cms@gatech.edu (02/12/91)
A New Look at the Book of the Revelation to John
I took a course in New Testament at my Church at the same time I took
a course in college. Hence, one course was "of the world" and the
other "not of the the world." :-) Here are some notes I took on the
course which was "not of the world." I thought I'd give you some food
for thought.
The Revelation to John: It is not meant to be understood by people
who are not Christian. It is apocalyptic. It is a Revelation to
believers not unbelievers. Thus, it is written in code. The
audience: Persecuted Christians. These persecuted Christians are
urged, as the central theme of the book, to persevere in the Faith for
God will take care of them.
In the first 11 chapters of Revelation, there is no real sense of
Rome; in the last 11 chapters, there is a strong sense of Rome.
1:1-3 Testimony of Jesus Christ.
1:5 Jesus Christ is faithful witness.
Central theme: Be faithful. God is coming. God will vindicate the
martyrs. "Martyrios" means Witness; one who witnesses and dies for
the Gospel.
The author writes to the "7 churches in Asia." "Seven" is the
biblical number suggesting fullness and completeness; thus, John is
writing to the whole Church.
1:8 Alpha and Omega. First and last letters of Greek Alphabet. God
is everything, from beginning to end.
1:10 Lord's Day -- first usage of expression for Sunday.
1:12 They hold the light; faithful to holding light, which is Jesus.
1:16 Double-edged sword: refers to Word of God; to the Gospel that
comes out of the mouth of Jesus Christ. The sword is the power of God
for believers, but destruction for unrepentant sinners. Cf Heb 4:12,
Eph 6:17.
There are 7 letters. The Greetings are 7 different ways of referring
to Christ. The 7 endings are are gifts to the victors:
1. Eat of the Tree of Life in the Garden of God
2. No second death
3. Give hidden manna; white amulet with secret new name
4. Give authority over the nations
5. Walk with Jesus dressed in white garments
6. Make victor pillar in temple of God; name of God inscribed on him,
along with name of city of God, and Christ's new name.
7. Sit with Jesus on his throne
Also at the end of the letters: "Whoever has ears ought to hear what
the Spirit says to the churches." In the first three letters, this
comment came before the victor's gifts; in the last four letters, this
comment came after the victor's gifts; whether this is significant, I
don't know, and neither did anyone else in our class.
Letter to EPHESUS. Praise for enduring faith; but church has lost
first love. Became strict, conservative, paranoid; lost love for
people; had to hae doctrines correct. Their insecurity causes them to
retreat into doctrine.
Letter to SMYRNA. Knows tribulation and poverty, yet is actually
rich. Jews aren't; urges perseverance. Persecution for 10 days.
Remain faithful, Jesus will give you the crown of life.
Letter to PERGAMUM. Eating sacrificed food and sexual immorality.
Nicolatians: Who are they? Balaam is the biblical prototype of
religious compromisers; Nicolaitians accommodated their Christian
faith with paganism.
Letter to THYATIRA. Sacrifices to idols; religious ecstasy; sexual
immorality. Prophet lived outside city; mystery religion. Meditate
with sex. Hold on to what you have until I come.
Letter to SARDIS. They're burned out. Wake up, strengthen
yourselves. Wake up or I'll come like a thief in the night.
Letter to PHILADELPHIA. Assembly of Satan who claim to be Jews will
worship at your feet. Jewish group in synagogues: Either Judaizers
or Jewish leaders in synagogues who were persecuting Christians and/or
helping Romans do so.
Letter to LADICEA. Cover your nakedness, salve for your eyes.
Lukewarm: Bath associated with healing; church neither healing nor
rejuvenating. Jesus chastises those whom he loves; urges them to
repent.
Three themes of Book of Revelation: Persecution, heresy, morality.
Chapter 4. Phrase "In the Spirit": Think Prophet. From throne:
lightning, rumblings, thunder -- passing judgments. Ornaments --
power of God. 7 Spirits of God -- seven angels of the presence.
Lion, calf, human being, eagle -- strongest, noblest, wisest, swiftest
of all creatures, respectively.
