Revelation

Revelation means "unveiling", and the book belongs to a literary genre — apocalyptic — that uses symbols, numbers and images to speak of present and future realities. It begins concretely: seven letters to seven real churches in Asia Minor, with specific praise and rebuke. Then come the visions: seals, trumpets, bowls, beasts, a woman, a city. Reading all of it as a literal schedule of the future usually produces more confusion than light; the original purpose was to encourage pressured communities to stay faithful. The ending is the most-read part: new heavens, a new earth, and God wiping away every tear, with no more death, mourning or pain.