral conflict at play with regard to worship, are both spiritually and morally framed. The reader/listener is invited to enter this explicit worship-driven world, assured that what the book says about God, human beings, the moral/spiritual issues, central characters, and moral/spiritual nature of the conflict—worship—is in fact both true and God given (1:1; 21:5; 22:6, 18, 19). There is a constitutive nature which brings inner moral alignment with God’s character and purposes.⁵⁰

Rhetoric—as evidenced in the book’s evocative use of language designed to stir moral/spiritual perception and response. The Apocalypse is a highly rhetorical work. It is a powerful instrument of persuasion. Its rhetorical features invite both moral reflection and response as they impact attitudes, feelings, and thoughts. It unabashedly expresses a moral stance. The book not only displays attitudes and feelings, it also elicits them.⁵¹ It powerfully manipulates thoughts, attitudes, and feelings to a point that demands moral response. One cannot read the Apocalypse and remain either the same or neutral. The combination of effective symbols, familiar words arranged in unexpected rhythms, images juxtaposed unexpectedly and artistically, and artful narrative plot is the key to the moral power of its rhetoric.⁵² Closely linked to rhetoric Revelations referential language.

Referential Language—as reflected in the book’s multiple allusions to Old Testament history, imagery, and thought. The book uses words, images, phrases, stories, and patterns from Scriptural past as a language arsenal to express theological and moral vision.⁵³ Even a conservative estimate works out at about one allusion for every verse.⁵⁴ Various kinds of referents have been observed and explored for their theological and interpretive import— citations, quotations, allusions, echoes, verbal parallels, thematic parallels, structural parallels, etc.⁵⁵ It is not our purpose here to survey these varying kinds of uses in detail. What we do want to do, however, is to recognize their interpretive import for ethics: that they carry moral content with them into forming Revelation’s eschatological moral vision. We want to affirm too; Revelation’s allusions are faithful to the contexts and theological/moral intent and meaning of the Old Testament referents. They remind us that the moral issues we face today have not changed because human nature and God’s character have remained constant.⁵⁶ They unfold a future that very much resembles the past and in which the same relationships of cause and consequences are observable that have been at work throughout God’s dealings with humanity.⁵⁷ These allusions not only connect with ethics, they link ethics to history and to the concrete acts, incidences, and experiences that have taken place within history. Thus, the moral issues being raised are not abstract or philosophical concepts irrelevant to moral life. Rather they are true to life and concrete in their import even when used illustratively or typologically or within an eschatological paradigm. This artful use of Old Testament allusions is integral to the larger scheme of evocative words, language, and rhetoric which give voice to Revelation’s theological and moral vision.⁵⁸ Referential language assumes recognizable realities (entities or events). Revelation’s referential language allows us to relate the book to both its historical and Old Testament contexts and to discover social/moral information in its text.⁵⁹ While some scenes John describes simply cannot be imagined or placed on a canvas or movie screen— nevertheless one feels the moral impact. While we cannot quite portray even to ourselves what the “images” fully convey, we nevertheless intuit their moral meaning.

This diversity of conceptual imagery is in keeping with the dynamics of human moral reflection and the essential ingredients of ethical theory. They reflect the comprehensive way in which Revelation communicates moral vision to human beings. It points to the book’s contemporary relevancy as it speaks across the spectrum of the human situation and need, and throughout salvation history.

The question of wending our way through this differing conceptual imagery is important.⁶⁰ There is need for consistency and specificity of application as well as using the text of Revelation with integrity. One cannot not move abstractly or arbitrarily away from the form in which the texts present themselves to us. Nor can we turn the book’s narratives into commands or its commands into principles. We must respect the particularity of the forms through which the whole witness of the whole text of Revelation lays claim upon us and stirs our moral imagination. We need to accept each of these modes and develop skills necessary to respond to the voice of the Apocalypse in each.⁶¹

We must also understand the organic link that exists between these varying modes when they come at the same moral theme (or ethics) from their differing angles. How do we credibly translate ethical reflection from one level/mode to another? How do we correlate principles with values, or moral commands with stories or what God is doing when considering a specific moral issue? I suggest that the more specific and concrete modes should be interpreted by the broad and more general, and vice versus.⁶²

Integrative Macro Hermeneutical Realities

We now engage the question of macro hermeneutics—Revelation’s worldview. What is the conceptual canvas on which Revelation’s moral vision is painted? Through what eyeglass are we to interpret moral reality and frame ethical discussion? What moral context does Revelation provide in which ethical discussion can and should rightly take place? What ethical bases or presuppositions should nuance everything we do with Revelation’s moral themes? Ethics needs a context for meaningful discussion, method, and application: a philosophical map. It unfolds within a given worldview. Worldviews play an important role in ethics and is at the heart of moral reflection and action, there is always an interplay between worldview and ethics, or worldview and ethos.

The foregoing ways in which Revelation communicates moral vision enables us to observe the moral/spiritual metaphysical context in which Revelation frames human existence. They enable us to construct the broad outline of the theological/ethical context in which moral issues and thinking and action take place. It is critical that we engage these worldview realities before we explore the nuances of the book’s specific moral themes.

Revelation’s Worldview

“A worldview not only describes the world for us, but also directs our life in the world. It not only gives us a perspective on how the world is (its descriptive function), but also acts as a guide for how the world ought to be and how we ought to live in the world (its normative function).”⁶³ Worldview is manifested in at least three basic and interrelated ways: through a narrative component,⁶⁴ a rational component (theology, philosophy),⁶⁵ and a ritual component (symbolism, culture).⁶⁶ All worldviews manifest these three facets.⁶⁷ Each plays a role in human moral/spiritual formation and life. Each is observable in the book of Revelation.⁶⁸

As per above, Revelation’s most basic literary structure has a narrative character. It is a story with an intriguing cast of characters and an engaging plot. It is a prophetic apocalyptic narrative, which asserts a specific point of view—a worldview.⁶⁹ It places all other meta-narratives in context and assesses their credibility. It comprises macro hermeneutical perspectives.

On the surface Revelation’s rational or theological component appears modest, and yet it is forcefully reflected in the book’s descriptions, explanations, self-interpretation, vivid contrasts and juxtapositions, hymns and outbursts of praise, interludes, transitional passages, rhetoric, verbal and thematic allusions from Old and New Testament Scripture, temporal focus of historical setting and sequences, and as well as its controlling point of view. Themes of creation/de-creation/re-creation, holiness, justice, covenant faithfulness, truth, judgment, sin, redemption, idolatry, and keeping God’s commandments, come into view for both consideration and moral/spiritual orientation. Revelation puts the reader in a moral and spiritual context. It informs the reader who the players are. It informs what condition human life is in. It advises us where we are and where we are going. It informs us what questions need to be answered. It provides a philosophical map for the larger moral vision against which its various moral and spiritual themes are addressed. In doing so it bring understanding on the historical, theological, moral, spiritual, and interpretive levels.⁷⁰ Twice there is exhortation for the understanding of the book’s mysteries (13:8; 17:9). The reader is to hear and keep what she learns from the book (1:3; 2:7; 22:7). Thus, the reader is addressed both rationally.

Revelation’s symbolic (ritual) component is evidenced in its rebuke and exhortations to the Seven Churches. There concrete actions and experiences were wrought with incredible meaning: i.e., calling oneself a Nicolatian or Jew (2:15; 3:9), eating things sacrificed to idols (2:14), immorality (2:21), keeping (1:3; 22:9), deeds/works, or the sixth trumpet where individuals refused to repent of idolatry and corresponding ethical failures (9:20, 21). On the larger scale there is the mark of beast, the name of the beast, and the number of his name, there is the buying and selling, the image to the beast, the seal of God, etc. Revelations worship motif itself implies some kind of ritual and or appropriate behaviors (falling down at least, no angelology, etc.). There too, are the people of God who worship the Creator, keep the commandments, keep the testimony of Jesus, don’t soil their garments, etc. Each of these assume tangible cultural/ritual dimensions in terms of ideas, feelings, values and actions as an outworking of Revelation’s worldview.

Finally, Revelation’s Apocalyptic genre—which unfolds an overarching eschatological vision—is critical to the understanding of its worldview. Apocalyptic views the world from a transcendent, heavenly perspective.⁷¹ It reflects important convictions about God, the nature of humanity, human freedom, what humans are held accountable for, the expectation of the judgment, and ethics.⁷² Reflecting these qualities of apocalyptic genre,⁷³ Revelation takes one out of the world in order to see it differently. It takes one behind the scenes of history so they can see what is really going on in the events of time and place. It transports them into the final future of the world so that they can see the present from the perspective of what its final outcome will be in God’s ultimate purpose for human history.⁷⁴ It portrays earthly events as only part of a cosmic drama that involves forces most people are unaware of but are now being revealed to God’s people. It asserts that God will set things right in the end, that God’s justice will be exercised, that individuals and entities will be judged. It gives hope in that the last word is not said when you die, for there are rewards for the faithful individual and community. Revelation views the world as completely captured by evil and as irredeemable without a catastrophic intervention of God. It seeks to reconcile the belief in a good, powerful, and just God with one’s encounter with pervasive and successful evil. Thus, Revelation wrestles with theodicy.

