Why Apocalypse Is Not the End of the World, and What It Means

Deconstructing Christianity: Apocalyptic writing is not about the end of the world. It reveals a spiritual reality parallel to our everyday lives.

People can be forgiven for thinking that apocalypse refers to cataclysmic events at the end of the world. Some writings understood as ‘apocalyptic’ do contain such depictions, but that is not what they are about. This historic, widespread, but mistaken understanding of the apocalypse has defocused the teaching of Jesus and engendered a dysfunctional and dystopic worldview.

Prophecy is a form of ancient Hebrew writing that addresses inner spiritual reality while critiquing parallel social, cultural, political, and economic conditions. Because prophetic writing sometimes envisions a certain kind of future, the English word prophecy has come to mean a future prediction. But biblical prophecy is always about what was going on at the time of writing. Prophet comes from the Greek word προφήτης, which refers to a spokesperson for the message or will of a deity, not a seer who predicts the future.

Apocalypse is a subgenre of prophecy. It comes from the Greek ἀποκάλυψις, which means revelation or disclosure. That is why the last book of the Bible is called Revelation. Though Revelation was written in Greek, its author was a Jewish man continuing in a genre of Hebrew writing that had existed for centuries and comprised many texts.

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In every example of apocalyptic literature, the author recounts some sort of bizarre vision symbolizing a parallel spiritual reality being revealed to him. Apocalypse involves:

1. disclosure of supernatural or cosmic events, fantastic creatures or persons, and/or heavenly scenes symbolizing a spiritual perspective on temporal realities; which

2. metaphorically address the material, social, cultural, and spiritual conditions at the time of writing; to

3. instruct on how to live under such conditions and structures of authority; while

4. sometimes depicting a final judgment of good and evil and/or destruction of the world to convey hope that suffering under oppression will be redeemed.

¹Apocalypse and Prophecy Related to It

• The first part of Isaiah (kingdom of Judah ca. 740-700 BCE) describes decadence and judgment to come, envisioning a Zion where all nations come to serve God.

• Jeremiah (late kingdom into Babylonian exile ca. 626-587 BCE) envisions Israel as having a direct relationship with YHVH unmediated by king, priest, or temple.

• Ezekiel (Babylonian exile ca. 592-570 BCE) draws on Jeremiah, includes apocalyptic imagery, and envisions a restored temple to which YHVH would return; Revelation draws much imagery from Ezekiel.

• Haggai (520), the first part of Zechariah (520-518), Ezra (ca. 480-440), and Nehemiah (5th c.) call for city and temple to be rebuilt and priesthood restored—under the patronage of the Persian empire—exclusively for the people of Israel.

• In response, the third part of Isaiah (ca. 520-400) and the second part of Zechariah (5th c.) hold that YHVH is the true restorer of the city and the temple; all people are to be given access; YHVH will defeat evil through his messiah.

• First Maccabees from the Apocrypha tells the story of a violent holy war waged against the Seleucid rule of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (170-134); God is not mentioned.

• Daniel, an apocalypse set during the Babylonian exile, is nonetheless about Antiochus; it presents an alternative to armed violence: Israel’s salvation lies in the power of YHVH.

• The first part of non-biblical Enoch, from the late Seleucid era (2d. c.), contains apocalyptic passages; the New Testament alludes to it, and Jude quotes it directly.

• Apocryphal Second Esdras was written after the destruction of the second temple (70 CE); Revelation shares an extensive number of apocalyptic images and phrases with it.

• Second Baruch is set after the Babylonian destruction, but is nonetheless in response to Second Esdras; it presents the same apocalyptic war and victory but is more optimistic.

• Pauline epistles contain apocalyptic discourse referencing the Roman empire and present the empire of God as its spiritual alternative.

• A rapture where Christians are suddenly removed from the world was invented by Anglo-Irish Bible teacher John Nelson Darby in the 1830s, and incorporated into the notes and illustrations of the Schofield Reference Bible in the early 20th century.

• Darby poorly interpreted 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; it is not about a ‘rapture’, but depicts Jesus’ followers joyfully meeting his return to earth as spiritual sovereign of creation.

• The gospels contain apocalyptic discourse attributed to Jesus; his words evoke Daniel, and instruct Christian communities on how to respond to coming Roman violence.

• 1 and 2 Peter both contain apocalyptic imagery (the world dissolving in flames in 2 Peter 3 is not a prediction of nuclear holocaust).

²Revelation is a Christian form of Jewish apocalyptic written in Greek. It addresses why Christians in Roman Asia should withdraw from a life defined by the Roman empire, how they should live instead, and what they should expect as a result. It no more predicts the future than does any other apocalyptic text; its use of the future tense symbolically describes a parallel spiritual reality outside time and in the process of becoming.

³Violence as depicted in Revelation metaphorically represents the actual violence endemic in the Roman Empire. Babylon is a human society under a tyrannical empire. New Jerusalem is a human community with God at the center of its shared life.

⁴Revelation supplants Roman political myths with realities, or with its own mythic symbols:

• Imperium with the spiritual empire of God

• Pax Romana with the realities of Rome’s violence

• Victoria with Jesus’ (the slain Lamb) and his followers’ nonviolent victory

• Fides with Jesus’ and the communities’ mutual faithfulness

• Aeterna with a new spiritual reality

“End-times prophecy” is borne of ignorance about what is being read, when, where, and why it was written, and how it came to be available to us today. Apocalyptic writing, including Revelation, neither predicts the end of the world nor describes a literal heaven or hell. It addresses how to live with hope in an alternate spiritual reality under an oppressive temporal regime. Don’t let some bible-thumping ignoramus or book-selling charlatan tell you otherwise! Early Christianity was shaped by and is a spiritual response to the oppressive regime of its day. As such, it is relevant to our day. For more on that, see my post Why Christianity Is About the Corporate Empire We Live in Today.

1. Howard-Brook, Wes, and Anthony Gwyther. Unveiling Empire: Reading Revelation Then and Now. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1999.

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.