The Optimistic View of History in the Book of Revelation in the Light of the Lamb Vision (Rev 5:1–14)

Abstract

We know well that apocalypticism became widespread among the Jews of the centuries before Christ. The Book of Revelation is related to the Jewish writings in its focus on the end times and its symbolic language, but it is also imbued with a distinctively Christian perspective. The Jewish apocalyptic writings reflect a pessimistic view that the course of present history is increasingly determined by the forces of evil and that God will act only in the future, when he will bring an end to the evil world and accomplish the salvation. The book of Revelation, on the other hand, is pervaded by the conviction that salvation is already experienced through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. At the end of history, God will bring to completion what has already begun through Christ. This conviction is revealed in particular in the socalled vision of the Lamb (Rev 5), which is the key text of the document and the analysis of which is the main aim of this paper.