Interpretations and readings of the book of Revelation are legion. Many of these works are focused on either what was happening back then when John wrote it, or what will happen in the future when some amalgam of these events might come to pass. Flemming sets out to offer a “missional” reading that takes seriously the way Revelation can speak to the church right now.In the introduction, Flemming helpfully begins by defining his terms. In particular, he defines what he means by a “missional” reading, which is the crux of the book’s argument: “I use the term missional not in any technical way (e.g. the ‘missional church’) but simply as an adjective referring to something that has to do with or participates in the mission of God” (p. 7; emphasis original). A page earlier, Flemming describes the mission of God as “God’s massive purpose to bring wholeness and redemption to the entire creation” and our role within that purpose (p. 6). For Flemming, this missional reading is not merely a way to apply Revelation to the modern church, though that is part of it; he also sees this missional bent as a key way to understand the Bible’s story that culminates in Revelation.In chapter 1, Flemming seeks to answer the question, “What is Revelation trying to do?” He answers this question through three categories: form, persuasion, and missional context. With respect to form, he asserts that Revelation is a hybrid of apocalyptic, prophetic, and letter genres. As such, it is a book that is not merely either locked in time or only futuristic; rather, it speaks to the church continually so as to form certain types of missional communities, speak a word of comfort and correction, and elicit faithfulness to God and his mission. With respect to persuasion, he asserts that Revelation not only informs its readers but also persuades them to live in a certain manner. With respect to missional context, he asserts that Revelation’s form and persuasion allow for the book to shape Christian worship across space and time, because its “events and images . . . transcend the old meaning and frame of reference” (p. 32).In chapters 2–4, Flemming circles back to his claim that “missional” refers to God’s purposes in the world, defining and articulating what it means for God to be on a mission, the centering of that mission on the Lamb, and how the church should respond. The upshot is that God and Christ have defined and enacted the divine mission to redeem all things and gather the nations around the throne, and Revelation is a testimony to this mission. As such, “We are the suffering, often-compromising congregations [represented in Revelation 2–3], embedded in a variety of circumstances. We are the churches who must repent and be transformed, if we want to get caught up in God’s life-giving purposes for the world” (p. 97, emphasis original). If we read the book “missionally,” then, we see that “Revelation energizes the church, by the Spirit’s power, to be a foretaste of the future in the midst of the dark places of our world” (p. 97, emphasis original).Chapters 5–9 articulate the various ways God’s mission relates to major themes in the book of Revelation, such as witness, judgment, worship, politics, and the New Jerusalem. In doing so, Flemming brings together scenes and topics that can appear otherwise disparate. For example, in chapter 6, he shows that God’s judgment is integral to God’s mission, because “God’s judgment makes possible a perfectly just world” (p. 140). Similarly, Flemming shows in chapters 8–9 how anticipation for the “city to come” orients our understanding of the Beast’s false mission vis-à-vis the true mission of God.Finally, Flemming concludes in chapter 10 with reflections on the importance of reading Revelation “missionally” today. Examples of this include reading “as a follower, not a forecaster” and keeping “our focus on the God who owns the mission” (pp. 209–10). These short tips offer a clear action plan for bringing the hope of Revelation to bear on the church and the world today.This book is to be commended for its clarity of argumentation and faithfulness to the text of Revelation. Flemming’s argument is ultimately not an imposition of false categories but rather a justifiable way of understanding Revelation in light of its own native theology, as well as its place as the culmination of a consistent “missiological pattern” in the biblical canon. Flemming’s argument shines especially in the second half, where he applies the text of Revelation to the church in a way that brings Revelation alive as a Spirit-inspired and Spirit-illuminated word for Christians in all times and places. Few books on Revelation so thoroughly emphasize the “missiological” element of reading Revelation with this level of theological erudition and clarity.The Spirit’s presence in Revelation and work in the church’s mission is rightly highlighted numerous times in this book, but the book would have benefited from a more thoroughgoing pneumatology. Certain sections briefly give due attention to the Spirit’s important presence in Revelation, such as the focus on the Spirit’s speaking in Rev 2–3 on pp. 80–81 and the discussion on John’s use of Zech 4 on pp. 108–9. However, places such as the doxology (“seven spirits”), the throne room (“the eyes of the Lamb”), and the New Jerusalem (“the river of life”) have more to offer pneumatologically than are given passingly in the book. Since Flemming rightly and consistently insists on the Spirit’s role in God’s mission in the church, that argument could have been bolstered by more rigorously working out Revelation’s pneumatology. An entire chapter on Revelation’s pneumatology added to the chapters on God and Christ may have proven useful, but a clearer emphasis on Revelation’s pneumatology throughout the chapters would have sufficed and thus strengthened the thesis. This small critique aside, Foretaste of the Future is a beneficial addition to Revelation studies and worthy of engagement from pastors, students, and scholars alike.