“However long the conflict, _this book assures us of the ultimate triumph of the Lamb_. That figure suggests Incarnation in order to Redemption; and the description of the New Jerusalem shows us Light and Life reigning eternally because the Lamb is ‘the lamp thereof’.”—MATTHEW B. RIDDLE,—in unpublished _Classroom Lectures_. “St John knew himself to be a prophet, and his writing to be a prophecy; that he was commanded to consign his visions to a book was an assurance to him that their purpose would not be fulfilled in one generation or two. He sees the book going down to posterity, and like the Deuteronomist he endeavors to guard it against interpolation and excision. As he writes the last words upon the papyrus roll that lies upon his knee, the conviction dawns upon him that _the Revelation of Jesus Christ was given for the warning and comfort of the whole church to the end of time_.”—HENRY B. SWETE,—in _The Apocalypse of St. John_. “_The author of this great book has bequeathed to mankind a_ κτῆμα ἐς αεί, _an imperishable possession_, the worth of which lies in the splendid energy of its faith, in the unfaltering certainty that God’s own cause is at issue now and here and must ultimately prevail, and that the cause of Jesus Christ is inseparably linked therewith, and the main aim of which, as is clear from every page, is to emphasize the overwhelming worth of things spiritual as contrasted with things material, and in the next place to glorify martyrdom, to encourage the faithful to face death with constancy, nay more, with rapturous joy.”—R. H. CHARLES,—in _Studies in the Apocalypse_. The closing book of the New Testament with its prophetic outlook and divine forecast, leaves us in the attitude of expectancy:—“*Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ*.”—THE EPISTLE TO TITUS, Ch. 2:13. PREFACE The purpose of this volume is to present in concise form the general thought and meaning of the Book of Revelation, to give an analytic view of its contents, and to summarize the results of critical study. It is intended both as an aid to interpretation, and as a guide to the use of the many valuable commentaries which are now accessible to the English reader. It is specially designed to meet the needs of the student in the theological seminary or the modern Bible school, the busy pastor in his field, the teacher of adult Bible classes, the Christian Association worker, and the general reader of the Bible. With this object in view it essays to provide in a direct and helpful form (1) the essential points of Introduction; (2) an Analytic Study of the book which aims to discover its meaning as a whole rather than to deal with it text by text; and (3) a brief statement in a series of Appendices of some of the underlying conceptions which give color to its thought and enter into its literary structure.