Revelation is the last book of the Bible, which tells of things to come, including Satan's defeat, the resurrection and judgment, and the "new heavens and new earth" where those who believe in God and Jesus Christ will go. It was written by John the apostle on the isle of Patmos where he received this revelation from Jesus Himself.

Because of how things are mentioned in the book of Revelation, there have been four major interpretations of this book:

• Preterism, which believes that all events mentioned in this book took place around 70 A.D., eventually culminating in the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and the dispersal of the Jews from their homeland in Israel;

• Futurism, which believes that all events mentioned in this book have a fulfillment that will take place at a time yet specified, including all Old Testament prophecies that have also yet to be fulfilled involving Israel;

• Historicism, which believes that all events mentioned in this book have taken place in various forms from the time Jesus ascended into heaven and the church was formed up until the present day, and will culminate into the time of His second coming;

• Symbolism, which believes that all events mentioned in this book are merely symbolic and simply relate to the believers' walk with God.

The authors of the Left Behind books support the futurist interpretation of Revelation, and so the story series follows this interpretation.