devices mentioned will allow us to further explore the theological message of individual passages and the entire book. In other words, we need to understand John’s work as literature in order to understand it narratively and theologically. To better interpret Revelation, let’s first look at its genre—or genres, since John uses at least three different genres throughout the book. Revelation is a letter, a prophecy, and an apocalypse.1 As we read and seek to understand Revelation, it helps to