Connecting with Revelation’s moral vision and ethics means intentionally entering its world by understanding the apocalyptic outlook, immersing oneself in the text and plot, and letting the moral imagination move toward what is described. This is not always easy for our modern mind steeped in critical method and political correctness. Revelation’s apocalyptic thought together with its rhetoric can prove uncomfortable at times. We can find it problematic, even dangerous, with respect to its assumed misogyny and violence, focus on judgment and God’s wrath, etc. So, we’re tempted to point these things out along with other problems and take sides against the text of Revelation. We’re tempted to “read against the text” by rejecting its apparent meaning or trying to make it mean something entirely different (22:18, 19).⁷⁵ Revelation’s worldview thus presses the larger question of how we engage the Bible, whether with a commitment to submission or with critical and self-critical engagement.⁷⁶

Revelation invites us to enter its spiritual/moral world, assuring us that what it says about God and human beings and our world and ethical living is in fact both true and God given (1:1; 21:5; 22:6, 18, 19). While the apocalyptic imagery appears so unreal, the spiritual/moral truths it conveys are very real. We cannot arbitrarily come to it from our contemporary world of moral and ethical agendas and expect to understand it.⁷⁷ We are to enter its narrative vision so as to reimagine our world—thus finding a context for moral action. ⁷⁸

Revelation’s unfolds how everyone’s worldview is questioned and at stake—either shifted, abandoned, or held on to firmly. It narrates a worldview warfare. The worldview of every human being is to be challenged and transformed via the proclamation of the eternal gospel. In the end, the matter of the shifting of worldview within Revelation via the Three Angels’ Messages is significant as it integrates identity, theology, ethics, purpose (service and mission), and everyday life, etc.⁷⁹

Revelation’s Worldview Themes

While various worldview themes of Revelation can be identified, it can be pared down to bottom line narrative truths, which address the book’s readers rationally:

The Triune God:

Revelation’s worldview implies the objective existence of the triune God whose essential character establishes the moral order of the universe and whose character, Word, and commands define and govern all aspects of created existence.⁸⁰ The book’s introduction plunges readers into a triune reality—an opening blessing of grace and peace—which unfolds a dynamic view of the triune God (1:4-6). Before one reads about the seven churches, or the seals or trumpets, or plagues, or the Beast and its mark, the triune God engages us. They appear again in the throne room (4:1-5:14), the Three Angel’s Messages (14:6-13), and the conclusion (22:1-17). Revelation 4 through 5 points to the eternal relations between the Father, Son, and Spirit.⁸¹ There also, Revelation’s theistic teaching nuances understanding of God’s sovereign kingship, His holy character and creative power, His justice and judgement and His grace.⁸² This throne-room worldview presents an overwhelming vision of reality which assures and brings hope. It unfolds ultimate values, ethics, power, and trajectory in relation to the book’s cosmic conflict narrative. This distinctive doctrine of God is its greatest contribution to New Testament theology.⁸³

This personal and profoundly united threesome play different roles and have different functions within the book’s narrative. God not only exists as a heavenly trio—God, Son, Spirit (1:4-6), He is almighty, holy, righteous and just, gracious, covenant keeping (1:4, 8; 4:8; 15:3, 4; 19:1-6; 21:1-8). He is Holy Creator and Judge, King (4:11; 14:7; 15:3). He is the living God who acts in keeping with His holy character and covenant relationship (1:4, 8; 4:8; 15:3, 4). Revelation’s God is a personal God—a truth which freights incredible moral implications for the book’s worldview.⁸⁴

Christology is central to this triune vision. John’s Apocalypse is a revealing of the incomparable Christ who towers above all as history’s controlling reality and is described in such a way that absolutely everything is subordinate to Him (1:1, 12-18; 5:12; 12:7-12; 19:11-16; 22:12, 13).⁸⁵ There is an unveiling of His greatness and glory, of which Jesus is both the content and the agent of the revealing (1:1). It is a portrayal of Christ found nowhere else in Scripture.⁸⁶ A virtual gallery of pictures of Jesus Christ unfolds.⁸⁷ Christ dominates the book. He dominates reality. His commanding presence and gaze pierces moral consciousness (1:17; cf. 1:14; 19:12; 2:23). He both challenges and beckons.

Divine Creation / Redemptive Re-Creation

Revelation unfolds a vibrant and sustained confession of God as Creator. It presupposes the Genesis creation narrative and posits the overarching worldview that “the whole of finite reality exists by God the Creator’s gift of existence.”⁸⁸ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created,” the creation song of the elders proclaim (4:11).⁸⁹ The sovereign creative energy of God expressed in the profound phrase “for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created” concentrates all of Genesis 1 into a single thought.⁹⁰ God’s creative power includes both the original act of creation (they were created) and His ongoing preservation of the created order (they existed).⁹¹ It also points to the deeply personal nature of Creation (by your will they were created). God not only created “all that is,” He willfully “intended” to bring the universe into existence.⁹² The Creator God is personal. His creation reflects moral realities: it is good, it is a moral act.⁹³

God’s eternity in relation to the created world is expressed in His self-designation as the “one who is and who was and who is to come” (1:4, 8; 4:8; cf. 11:17; 16:5) as well as “the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end” (21:6; 1:8). These self-designations “encapsulates the understanding of God as the sole Creator of all things and sovereign Lord of history.”⁹⁴ As such, God is anticipated as the source of new possibilities for His creation and the future of humanity: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away” (21:1); “Behold, I am making all things new” (21:5). The first creation, because of the Fall, lapses back into nothing and requires a fresh creative act of God to give it a new form of existence,⁹⁵ one that encompasses both continuity and discontinuity.⁹⁶ There is eschatological renewal of creation, not its replacement by another.⁹⁷

This connection between creation and redemptive recreation⁹⁸ highlights the cosmic scope of Revelation’s eschatological theological and moral horizon, within which its primary concern with the human world is set.⁹⁹ This eschatological hope for the future of God’s whole creation includes the hope of bodily resurrection from the nothingness of death.¹⁰⁰ This understanding of God as the personal transcendent source of all things permeates both Revelation’s theology and its moral vision.¹⁰¹ Revelation’s Creation theme thus situates the creature relative to its Creator. It provides a basis for worship and the foundation for moral life.¹⁰² God is identified as the Creator of all things and as a motivation for people to worship Him instead of creation.¹⁰³ They are invited to be like Him in the world (3:21; 14:1-5; 14:6, 7).

Human Nature

Revelation’s permeating creation theme inevitably touches human reality expressing the nature and value of human beings.¹⁰⁴ Human living is not meaningless. Human beings are here by design, by plan. They have a certain future because God is the One who created them (4:11; 21:1-7). Nor is human life as God envisioned it “open” as per existentialist, humanist, naturalistic, or pantheistic views of human nature. There is an ordered quality of life consistent with human life, a moral right and wrong (21:8; 27; 22:11, 15; 9:21; cf. 2 Peter 3:13, 14). Immoral behavior is against the kind of behavior God envisioned for human beings (18:4, 5; 9:21). Human equality is assumed and an essential part of human creation. There is no fundamental difference in the essential nature of races (and genders). Every nation, all tribes, and peoples and tongues, the small and the great, rich and poor, free men and slave are equally within the Apocalypse’s field of vision for both redemption and moral accountability (7:9; 11:18; 13:16; 14:6; 19:5, 18; 20:12). Slavery and trafficking in human lives is a reason for divine judgment (18:13).

Additionally, Revelation opens to view the human dimensions of the cosmic conflict and in doing so enables us to see human beings and human nature from several unique vantage points.¹⁰⁵ This includes the book’s anthropology—human nature and being.¹⁰⁶ The implications for anthropology touch the human phenomenon in its entirety (beyond the usual discussion of the body/soul)—the inner, physical, personal, social, spiritual, moral, psychological, emotional, cultural, historical consciousness, and life-framing worldview. The human being and self is both implied and nuanced in the unfolding cosmic narrative and theodicy. This nuances to the fullest the human angst toward theodicy and the scope of divine redemption envisioned in Revelation’s redemptive re-creation (6:9-12). Man’s fallen nature and its implications for human experience and existence likewise comes into view. It is only human self-realization in the context of substitutionary atonement and the need of divine redemptive re-creation that man’s essential need is met and he or she is restored to the fullness of their human potential.¹⁰⁷

Revelation’s anthropology provides part of the real-to-life tapestry on which the book’s prophetic apocalyptic narrative of the Great Controversy between Christ and Satan unfolds. It reminds us that the book’s symbolic and rhetorical use of anthropomorphic imagery reflect authentic human realities of being and action—both personal and social. For sure, most of these referents are tacit. Nevertheless, they reveal how Revelation speaks to all aspects of human life and need. They affirm that the geography of the final crisis reaches beyond any external and global dimension with its burdened question of theodicy and into the individual human heart and condition itself.

These insights into the human dimension of the cosmic conflict enable us to understand more fully the scope of the Everlasting Gospel (14:7) toward bringing hope of both a better human existence and better human being and action.¹⁰⁸ Without doubt, the book of Revelation is critical for a study of the theme of anthropology in the New Testament. Such motivation also reflects a moral impulse in that they “fear God and give glory to him” for “the fear of God” is the beginning of moral life.¹⁰⁹

Ethics True-to-Life

Through its redemptive re-creation, “tree of life,” and Holy City “insider and outsider” imagery, Revelation asserts an ethics that is consistent with human existence and life as created by God.¹¹⁰ That there are those who have authority to enter the city and those who will forever be outside, unfolds tacit moral values and ethical trajectory. The moral vision, which the tree of life casts, was not mere physical existence, but life in the true sense (Prov. 8:35-36; cf. Prov 11:30; 15:4; 3:18).¹¹¹ It assumed moral being and action “true-to-life.” The allusion to Eden in the original creation is intentional.¹¹² Revelation transplants the rich soil of the original Garden envisioning a cosmopolis of paradise, not a garden per se, but a city in which the tree of life stands.¹¹³ Although the Genesis narrative takes up only two early chapters of Scripture (Gen. 2-3), the notion of a garden-like paradise, lost due to the Fall, exerts a strong influence in biblical imagery.¹¹⁴ The portrait of mankind’s first home in the Garden of Eden is powerful. The paradise home is paradigmatic as is its ethos and ethic.¹¹⁵

Just as there was a tree of life in the Garden (Gen 2:9), so also a tree of life stands in the New Jerusalem (22:2). But whereas in Genesis 3:23-24 human beings are exiled from the Garden and the way to the tree is guarded by cherubim, in Revelation’s vision of redemptive-recreation, those who are cleansed from sin “will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates,” which are always open (21:25).