4:10 living creatures give glory to God. 24 elders: (1) 24 sun
gods in Babylonian mystical tradition. Based on imagery in psalms; no
gods beside true God. (2) 24 courses of Aaoronic priests.
(3) 12 Patriarchs and 12 Apostles -- combination.
Chapter 5. Seven Seals. Who is worthy? Dramatic pause. Jesus
Christ Son of God. John was sad because he wanted them opened, he
wanted to know. This is dramatic writing; readers want to know, too.
5:6. I saw a Lamb, slain, four living creatures. 7 is the number of
perfection. 666 is close but not the real thing. 3, 7, 12 are old
Jewish numbers of perfection. 3 is trinitarian -- throughout OT --
deals with completeness. "4" is also important. The reason why
"3 1/2" is occasionally used (11:9, 11:11, for example) is because
three is the perfect number for Christ, and the author wants to make
it clear he's not talking about Christ.
The Lamb is worthy because he was slain; every tribe, langauge,
people, nation -- Johannine (by Johannine, it's generally understood
to mean, Gospel of John, and Epistles of John; John of Revelation not
the same John, but author is familiar with Johannine works) imagery of
universalism. With blood, purchased kingdom of priests by virtue of
the death of the Son of God.
Chapter 6. Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Who is the King?
Destructive evil power.
First Seal:
WHITE HORSE is power of war, force of war. Whole war against God.
Occasionally confused with Christ; obviously not Christ because only
one crown, as opposed to White Horse in 19:11; this horse in Chapter 6
looks like him, but isn't the real thing.
Second Seal:
RED HORSE -- Take away peace; cause war.
Third Seal:
BLACK HORSE -- Famine. 10 or 12 times normal price of wheat and
barley.
Fourth Seal:
PALE GREEN HORSE -- Rider is Death and Hades accompanies him. Sword,
famine, and plague.
Fifth Seal:
Under the Altar souls of martyrs begging God to avenge their martyrdom
because they bore witness to the word of God.
Sixth Seal:
Earthquake, sun blocked, moon blood, "the stars in the sky fell to the
earth like unripe figs shaken loose from the tree in a strong wind" --
divine intervention or visitation. God's judgement. Persecutors are
hiding from God. "Mountains fall on us," etc., reference to Christ's
comforting of the women on the Way of His Cross.
Everything stops after the Sixth Seal. This is for dramatic effect.
Hey, it's an exciting story -- keep the readers in suspense.
144,000 marked with the Seal; 12,000 from every tribe. 12X12 --
double completion. Tribe of Dan missing. Why? Judges 18:30; Dan is
associated with idolatry.
7:9 Palm Sunday; palm branches.Following is the Passion, Crucifixion,
Resurrection. You've got to suffer. Don't let this pain cause you to
turn away. Elders, white robes, etc. Robes made white in the blood
of the Lamb. Baptism in blood.
Lamb at the center of the throne. John 10 & John 3 -- springs of
living water.
Seventh Seal:
Opens the Seventh Seal. Silence for half an hour. (More dramatic
effect.) Not the end; beginning of all the disaster. Seven trumpets
given to seven angels.
8:7 Four angels in chapter 8. Egyptian plagues.
8:13 Eagle: Woe, woe, woe. 7 plagues, 3 woes.
Chapter 9. Fifth Trumpet. 10,000 is a myriad; multiplied by another
myriad. So massive; will come over you like a tidal wave. Assyrians
and Babylonians.
Sixth Trumpet. Another break in the text. Again, this is for
dramatic effect.
Chapter 10. Angel and little scroll. Seven thunders. Seal up seven
thunders; inexpressible judgments; don't even write them down, they're
so bad.
One leg in sea, one in sand. This is an angel. Cannot be Jesus
because Jesus would not swear in this manner.
Eats scroll; seet in; bitter going down. From Ezekiel. Turned their
stomachs sour. Experiencing bitterness of living out the sweetness of
the Gospel.
Chapter 11. Jerusalem's judgement (?).
Moses and Elijah are probably the two witnesses. Zechariah 4 olive
trees. Mark 9:4, Malachi 4:5, Daniel 4:7, etc. Powers to turn water
to blood; rain.
