Always Open

TheologyGrams shared the above chart. The imagery at the end of Revelation is noteworthy, and I’ve sought to draw attention to it before. Revelation ends with the nations still existing outside the city, and with its gates always open. I’m not entirely sure how this vision relates to the depiction of a lake of fire, which seems like a quite final judgment in which evil is thoroughly destroyed. Perhaps this is evidence of redaction and different authors’ perspectives. But however one addresses it, it seems clear to me that Revelation ends not with a threat of inevitable permanent exclusion, but a warning and an invitation.