A surface read might lead to the conclusion that Revelation is pointing merely to regained access to the tree of life and resultant eternal life. However, the metaphors of the tree of life and entering the city emerge as an icon not only of blessing, but also of moral orientation and choice. This is a city unlike all cities we have known. It will be without sin—righteousness pervades, dwells (2 Pet 3:13).¹¹⁶ The tree in the garden-like city is the archetype of blessing, but also blessing’s consummation or telos.¹¹⁷ Yet such blessing comes with intentional moral nuance and ethical implications. While Genesis holds up the ephemeral state of Eden for a brief glimpse and then moves its readers back into their real world (of shame, suffering, alienation, domination and death), Revelation holds up the passing state of the real world (of sea, death, mourning, crying, pain, night, curse, violence, oppression, shame, and alienation from God) and moves its audience back into the shalom of an eternal Eden. Thus, Scripture ends as it begins. The sweep of salvation history and the end of all things (eschatology) is patterned after the beginning (protology)—a new creation, i.e., redemptive re-creation.¹¹⁸ Humanity is again in paradise enjoying full fellowship with God, at peace with self and others.

Revelation thus posits human moral destiny “back to the future” in the garden. The tree of life, and with it now, the holy city, is at once critical and instructive. It presents a paradox of hope and judgment. It provides a moral baseline that eschews moralism.¹¹⁹ The mode of moral discourse here is primarily that of moral vision—an ethical horizon (cf. 2 Pet 3:11-13).

Sin and Fallen Human Nature

Revelation’s worldview implies the catastrophic effects of sin on the human heart and mind, resulting in the fabrication of idolatrous belief systems in place of God and opposing worldview(s).¹²⁰ The book’s Creation theme (as well as its ethos of tree and city) affirms that God did not intend the world to be as we find it. The destruction and distortion of life that the book so graphically portrays then, points toward the “fallenness” of human nature and the human condition, both personal and societal. The extent to which this “fallenness” of mankind is an underlying moral theme of Revelation can be appreciated if we notice a significant allusion to the Genesis Flood story in one of the books key transitional passages:¹²¹ “And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth” (11:18).

By deliberately alluding to the Genesis Flood story at this important intersection between its second and third stories, the Apocalypse attributes moral reasons for the coming judgment. Both the “extensiveness” and “intensiveness” of human moral deterioration, it’s “fallenness,” are carried forward through history to the time of the end. This includes shame, guilt and alienation (Gen 3:6, 8-10). There is curse on the ground, toil and struggle, and finally death (Gen. 3:17-19).¹²² The moral world of the Flood is paradigmatic. Once again burgeoning violence, oppression, and idolatrous religion are ruining God’s creation (Gen 6:5-13; Rev 11:18)). Once more God’s faithfulness to His creation requires that He respond. No more forceful or clearer notion of the extensiveness or intensiveness of eschatological “fallenness” of both human nature and the human condition (personal and societal) could be presented. Sin¹²³ and “fallen” human nature is the underlying spiritual/moral reality within which ethical thought, choice, and action are both found and expressed within the book’s worldview. In this context, Revelation unfolds the unimaginable pain and heartfelt grief of a world which violently destroys itself. It reveals too, the Creator’s faithfulness to His creation who comes in judgment to save it before it utterly self-destructs.¹²⁴

Revelation assumes that every aspect of humanity has been affected by sin. We are part of the present sinful reality into which the eschaton has broken. As a consequence, ethical reflection will always have to ask: To what extent can the ultimate intention of God for creation be realized under the present conditions?¹²⁵

Cosmic Conflict and the Problem of Evil

Revelation’s narrates the engagement of the human race in the cosmic spiritual warfare in which the truth about reality and the meaning of life is at stake. It comprises the book’s undercurrent. The geography of this cosmic conflict includes the geography of the human heart. The major significance of this cosmic conflict theme in the structure and theology of Revelation is well attested.¹²⁶

While conflict and war are recurring themes in each of the book’s three major sections, chapter 12 provides the book’s literary center explaining how this horrendous war came about.¹²⁷ It both opens the last major section of the book and establishes Revelation’s core theme, the war between God/His people and the dragon/his people and between the Lamb and his counterpart, the beast.¹²⁸ It indicates that what takes place on earth is just a part of what is transpiring on a cosmic scale. Thus, this cosmic conflict is the backdrop for the existence and nature of evil, human choice and moral accountability, as well as divine character and action (chapters 12-14). It is the major dimension of the ultimate canvas against which everything within Revelation’s narrative is to be painted and understood.¹²⁹

This warfare worldview informs our moral quest in profound ways. It tells us that human beings live their lives at the intersection of two opposing moral/spiritual realms and there is no neutral ground. To be neutral is to lose.¹³⁰ We see how the earth is virtually engulfed by cosmic forces of destruction, and that evil and suffering of every kind are ultimately due to this diabolical siege. There is colossal collateral damage—innocent people are caught up in the fray. They cry out for understanding and justice. We do not need to frame evil as a problem of God’s providence and thus His character. Nor do we need to locate a loving good purpose behind evil events.¹³¹ God does not micro manage His creation with its moral beings. In particular, God does not completely control or in any sense will evil. He is not now exercising exhaustive, meticulous control over the world. Instead, God works with, and battles against, other created beings and the decisions they make.¹³²

This warfare worldview unfolds the context for one of Revelation’s prevailing moral themes—overcoming, which is seen as a victory of one’s whole life.¹³³

Temporal Reality

Revelation unfolds a compelling philosophy of history. The question of history is of central significance to its worldview, theology and ethics.¹³⁴ It is a book about time and history.¹³⁵ It has past, present, and future aspects of history intertwined throughout its message.¹³⁶ It’s highly symbolic imagery takes us to the cosmic and global, from ages past to eternity future, from heaven to earth and under the earth, using apparently timeless images and sequences to make its varied points. Nevertheless, it is grounded in human history (and cosmic) and assumes history's flow toward a divinely appointed purpose.¹³⁷ In doing so it unfolds a future that very much resembles the past and in which the same relationships of cause and consequences are observable that have been at work throughout God’s dealings with humanity.¹³⁸ It remind us that the moral issues we face today have not changed because human nature and God’s character have remained constant.¹³⁹ It is historicist in every sense of the word. It encompasses the whole scope of human time and history.

Furthermore, because Revelation locates the fulfillment of apocalyptic prophecy within the flow of human history, it is consistent with human nature and existence. This temporal dimension of Revelation’s worldview nuances human historical consciousness and how human beings cannot define the meaning of existence, except in terms of the past, present, and future.¹⁴⁰ Man’s historicalness is part of his humanness.¹⁴¹ Moral and spiritual realities of human being have to do with both what man does in time as well as who he chooses to be in time. In the setting of time, actions and relationships produce concrete events within concrete time and thus are historical. Each person lives in historical time and is influenced by past and presentment historical processes. For better or worse, his or her own actions and relationships have historical consequences for which he or she is morally accountable.¹⁴²

These are temporal anthropological assumptions unfolding in the book of Revelation as whole and hinted at in the fifth seal’s vision narrative.¹⁴³ Time and history is the sphere in which human beings live life. History is the arena of God’s activity in human affairs. Thus, Revelation assures us that: earth matters—where we are;¹⁴⁴ time matters—when things happen;¹⁴⁵ and history matters—the chronicle/story of what happens, the when and the why.¹⁴⁶

Revelation’s view of temporal reality likewise nuances moral realities related to sacred time (the Sabbath),¹⁴⁷ prophetic time,¹⁴⁸ Christ’s cross as turning point of salvation history,¹⁴⁹ and urgent appeal in light of the eschaton.¹⁵⁰ The temporal nature of reality provides the context for moral accountability and ultimate judgement according to one’s character and works.¹⁵¹ Ultimately, Revelation asserts God as eternal rather than timeless¹⁵²—which nuances the moral implications of the book’s ontology, epistemology, and metaphysics.

The book’s eschatology then, is not just about some undefinable and alarming end-time apocalypse, but rather it unfolds a philosophy of history¹⁵³ in which God’s true character of love and holiness unfold. The future unfolds in a way that very much resembles the past and in which the same relationships of cause and consequences are observable that have been at work throughout God’s dealings with humanity.¹⁵⁴ Within this philosophy of history, human beings are held morally accountable in view of their choices regarding moral realities at play within the cosmic conflict.

Spatial Reality

Through its heavenly worship hymns, heavenly sanctuary scenes and dramatic narratives, Revelation nuances an incredible interplay of spatial and temporal dimensions of transcendent reality.¹⁵⁵ Another supernatural world exists—a reality in which God and heavenly beings are present and active in both the cosmic and terrestrial spheres. There too the demonic exists and engages humanity.

The book’s descriptive scenes of heavenly beings and their worship (4:1-5:13), heavenly sanctuary locations and furnishings,¹⁵⁶ war and victory in heaven (12:7-12), divine activity therein and flowing from in relation to the present age and the age to come¹⁵⁷—together with the descent of the Holy City with its insiders and outsiders¹⁵⁸—unfold profound moral realities.¹⁵⁹ There is sacred space.

The book’s sanctuary imagery highlights the link between heaven and earth—providing perceptions of reality, history, and proximity of the divine, demonic, and human interaction. Time and space (this earth) is the sphere in which we live life and in which God is able to act. Thus, Revelation assures us that space matters (where things happen). It assures us that there is no radical discontinuity between God and our world (spatial transcendence) or this age and the age to come (temporal transcendence.¹⁶⁰ Its message is integrally related to human existence.

Atoning & Empowering Grace

Revelation begins and ends with a word of grace (1:4; 22:21). As ca¿riß appears only twice in the book, it forms a literary inclusio, which nuances interpretation.¹⁶¹ Divine grace provides an “already and not yet” scope to human life, as well as the ground of moral action and victory.¹⁶² Here Revelation’s eschatology and ethics profoundly interlink and forcefully nuances eschatological ethics.

The book’s concept of grace is rooted primarily in its soteriology, which unfolds a vision of God’s character of love and saving power in the Lamb’s decisive victory won through his substitutionary death.¹⁶³ It narrates the gracious in-breaking of the kingdom of God into human history in the person and work of the resurrected, exalted, glorified Jesus Christ, who atones for sin through His own blood, defeats the powers of darkness, and enables those who believe in Him to experience redemption in the present age and in the redemptive re-creation. Divine grace provides atoning help and moral empowerment.¹⁶⁴

Substitutionary atonement factors largely in the picture of redemption and release from sin and the fallen world.¹⁶⁵ It is a worldview which affirms that Jesus loves us.¹⁶⁶ That Jesus has adequately cared for the sin problem through His substitutionary death.¹⁶⁷ That Jesus has set us in a new position in the world as kings and priests who have spiritual power and influence (1:6; 5:10). That Jesus is victor over all and determines the final outcome of human history (5:1-8:1). That Jesus will come again.¹⁶⁸

Revelation’s eschatological ethic provides the framework for moral responsibility. Divine grace inspires and empowers human moral agency. It is the work of God to which human beings as free moral agents respond.

Final Consummation

Revelation’s vision of a new heavens and a new earth with evil finally vanquished celebrates the victory of God in covenant faithfulness to His creation (20:1-22:5). Resurrection life. Satan bound, destroyed. Sin and the sin-hardened removed. Moral accountability and justice of final judgment. A new heaven and a new earth. Face to face communion with God. City insiders and outsiders. Eternal peace. No more sea, tears, death, morning, crying or pain. But yet now opportunity to experience it all still open.¹⁶⁹

No greater statement of the end of one kind of moral existence and the beginning of a new one can be found in Scripture.¹⁷⁰ This consummation vision casts an enduring and compelling moral horizon. Here, eschatology emboldens moral imagination. Its “moral horizon” provides a conceptual canvass on which Revelation’s tacit and explicit moral themes and values are painted. It provides lenses through which we are invited to interpret moral reality and frame ethical discussion. It unfolds a moral/spiritual metaphysical context in which Revelation frames human existence, being, action, and moral responsibility. It helps us to maintain the book’s own agenda in our query after its ethics.¹⁷¹

These large integrative worldview themes are the principal context for moral imagination in the book of Revelation. They provide a philosophical framework for ethical reflection and responsibility and thus call for priority in our thinking and ethical method. They do so on the macro hermeneutical level reflecting the book’s metaphysics, ontology, and epistemology. Revelation reflects an incredible diversity and comprehensiveness that enables it to cast its moral vision across all of human life, thought, and experience. Connecting with it will always be a challenge, but not an impossibility with the approach here outlined.

Contours of Ethics—Themes and Nuances

What then are Revelation’s moral themes? What contours of ethics can we identify and explore through following the micro and macro hermeneutical insights outlined above? How are they nuanced within the book’s text in light of its interpretive keys, spectrum of conceptual imagery, and worldview themes? How does an eschatological ethics look?

There are several possibilities, for sure. Outlined here are a few of the meso level ethical themes which continue to touch human life, thought and experience through history and reflect largely on Revelation’s eschatological moral vision. They are linked with a representative text together with is tacit moral nuance.

Character—“Let the One Who Is . . .” (Rev. 22:11)

The question of moral character is an urgent matter in Revelation. The character of God and His Christ, the Lamb, the character of the powers of evil, the character of human beings, are each in question. By time the book ends, character has been on display: revealed, questioned, tested, proven, and for some eternally sealed.

In the process of closing, Revelation becomes intensely personal.¹⁷² It moves from the cosmic to the individual, from global events and world history to personal accountability and private decisions. Its apocalyptic visions now generate personal vision—a look within, a focus on the existential. The book no longer speaks just to everyone. There is personal appeal relative to moral character. Its word to “the one” is direct, explicit, urgent (22:11, 12; cf. 17-19). A semitic poetic structure nuances the solemn appeal:¹⁷³

let the one who does wrong, still do wrong
and the one who is filthy, still be filthy
and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness;
and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy (22:11)

There are two declarations about the destiny of the unrighteous and two about the destiny of the righteous. In these twin-paired declarations, each category emphasizes both deeds and character. Character is mentioned first, then deeds thus emphasizing that the unchangeable destiny of all persons is determined by their character as demonstrated by their deeds.¹⁷⁴ The bent of one’s choices (actions) forms an unchangeable character, so that the imperatives have the sense of “be what you always have been as you face judgment.”¹⁷⁵ Being and doing are linked.¹⁷⁶ Being is ontological. Doing is existential. Being and doing are related to spheres of moral orientation and action. Deeds are mentioned first, then character thus emphasizing that the unchangeable destiny of all persons is determined by their character as demonstrated by their deeds. The most straightforward reading of the imperatives is that “sinners are commanded to continue sinning and the righteous to continue doing righteousness.”¹⁷⁷ In other words, both the righteous and unrighteous will continue in their present condition, unless there is radical moral decision to re-orient oneself to be (and do) otherwise.¹⁷⁸ The moment for such radical decision does not linger forever: yet right now, grace is present, freely available, and lingering.

When we understand how the moral themes found in Revelation’s introduction and conclusion represent its intended ethical focus, we will recognize the importance Rev. 22:11 holds in the scheme of things. It’s a significant cue. Moral character matters! While Revelation does not use the word character, character is nevertheless an integral part of its moral vision.¹⁷⁹ Being and doing not only connect, they matter in the unfolding warfare. The habits of our heart determine both life and destiny. Even God’s being and doing matter!

Revelation’s focus on character is expressed in varied imagery: mark/seal/name in forehead or hand,¹⁸⁰ garments and robes,¹⁸¹ characterization and caricature,¹⁸² record books and judgment, mind and heart.¹⁸³

Choice, Values—“He Who Has An Ear” (Rev. 2:7)

Revelation’s worldview assumes free choice on the part of created moral beings: 1) the moral boundaries implied in the tree of life and the holy city assume freedom of choice;¹⁸⁴ 2) the nature of created human beings includes self-determination or freedom to choose;¹⁸⁵ 3) ethical thought, choice, and action are affected by sin and “fallen” human nature; 4) free choice and moral accountability are at the heart of the cosmic conflict; and 5) divine atoning grace not only provides a genuine moral alternative for human beings, it empowers one’s choice toward that urgent option.

Within this larger moral context, Revelation’s specific appeals to choose become more discernable and find meaning. Revelation is about choice.¹⁸⁶ It invites reflection on how we understand the results of our choice. Who we are (have become) as a result of what we have chosen. How our choices impact both history (personal and world) and eternity (our destiny and the destiny of others). It points to what kinds of things we must choose and/or choose against. There are passages where choice is explicit (16:16; 18:4; 22:17). But more often than not it is implicit, tacit.

Varied facets of choice are evident: alternatives, valuation, self-definition, will, consequences, and the very personal nature of choice—we are persons who choose, and ultimately Revelation is about choosing a person, Revelation’s celebrated Lamb. It is a characteristic of Revelation that choice is made not of rules or principles but of a person, of the living God, of Christ the celebrated conquering Lamb.¹⁸⁷ It does indeed bring with it all the moral principles that can be explored within the book. But it makes us something more than mere machines applying principles: it makes us persons. It brings us much more than a code of ethics.

Revelation’s judgment motif assures that God takes human freedom and choice(s) serious by both holding individuals accountable for those choices and letting him or her experience their full consequence in our lives.¹⁸⁸ The judgment assures us that there is meaning beyond the moment. Every moment, every act, every thought, every choice at any time or anywhere are before His holy eyes. Individual choices matter. Little choices factor large in the scheme of things. Accumulated choices reveal character. Every moment and every choice of the moment has value and dignity. God will honor our choices even when they are against Him and the meaning of true life. God will chose those who chose Him. Eternal destiny is not a matter of fate or chance, but choice. As we’re reminded that God takes us seriously, we are called to take God seriously. We are to fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come (14:7; cf. Eccl. 12:13, 14).

Ethical Norms—“As I Also Overcame” (Rev. 3:21)

God’s acts, words, and moral stance resound through the book, informing moral reflection on key ethical issues like holiness, justice, covenant faithfulness, truthfulness, righteousness, and violence.¹⁸⁹ God is faithful, holy, true, just.¹⁹⁰ His love is extended to both His people and toward the hostile world.¹⁹¹ He responds to moral compromise, half-hearted spirituality, sin, and evil: refusing to let them ruin His creation, His people, or themselves.¹⁹² He desires (requires) the moral support of the universe for His actions.¹⁹³ Ultimately, it is the Cross that establishes moral authority of the Lamb’s victory over all evil (12:7-12).

The character of God is integral to the book’s moral vision. God is the norm by which humanity is to live and ultimately be judged.¹⁹⁴ Everyone eventually beholds the unveiled face of God. All stand before His throne and see His face.¹⁹⁵ But all will not think the same thoughts or feel the same feelings as they meet the undimmed reality of God’s character. Everyone will be conscious of themselves in relation to God’s holy character.¹⁹⁶ The book’s “face” (conscience) motif is an incredible honor/shame moral reality.¹⁹⁷ Thus, eschatological ethics is viewed from the standpoint of God—who God is in His holiness, and how He acts within history and the final judgment.

Within the book’s eschatological vision, God might be accused of being too lenient (6:10) or too severe in His wrath (14:10), but in the end, heaven and earth alike proclaim that He is just: “Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; For all the nations will come and worship before You, For Your righteous acts have been revealed.”¹⁹⁸

Our understanding of the moral good, the right, wise, and just emanate then, from the nature and actions of God.¹⁹⁹ Our norms for ethical reflection and moral action and character are to be reflections of God’s own actions and nature.²⁰⁰

Likewise, God’s character is the basis for the moral structure of the universe.²⁰¹ His character is the norm of character for man.²⁰² His name (representing His character) is written on the foreheads of the saints. ²⁰³ Furthermore, there is a moral constancy in God that transcends time, culture, and the numberless moral exigencies human beings experience.²⁰⁴

As such, God’s character is normative. Who God is defines moral reality. What God does is significant to His creation. His words and acts model moral perspectives. Eschatologically, Revelation’s ethical verities are placed within the overarching reality of what God is doing in history. What God does is significant, paradigmatic. Revelation does not teach independent ethical universals, rather God is the universal, and God’s acts supply means and power for ethics.²⁰⁵ To move from our way of thinking or acting to God’s way of thinking or acting requires moral decision and ethical adjustment.²⁰⁶

Finally, the transitional passage which threads together Revelation’s story of the seven churches (1:9-3:21) with that of the sealed scroll (4:1-11:19) asserts the “overcomer’s” moral affinity with the person and work of Jesus:

“To the one who overcomes, I will grant to sit with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat with my Father on his throne” (3:21).

The phrase “as I also overcame” is morally instructive and should not be quickly passed over.²⁰⁷ This is the first time in the book where the saint’s overcoming is compared to Christ’s overcoming.²⁰⁸ This overcoming and the rights that come with it represent an explicit linking of Christology and ethics in the Apocalypse.²⁰⁹ Overcoming is one of Revelation’s major moral themes as per the promises in John’s letters to the seven churches²¹⁰ and the subsequent unfolding of the experience of both Christ and His people in the conflict between good and evil.²¹¹

This seven churches theme (2:1-3:21) is especially developed in chapter 5, where it has its natural transition at 3:21.²¹² While the thrust of chapters 4-11 revolve around Christ’s overcoming and subsequent worthiness to open the covenant scroll, it provides important clues for understanding how we are to live. The natural questions at this point are: How did Christ overcome? How are we to overcome?

John’s vision of the slaughtered Lamb provides important moral insight as we seek answers for these questions (5:6-10, 12; cf. 12:10). It unfolds the theological and ethical heart of Revelation’s moral vision.²¹³ It unequivocally communicates the shock and irony of its message that the conquering one conquers by being a slain lamb, not a devouring lion. By juxtaposing the two contrasting images (lion and lamb), Revelation “forges a new symbol of conquest by sacrificial death.”²¹⁴ Jesus has won a victory, but he has done so by sacrifice, not by power or military violence. It is a victory for the benefit of people from all nations. It is a victory over evil. It’s a radical inversion of moral value.²¹⁵ The shock of this reversal discloses the central mystery of the Apocalypse as well as its ethic.²¹⁶ God overcomes the evil and the powers of darkness not through a show of force but through the suffering and death of Jesus. A more complete reversal of value would be hard to imagine. Jesus conquered through suffering and weakness rather than by might. The symbolic logic of Revelation as a whole dismantles the symbolism of power and violence.²¹⁷

This close relationship between Christology and ethics in the Book of Revelation suggests Jesus’s own suffering-reigning-resisting victory as a way of being in the world.²¹⁸ It becomes a model for believers who, within the book’s narrative, are likewise marginalized, endure, and killed—but who’s sacrificial life in following the Lamb in service to a lost world, unfold profound moral authority, influence, and power of witness as instrumental in saving others within the cosmic conflict (chapter 11; 12:11, 17; 14:1-13).²¹⁹ As the Faithful Witness who conquers through suffering, Jesus stands as a paradigm for the action of the faithful community.²²⁰

Honor/Shame—“one who stays awake and keeps his clothes . . . and men will not see his shame.” (Rev. 16:15)

Themes of honor and shame permeate Revelation. The book’s tacit “shame → honor” and “honor → shame” paradigm opens a unique window into areas of moral reflection not often considered by western readers. Honor is redefined, so also shame. There is the hope of true honor. Here, “God is working to exalt humanity from shame (Gen 3) to honor (Rev 21-22).”²²¹ Divine judgment is the restoration of honor—both God’s own honor, and that of the Redeemed.²²² God’s vindication of the honor of the oppressed, marginalized and martyred is assured (6:9-11; 11:18). He overturns the disgrace heaped on His witnesses—who are left unburied after death (11:3-13). The disgraced beheaded experience the highest honors as co-regents with Christ (20:4; cf. 11:18).²²³ The powerless are enthroned (2:26-27). Oppressors bow down at the feet of those unashamed of Jesus—made to know whom Jesus really loves (3:9). There are white robes, palm branches of victory, and the status of not just being able to stand with honor but stand before the throne and the Lamb (7:9; 14:1; cf. 6:17).²²⁴

On the other hand, eternal shame comes to those who show greater concern for the so-called honor demands of culture than the honor of God.²²⁵ Babylon and all who honor her are “thrown down, never to be found again” (18:21). She is stripped naked, eaten, burned (17:16). Those united against the Lamb are reduced to corpses unworthy of burial. The imagery of birds gorging on their rotting flesh a symbol of utter destruction and disgrace (19:17-18, 21).²²⁶ Such God-imposed shame is not an end but a means of vindicating His glory and creating a new earth marked by honor and glory.²²⁷

The everlasting gospel urges readers to honor God—“fear God and give glory to Him” (14:6, 7). As Holy Creator, Sustainer, and first giver, God has indebted all living creatures in a profound patronage relationship (4:9-11).²²⁸ So also Redemption, which engenders worship and service as bond-servants (7:14, 15; 22:3). Salvation brings change of status—both reversal and renewal: “He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father” (1:5; cf. 5:10). Priesthood means access to God.²²⁹ There is privileged invitation to the marriage supper of the Lamb (19:9). The defeated are given victory (12:11). God cleanses the filthy/defiled (7:14). The naked are clothed (3:17, 18; 19:8). The emphasis of God dwelling among His people and their being His own people speaks of honored and favored status (21:3).²³⁰ People bring into the New Jerusalem the glory and honor of the nations, but nothing unclean will enter it (21:23-27; 22:15). “There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads” (22:3, 4)

This “shame → honor” “honor → shame” paradigm reveals an underlying ethics of honor/shame.²³¹ Any discussion of honor has high ethical implications. There is a moral value system (including norms and behaviors) in which the highest good is honor (respect) and the greatest evil is shame and humiliation.²³² But Revelation’s honor is no mere social or cultural convention. The universal standard and highest embodiment of honor is God Himself.²³³ It includes morally acceptable behavior in keeping with the person and character of God. It includes the honor/dishonor of human beings in relation to their honoring or not honoring God.²³⁴ And when God is the highest definition of what constitutes true honor, we are faced with an impressive standard for honor. It lifts our understanding of honor and shame beyond and above the blurry inconsistencies and relativism of our human cultural perspectives, assessments, and applications. If God is the measure of what is honorable, then we are not left to our own cultural limitations and judgment in living honorably before others or in helping others know what is truly honorable and dishonorable. Undoubtedly, the divine covenant commands nuance moral values and action in relation to what God considers honorable.²³⁵ So also, moral realities of what is considered clean and unclean.²³⁶

We note just one nuance of Revelation’s honor/shame ethics, i.e., “conscience” as expressed in the book’s “face” motif. Conscience is that inner self awareness that critically examines whether we have made right decisions and acted responsibly. Everyone will be conscious of themselves in relation to God’s holy character.²³⁷ All stand before His throne and see His face.²³⁸ But all will not think the same thoughts or feel the same feelings as they meet the undimmed reality of God’s holy presence. Conscience is expressed in images of innocence, integrity and hope (6:9) as well as that of guilt, shame, and fear (6:17).²³⁹ Both guilt and shame are in view.²⁴⁰ Self-awareness and conscience often blur against the community’s voice in moral judgment and action within an honor and shame context.²⁴¹ But here, individual human beings intuit their existence in a moral universe and do so in relation to a personal God.²⁴² Matters of individual personal conscience and choice are integral to the biblical worldview of honor, honorable behavior, and the vindication of reputation in the great controversy.²⁴³ So also, is the question of internal versus external moral initiative/restraint.²⁴⁴ Moral being (character) is gauged not socially by what others might or might not see, but by who one is when no one sees but self and God (1:17; 2:23).²⁴⁵ Revelation’s “eyes” motif raises important implications relative to honor/shame and individual moral agency.²⁴⁶ In the end, one has personal responsibility to maintain honor: “Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame” (16:15). Such comes in view of the keeping of the book’s covenant commands and other moral issues within the cosmic conflict.

Covenant (Faithfulness)—“The Ark of His Covenant Appeared” (Rev. 11:19)

Revelation’s vision narrative of the Lamb, sealed scroll, and trumpets (4:1-11:19) concludes with the most specific covenant language found anywhere in the book: “And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple” (11:19).²⁴⁷ This transitional passage capsules the heart of all that has gone before (4:1-11:18)—covenant.²⁴⁸ It signals what lies behind every issue, which unfolds through to the end of the book (12:1-22:21)— covenant.²⁴⁹

Most immediately, the appearance of the ark of God’s covenant sets the stage for the appearance of a faithful covenant community.²⁵⁰ This covenant community appear as the book’s first great sign in heaven: “a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; and she was with child; and she cried out being in labor an in pain to give birth” (12:1, 2). While Revelation 12 covers the whole of covenant history of the Christian church,²⁵¹ it begins with the church’s essential identity and continuity with the covenant people of the past. There is only one woman! One dragon. Multiple attacks, yes, but one essential worldview and covenant identity in relation to the Creator-Redeemer. The Remnant against which the Dragon vents his frustrated wrath is the covenant community of the final crisis of earth’s history (12:17). The explicit reference to the “ark of the covenant” highlight the covenant commands, i.e., Ten Commandments, which were located in the Ark of the Covenant.²⁵²

Revelation’s portrait of the eschaton includes the fulfillment of the divine covenant with human beings. The decent of the New Jerusalem at the close of the millennium symbolizing God’s everlasting presence marks the consummation of an intimate covenant commitment: a connection rendered unmistakable by the use of Lev 26:11-12 in Rev 21:3.²⁵³ The language is unambiguous in its echo of the pervading biblical concept of covenant (21:3, 7).254 No greater statement of a promise kept can be found in Scripture. Here too, God’s voice is heard pronouncing the conclusion of earth’s restoration—"Behold, I am making all things new”—which in effect affirms the Creator’s covenant faithfulness to His creation (21:5).²⁵⁵ The triumphant divine cry, “It is complete” (21:6) confirms the eschatological new creation and redemption, now completed in the descent of the New Jerusalem from heaven.²⁵⁶

Revelation is filled with incredible (almost unbelievable) covenant promises from God, which gives reason to believe that what God does promise the human family is a commitment that we can rely on (21:5; 22:6). We are assured that God’s covenant faithfulness promises much more than possibility. He not only intends to keep His promises, He is competent to do so.

This concept of covenant (diaqh,khj) permeates the book as one of its central moral themes. No more concrete category can unite history and eschatology, the individual and the community, divine and human agency, moral life and accountability (judgment), than Scripture’s own method of moral contexualization: the covenant.²⁵⁷ Covenant is the social location of revelation, redemption, and ethics in the Apocalypse.²⁵⁸ God is a promise making and a promise keeping God. So also His people.

Thus, Revelation’s pervasive covenant theme nuances the essential relational nature of ethics. The notion of covenant says something about the character of God and the way He does things. Covenant has to do with the fundamental relational understanding of the way in which God acts in the world. The sealed scroll teaches us that God’s covenant with humanity through history is the stage on which the divine drama is performed in the Apocalypse. It is also the context in which both moral choice and accountability is envisioned. All our relationships are important—to God, to others, both individual and community. God will continue to act in the future as he has acted in the past He can be trusted in His work to redeem and reconcile us to Himself. There is hope in His constancy that transcends culture, time, and situations. God is a covenant making and a covenant keeping God. He calls us to model His faithfulness in a world or broken covenants.

Truthfulness—“No Lie Was Found in Their Mouth” (Rev. 14:5)

Revelation posits a fiction juggernaut—a massive relentless spiritual and moral force, which nearly overwhelms moral reality and truth with its deceptions (16:13-17). In the process it throws the people of our world into a moral/spiritual vertigo.²⁵⁹ Those who dwell on the earth encounter powerful spiritual, socio-political, cultural, even demonic forces that fundamentally alter their sense of what is, in fact, true and false, right and wrong. While the devil, the beast and the false prophet reign, the earth is the sphere of deceit and illusion.

This fiction juggernaut is expressed in a variety of ways: There is the Devil “who deceives the whole world” (12:9; cf. 20:3, 8, 10). There is the sea beast who speaks arrogant words and blasphemy against God and heavenly realities (13:5, 6). There is the land beast who deceives the inhabitants of the earth with propaganda about the first beast together with supernatural signs (13:14; 19:20). There is the seductive prostitute [Babylon] whose gold cup filled with intoxicating wine of false teachings makes people drunk by deceiving the world with her sorceries (17:1-5; 18:23).²⁶⁰ Reference to tails and mouths likewise highlight intentional deceit and falsehood.²⁶¹

The moral vertigo which this relentless delusion produces doesn’t just distort perceptions of truth and falsehood—it orients and impacts character and behavior towards untruthfulness. There are those who love to live a lie—they are liars, who lie (22:15).

“Revelation is greatly concerned with what is true and what is not.”²⁶² Truth about God and the truth of God matter.²⁶³ So also, truth in principle and truthfulness as a way of being. God would liberate people from both untruth and untruthfulness.

Revelation asserts that God and Jesus are true and holy, true and righteous.²⁶⁴ Jesus is “the Amen, the faithful and true witness” (3:14; cf. 1:5). His name is “Faithful and True” (19:11). Readers are assured that the book’s words are true and trustworthy.²⁶⁵ They are so true that nothing is to be added to it or taken away from it, on pain of eternal loss (22:18-19). All liars will be forever outside the eternal city (21:8; 22:15). Those who stand with the Lamb before the throne of God will have no lie their mouths (14:5). This appears as doctrinal, theological, or ecclesiological focused,²⁶⁶ but at its deepest level Revelation’s focus on truth and truthfulness relate to moral being and ethics.

The Greek word for truth appears exclusively in an adjectival form alēthinos.²⁶⁷ Each occurrence is with reference either to the divine attributes of Christ²⁶⁸ or to the words and actions of God.²⁶⁹ It can have the sense of both genuine (from a Greek perspective) and trustworthy (according to the Hebrew conception) so that the idea of true and truthful/faithful may be included in it.²⁷⁰

Several aspects of truth unfold in Revelation. First: truth exists and is knowable. It is a moral sphere of reality.²⁷¹ This reflects the wider biblical view of truth which is primarily an ethical rather than an epistemological concept.²⁷² Appearing as it does in the conclusion, the simple yet profound reference to those “who love and practice lying” presses the question of being and doing with regard to truth and truthfulness.²⁷³ We are reminded of the ethical purpose of the book with regard to truth and truthfulness.²⁷⁴

Second: truth is a Person (Jesus Christ). Again, Jesus is the one “who is true” (3:7; 6:10). He is the “faithful and true witness” (3:14). He is “called Faithful and True” (19:11). He is Revelation’s Amen (3:14)—a unique description of Christ’s person, reminiscent of Isaiah 65:16 where God is twice called the “God of truth.”²⁷⁵ This imagery of the truth with reference to the person of Christ represents a profound mode of moral discourse. As per above, within Revelation’s moral vision the character of God is the norm by which humanity is to live. Truth says something about the way in which Christ acts and relates in the world. It reminds us that truth is never abstract, but moral in the context of personal being. It is inherently personal.²⁷⁶ In so doing, Revelation reminds us that truth is centered in a Person, rather than teaching or proposition. It is not a doctrine but a personal reality, namely Jesus Himself. Jesus is not the truth because His teachings are true. Rather, His teachings are true because they express the truth which He Himself is. He is more than His words.²⁷⁷ It is characteristic of Revelation that truth is made not of rules or principles but of a Person, of Christ the celebrated Lamb. It does indeed bring with it all the veritable ethical principles that can be discovered by our study. But truth makes us something more than mere machines applying correct principles: it makes us persons. It brings us much more than a code of ethics. It brings us into personal relationship with the very source of authentic life. Truth in the Person of Christ will always engage us as a person. Such captures the heart and mind. It is a Person who encounters our person with respect to the truthfulness of our own being and doing. It is a Person who brings hope and courage and power to be true in a world of deceit and illusion.

Third: truth is doctrinal, dealing with propositions and ideas.²⁷⁸ Wrong beliefs and weak doctrine inevitably lead to incorrect and impure action.²⁷⁹ Keeping the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus points to the truthfulness of what God has taught (12:17; 14:12).

Fourth: truth is behavioral in terms of moral and spiritual action, i.e., what one does matters. Revelation unfolds this important facet of truth most clearly in its description of God’s judicial action in history: “Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; For all the nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed” (Rev. 15:3, 4); “And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments” (Rev. 16:7); “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; Because His judgments are true and righteous” (Rev. 19:1, 2). Truthfulness encompasses right action, ethically correct behavior. Moral beings in both heaven and earth observe with deep interest and evaluate the ethics of God’s action.²⁸⁰ Is it right? Just? True? Ethical? Such a sacred and moral moment in salvation history will reveal and display truth like no other this side of the Cross (cf. 12:10). God will be seen as morally true in the way He goes about things. In the process truth will be displayed as a way of doing things (a way of acting) as much as it is that of being and word. Moral beings will intuit that they too must be true in their every way as well.

Fifth, truth has to do with one’s moral orientation—who they are deep down inside and what they gravitate to and love. When Revelation refers to “those who love and practice lying” (22:15), it reminds us that truth is not simply something that is believed or spoken or lived, it is a way of being. “Loving . . . a lie” is deeper than “doing” a lie. A proclivity toward falsehood leads to “practicing” lying. The person who loves falsehood has by that love demonstrated a kinship to it and his affinity to the false Christ and to Satan. Satan is the father of lying (Jn. 8:44). Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature (Jn. 8:44). Only those who are “of the truth” will understand and receive truth and, in keeping with the truth, be truthful.²⁸¹ Truth is the event of the meeting between the ontological and the existential. Who I am perfectly corresponds to how I act. My commitment to truth is verified by deeds.²⁸²

Finally: truth has overwhelming moral power. While there is a fiction juggernaut that engulfs the world with untruth and evil, truth has more power than falsehood. Heaven ultimately wins because it wins the victory of truth over deceit.²⁸³ Throughout Revelation, it is the heavenly perspective that has the power of truth. God exerts the power of truth.²⁸⁴ Christ exerts the power of truth.²⁸⁵ In their own sphere the people of God manifest the power of truth.²⁸⁶ Truth has more power than the sword or prison or peer-pressure or culture or even self, i.e., “they did not love their life even when faced with death” (12:11).

Truth and truthfulness is an integral part of the relational reality of ethics. Human relationships depend on truthfulness and integrity, thus being truthful and being true are significant. When people turn from God’s truth they experience incredible confusion. When they stand for truth they experience incredible difficulty and opposition. The truth and truthfulness call for patient endurance.

Confession, Character, Conduct—“Worship Him Who Made . . .” (Rev. 14:7)

There is no book of the New Testament in which worship figures so prominently, provides so much of the language and imagery, and is so fundamental to is purpose and message as Revelation.²⁸⁷ Both cosmic and existential dimensions of worship are in view.²⁸⁸ Moral matters converge with those of worship. Worship and ethics become inescapably related, inseparable. They are entwined in the apocalyptic vision as confession, character, and conduct—where authentic worship both expresses and shapes one’s moral identity and action in response to God.²⁸⁹ These three themes profoundly interconnect:²⁹⁰ making it obvious that “worship is a constitutive act”²⁹¹ forming character and guiding conduct. Worship frames moral being, identity, and action. The cultural realities of worship ritual both express and engender worldview. Character and conduct are correlative to confession and are both shaped by it.²⁹² But character also shapes conduct and nuances confession. Conduct likewise impacts character and confession. Each is a facet of the worship found in Revelation and together express the book’s worship/ethics link.²⁹³

Confession brings to focus questions of who is to be worshiped, how one worships, and what one says and does in worship. It highlights how we become what we worship.²⁹⁴ It unfolds the ethical consequences of false worship²⁹⁵ and the transforming moral power of true worship.²⁹⁶

The matter of character is expressed most profoundly in the imagery of the 144,000 who have divine names written in their forehead and live blamelessly in the world.²⁹⁷ The primary meaning of the seal of God and the mark of the beast (consisting of the names of God and the beast respectively) stamped upon every individual is that “everyone is conformed to either the image of God or the image of Satan. Everyone bears the character of the divine or the demonic.”²⁹⁸ It appears within an unfolding conflict regarding true and false worship.²⁹⁹ It reveals how true worship brings “reverent alignment with God’s character from which God’s actions spring forth.”³⁰⁰ By aligning with God’s character and purposes in worship one also aligns oneself with God’s ways and purposes in the world.³⁰¹ They align who they are with Who God is. Within this inner alignment process, one’s own action in the world is given direction.³⁰² No greater act of worship can be given God than to align our thinking with His and in our own heart of hearts mirror God’s values, attitudes, purposes, and ways of thinking.³⁰³

Character thus affirms that whom and how one worships is inseparably linked to being.³⁰⁴ Worship involves being—both the being (or non-being) of the one (or object) worshiped and the being of the one who worships. It touches one’s inner moral and spiritual orientation including values, attitudes, motives, feelings—ways of being and thinking in the world.³⁰⁵ Character reflects one’s total existence before God.³⁰⁶ As such, its link with worship describes every human activity, both cultic and otherwise.³⁰⁷ It is at the heart of what it means to fear God, give glory to him in worship as Creator (4:6, 7).

While worship can never be reduced to mere action, it is nevertheless embodied in conduct—tangible moral action.³⁰⁸ Moral action is nuanced through the book’s repeated focus on “keeping”,³⁰⁹ “doing”,³¹⁰ and “deeds”.³¹¹ So also, where the influence of one’s observable deeds can follow their death by way of continuing example of faithfulness to God.³¹² Or how the tangible expressions of one’s conduct are both something that can be repented of ³¹³ and comprise criteria for judgment where they are recorded as immitigable facts in books.³¹⁴ So too, the imagery of the Lamb’s bride who is described as clothing herself with “fine linen” which is “righteous acts” (dikaiomata) of the saints.³¹⁵ Even God’s deeds can be both observed and critiqued by moral beings.³¹⁶

When the matter of worship comes to a head with the demand to worship the beast in chapters 12-14, observable moral action and ethical practice are likewise at the heart of the conflict. Eight times in chapters 13 and 14 attention is called to worship.³¹⁷ Central to Revelation’s solemn appeal to worship the Creator³¹⁸ rather than the Beast or his Image³¹⁹ is the call to persevere (hupomone) in both keeping (tereo) God’s commandments and guarding the truths of God in a world that has chosen darkness over light.³²⁰ In this decisive worship context (Rev 12-14), hupomone is defined together with tereo in terms of ethical requirements.³²¹ Thus worship is characterized by obedience to God in keeping His covenant commandments.³²² These are explicit moral/ethical details and themes within the given eschatological narrative.³²³ Revelation is permeated with direct and indirect allusions to nearly every commandment of the Decalogue.³²⁴

Thus, worship is portrayed as action with very concrete and observable dimensions. They suggest ethical responsibility as well as moral/spiritual behavior that are evident to the moral self, to a watching world, and to God.³²⁵ Their tangible observable nature is in keeping with a larger “seeing” motif in the Book of Revelation where one is either seen or threatened with exposure.³²⁶

Ultimately confession and character shape conduct. But conduct likewise shapes character and confession.

Reconciliation—“The Healing of the Nations” (Rev. 22:2)

In a world of differences—nations, tribes, languages, and people; rich and poor, slave and free, small and great³²⁷—God seeks healing and reconciliation between alienated hearts and hurting memories. The literary placement and moral themes of Revelation’s thousand years³²⁸—bounded by a resurrection on both sides and followed by moral realities of the new heavens and new earth— unfolds an ethic of reconciliation. This reconciliation is nuanced profoundly with imagery from the tree of life: “On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (22:2). The context suggests that God “accounts for the wounds of the past.” “The curing quality of the leaves of the tree will heal all wounds—racial, ethnic, tribal, or linguistic—that have torn and divided humanity for ages.”³²⁹ God will wipe away every tear from the eyes of hurting human hearts. He accounts for the wounds of the past. This healing is both individual and relational. The human family—and all the families of the earth—finds both blessing and final reconciliation. God thus honors the human moral-psychological-emotional makeup by not transitioning too quickly and artificially from the old to the new. Judgment both during and following the millennium assure understanding and justice. The final doom of the beast, false prophet, death, the grave, Satan, and anyone not identifying with the righteousness and peace of the eternal city bring assurance that God’s final reconciliation will be enduring. The eschatological transition has a social dimension to it.

This reconciliation between people cannot be arbitrarily effected on the part of God without overriding our essential humanness. Judgment is a social act, redefining relationships. As a time of transition, the millennium holds open the hope that: (1) the redeemed will be able to review how God has judged human beings and affirm that His judgments are true and righteous (20:4; 15:3, 4); (2) that they will have the time to be able to deal with their personal feelings in response to God’s decisions about others whom they know and love or have been alienated from; (3) that they will have time to deal with their personal feelings about others who, like them, are redeemed, or who unlike them, are lost; (4) that they will experience healing of mind for their painful memories as God accounts for the wounds of the past; and (5) that they will experience final reconciliation in those painful broken relationships that separate human hearts, nations, peoples, and tongues.

The millennium unfolds incredible truths about the character of God and calls us to be people of reconciliation in anticipation of His final reconciliation of peoples in the transition from the painful realities of life as we know it now and the shalom of eternity with Him. Revelation’s vision of this reconciliation invites every follower of the Lamb to give both witness to and proclamation of God’s redemptive purpose for riven humanity.

Revelation’s ethic of reconciliation is nuanced largely through the book’s trajectory and divine character & action and referential modes of conceptual imagery as per above.³³⁰ It is tacit, nevertheless integral to the book’s theodicy and redemptive re-creation. The horizon of the future together with God’s own action within history affirm its implications for the people of God.

Ethical Dilemmas—“How Long, O Lord?” (Rev. 6:10)

The cry of the “souls under the altar” in Rev 6:9-10 is momentous: “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” The reality that gives rise to this question echoes the quintessential theodicy plea of the Old Testament.³³¹ Against the background of human history marked by death, war, and injustice, which the riders of the first seals illustrate (6:1-8),³³² “there emerges at the opening of the fifth seal a well defined existential situation.”³³³ Those on God’s side of Revelation’s cosmic conflict are the slaughtered and those being-slaughtered; their numbers continue to grow (6:10, 11).³³⁴ They are vexed by the discrepancy between expectations and reality. They have died for God who is sovereign, holy, and true (6:10). There is angst that salvation will be further postponed. Their prayer for judgment and vindication reverberates through the ensuing narrative.³³⁵

This impassioned cry becomes the “genetic nucleus” of the whole narrative of the sealed scroll³³⁶ and “the crux of interpretation of the whole book.”³³⁷ As this question of theodicy rises in the context of anthropology—it is human beings who ask such urgent questions of theodicy—this impassioned existential cry of the “souls under the altar” opens up for the attentive reader a window into Revelation’s ethical dilemmas.³³⁸ As a whole, the book’s vision of the fifth seal not only gives voice to the problems of justice and the character of God confronting heaven, i.e., theodicy; ³³⁹ it also yields tacit insights into human nature and being. It opens to view the human dimensions of the cosmic conflict and in doing so it enables us to see human beings and human nature from several unique vantage points.³⁴⁰ In doing so, we observe how messy the question of ethics can become.

Revelation thus candidly and unabashedly unfolds profound moral issues that we struggle with and which affect our own moral decisions and responses—even our view of God. The people of God cry out for understanding and justice as well as resolution. The reality of evil, the brokenness of our fallen world, as well as our own fallen human nature, brings a complexity to the moral choices and responses we face. So also, the cosmic conflict backdrop on which moral themes are placed. Ethics is messy. The messages to the seven churches highlight the practical nature of these realities as the first century church struggled through a host of ethical dilemmas. There are no easy answers. And yet, within the larger moral context we have developed thus far—the integrating themes that form a context for ethical reflection, how character matters, the freedom of choice, the normative character of God and how His power is manifest in the weakness of the Lamb, His covenant faithfulness and truthfulness—one can begin to make sense of some of Revelation’s troubling moral dilemmas. The book’s troubling moral dilemmas include: 1) the struggle for power and whether or not power is the ultimate value and source of victory in the cosmic conflict: ³⁴¹ 2) the staggering violence throughout the book and whether or not God’s actions can be termed violent—is there an ethic of violence in the book, is Revelation a violent text?;³⁴² 3) whether there is a tacit misogamy because of the way women are characterized and how they are oppressed;³⁴³ 4) the unimaginable human collateral damage in the warfare between good and evil; 5) the phenomenon of war in heaven in relation to the problem of evil and questions of theodicy;³⁴⁴ 6) an ethic of resistance and/or liberation because of oppression;³⁴⁵ 7) an ethic of critical political engagement;³⁴⁶ 8) tormenting the lost in the presence of holy angels and the Lamb—is it closure or revenge? (14:10); 9) ecological disaster and renewal (11:18; 21:1, 2);³⁴⁷ 10) the book’s evocative and seemingly abusive rhetoric;³⁴⁸ and 11) divine justice and judgment.³⁴⁹

The scope of these aspects of ethics is too large to engage here, yet they need to be noted as examples of the book’s tacit ethical dilemmas. They reflect realities of several of the book’s integrative worldview themes including: sin and fallen human nature and the cosmic conflict and the problem of evil.³⁵⁰ While the religio-political-social-moral critique of Rome (both pagan and spiritual) and the moral force of Christ’s witness as non-violent resistance of evil are tacit in Revelation’s moral vision, it’s moral dilemmas at bottom are not political, ideological. or social cause oriented as often nuanced in contemporary commentary. They do not envision social action or liberation in the political or social spheres. Rather, they are spiritual—relating to questions of theodicy and personal moral realities and decisions within the cosmic conflict narrative.

Moral Agency—“they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 12:11)

From where does moral impulse and potency come? What motivates us to be moral? From where do we summon strength to be moral? When we have been defeated by ourselves or life or the oppressive powers of the religio-political world, and are filled with shame and guilt, what hope is there to be anything different? Who and how is one able to have the moral capacity to stand before God? Why be moral?

Revelation links personal moral agency with the experience of salvation.³⁵¹ It sets the question of moral impulse and potency in the context of divine grace (1:4; 22:21), God’s sovereign kingship (1:8; 4:1-5:14),³⁵² and Christ’s substitutionary death (12:11; 7:14-15).

Divine grace provides an “already and not yet” scope to human life, as well as the ground of moral action and victory.³⁵³ It both assures and provides atoning help and moral empowerment.³⁵⁴ The book begins with grace and ends with grace: “Grace to you and peace” (Rev. 1:4); “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen” (Rev. 22:21). It brackets the visions. It forms an interpretive literary inclusio. It places everything in its own context. This grace bestows what it proclaims.³⁵⁵ It is grace that saves. Grace that can make a difference both now and for eternity. Grace that brings hope and peace. Grace which provides a defining vision of God. It is grace which reminds us of the seriousness of the human situation. It underscores the reality of overweening evil, unremitting war on all fronts, the tenacity of sin, and the depravity of man. Grace is critical.³⁵⁶ Man’s catastrophe cannot be met by human effort alone.³⁵⁷ Only divine grace can enable one to obey the book’s injunctions and persevere in the middle of difficult situations.³⁵⁸ Only grace can steady one through pressures of moral/spiritual compromise.³⁵⁹ Only grace can nurture staying power that keeps faith in the assurance of God’s victory and a vision of the redemptive re-creation. Grace overtakes and surpasses sin and sickness, war and catastrophe. Grace is larger than the human condition. God’s grace effects change in human hearts, our human condition, the destiny of our planet and the universe. It is profoundly transformative.

We are released from our sins (Rev 1:5). We no longer experience shame and guilt or the uncertainty of judgment (Rev. 12:11; 18:20). Who we are becomes washed deep within and we can celebrate innocence before self and God once more (Rev 7:14). We are vested with significance: made into “a royal kingdom of priests” in relation to God—reflectors of divine grace to a lost world (Rev 1:5, 6; 5:9-10; 14:1-5). A personal experience with redeeming grace brings a life of obedience to God, purity, truthfulness, innocence, and a life that follows the Lamb’s self-sacrificing way (Rev 7:15; 14:1-5; cf. 3:21).

Substitutionary atonement factors largely in the book’s picture of redemption and release from sin and the fallen world.³⁶⁰ Jesus has adequately cared for the sin problem through His substitutionary death.³⁶¹ He loves us.³⁶² He has set us in a new position in the world as kings and priests who have spiritual power and influence (1:6; 5:10). That Jesus is victor over all and determines the final outcome of human history (5:1-8:1). His victory is shared through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.³⁶³

Revelation points to character and life being immersed in the substitutionary work of Jesus (7:14; 22:14). People are released from their bondage to the power and penalty of sin by identifying by faith with Jesus’s sacrificial death:³⁶⁴ “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death” (12:11). “The reason for their victory over the world is the death of Jesus and their conscious choice to identify with it.”³⁶⁵ The cleansing effects of the blood of Jesus brings both moral impulse and potency. Revelation’s redeemed have a distinct, intelligent knowledge of what their salvation cost. That is why they dip their robes in the blood of the Lamb (7:14; 22:14). That’s why they follow the Lamb in sacrificial life—holy surrendered in a rhythm of obedience to the Father (14:1-5).

The blessing pronounced on those who wash their robes points to individuals who have a sense of sin and their need for atonement—that evil has something to do with themselves and they with it, that something is fundamentally wrong with them, that ethics is more than right doing. It is on this deepest level that they must yield in order to experience quality of moral character and action the Apocalypse envisions. It includes both shame and guilt, restoration to honor and innocence. Thus, they are motivated toward moral excellence because of the blood of the Lamb. He has died for them. And they experience moral excellence because of the blood of the Lamb. He empowers them. The blood of the Lamb both cleanses one from sin and releases them from its power. Ethics in the Apocalypse is never legalistic or self-help. It is ever grace inspired and grace empowered.

Revelation’s eschatological ethic provides the framework for moral responsibility. Divine grace inspires and empowers human moral agency. Moral agency is grounded in grace. The redeemed do not act on their own impulses or in their own power. The substitutionary work of the Lamb draws them to choose and beckons the will. Substitutionary atonement is the framework for moral action. It is on this deepest level that we yield. It is the work of God to which human beings as free moral agents respond.

Summary & Conclusion

The foregoing discussion of eschatology and ethics in Revelation is programmatic. It approaches three broad issues: hermeneutics, worldview, and the contours of ethical issues. Each area with its subsections invite further study.

Revelation’s eschatology and ethics interweave informing Scripture’s ultimate moral/spiritual vision and urgent appeal. The book puts us in a moral context. It provides the philosophical map, the larger moral vision against which its various moral themes can be considered. Interpretive keys are found in the book’s introduction, conclusion, and transitional passages. Moral vision is cast across the spectrum of a variety of conceptual modes.

Contours of moral being and ethics unfold against the vivid tapestry of an eschatological horizon comprised of a historical flow (past, present, future) and in the context of an overarching worldview with its vision of God and His redemptive re-creation. The context for ethical reflection is nuanced through key integrating worldview themes which call for priority in our thinking and ethical method.

These moral realities include character (being & doing), freedom/choice, honor/shame paradigm, God as ground for ethical norms, truthfulness, worship, covenant faithfulness, ethical practice, reconciliation, moral dilemmas and finally moral agency.

No biblical text offers such incredible practical insight into the link between eschatology and ethics.

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1. Rev. 11:15-19 provides an interpretive outline of moral and theological issues for the entire second half of the book (story number three). This is so because the five main assertions of verse 18 each find a crucial turning point in the last half of the book: “the nations were angry” (12:17; cf. 13, 14), “your wrath came (15:1; cf. 15-18), “the time to judge the dead” (20:12; cf. 20), “the time for rewarding” (22:12; cf. 21, 22), and “destroying those who destroy” (19:2; cf 19). Each of these assertions convey moral imagery pointing to all-important ethical issues, which Revelation raises, explains, answers. See Paulien, What the Bible Says About the End Time, 106. Three other moral images are nuanced here as well: Verse 19 introduces the covenant motif (“the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple”). Verses ¹⁶ and ¹⁷ returns to the subject of worship begun in chapter 4 and which sets at the heart of chapters 12-15 and the rest of the book. Here also the moral right of God’s sovereign reign is announced (vs. 15, 17; cf., 15:3, 4; 19:1-5). Each of these concepts capsules the heart of important moral themes found in the second story as it draws to a close and signals similar upcoming issues in the third and final half of the book. Thus, we find anger, wrath of God, judgment, justice, reward, covenant (commands and faithfulness), worship, and reign of God packed into one pregnant passage transitioning between two incredible visual and audio rendered apocalyptic visions. The symbolic imagery of 11:15-19 unquestionably elicits a particular evocative impact (Craig S. Keener, Revelation (ed. Terry Muckj; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2000), 306-307; Robert H. Mounce, The Book of Revelation (ed. F. F. Bruce; Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1977), 233.).

2. Indeed, the covenant established in Sinai is now fulfilled, as seen in the Holiness Code of Lev. 26:11-13: “I will make My dwelling among you . . . I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people” (Lev. 26:11-12; cf. 21:3).254 This promise was repeated often as a note of comfort and hope for God’s beleaguered people (Ex. 29:45; Jer. 30:22; 31:33; Ezek. 37:27). Verse 7 expands this covenant imagery with the reality that individual overcomers will be children of God, with all rights of heirs: “I will be his God and he will be My son” (cf: Ex. 29:45). See Aune, Revelation 17-22, 1123.