Beast overpowers and kills them. Lies in streets of great city where
Lord crucified (Egypt and Sodom). They exchange gifts in celebration
of their slaying of God's prophets. (Cf Jason and the Golden Fleece
-- sowed teeth in the ground and skeletons come up out of the ground.)
11:11 As noted earlier, the author says "3 1/2" because he definitely
does not want this passage intimately connected with Jesus.
Ezekiel 38:19-20 -- earthquakes, clouds of heaven, etc.
Seventh Trumpet 11:15. 24 elders bow & worship. Natural disasters
again.
Army of God with Ark of the Covenant cannot fail. Wipe out everyone
and everything not of God. Whore/Rome will be destroyed. (Blessed
Virgin Mary associated later with Ark of the Covenant: Army that
carries Blessed Virgin Mary/Ark of the Covenant cannot fail. Origin
of invocation of Mary in battle.)
Sidenote: Teacher of class recommends Robert Mounce's Commentary on
the Book of Revelation.
Last 11 chapters make it clear that the Book of Revelation is about
Rome.
Chapter 12. Woman is Mary, the child is Jesus, the Dragonb is Satan.
The desert is possibly Egypt. Church left behind. Satan/Dragon acts
through the power of Rome. The power of Rome comes from Satan/Dragon.
Image of Church of Satan; Satan/accuser wants us to feel negatively
about ourselves. Conquered by blood of the Lamb. By dying, they
participate in the testimony.
Apocalyptic literature -- unconcerned with chronology of events.
Message considered to be much more important.
Great eagle -- OT imagery, feminine image under "wings of God."
12:15 Torrents of water -- chaos -- this is overwhelming evil.
The offspring of Mary is the Church.
Sidenote: I asked the minister immediately after his discussion on
chapter 12 about the commentaries I've read in which the woman is
associated with Israel. The minister, who is a Protestant, said,
there's nothing in the text to suggest that the woman is Israel, it's
obviously Mary. This surprised me, as most of the Protestant
commentaries I've read associate the woman with Israel. However, I
think the reason Protestant commentaries do this is because Catholics
usually use this passage to justify Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth
as well as the doctrine of her Assumption. The minister also
mentioned that there is no OT mention of Israel as feminine, which
also surprised me, what with all the references to Israel as the
unfaithful wife of God (cf Hosea, among other places). Perhaps I
simply didn't follow his reasoning. I'm not clear on why the woman is
obviously _not_ Israel, although it seems clear to me that the woman
is Mary. Anyone have any followups on this?
At any rate, there's evidence of dualism here -- Johannine imagery.
Chapter 13:1-11. Beast comes out of sea/chaos; blasphemous names,
etc.
7 heads -- 7 emperors
leopard -- attribute of fierce cruelty
bear -- attribute of slow, crushing power
lion -- attribute of roaring, great power
Dragon gave beast the Roman Empire.
Fatal wound healed -- Nero Redividius; Nero didn't die, he was even
now massing troops to retake the city, etc. Popular speculation; no
basis in fact. Not a very good theory; person probably not Nero.
Persecution under Domitian. Certificate of Sacrifice to Roman
Emperor/god is the Mark of the Beast. Heads with blasphemous names --
emperors claiming divinity. Domitian most probable.
13:10 Inevitability of persecution; patient endurance. If any
message to listeners in Revelation, this is it.
Nero Redividius
Dragon
Beast/Sea -- Roman Empire
Beast/Earth -- Emperor
Antichrist able to perform great signs; a religious figure; trying to
get people to worship the beast; later.
Beast wounded by the sword -- Roman Empire as a whole.
13:16 Mark on forehead -- allegiance
13:18 666
Alphabet: 1-10, 20, 30, 40, etc. are the way the alphabet is numbered
according to Gematria. On a Roman coin,
Imperatur Caesar Domitianus Augustus Germanicus
in Gematrian system, adds up to 666. Emperor Domitian. Although some
think it meant Nero, this is based upon a mispelling of the name Nero.
Revelation 14:3. 144,000 Reference to Temple Prostitution; the
144,000 did not have sex.
14:5 extremely important: On the lips of the faithful, no lies; Satan
lies, Satan is the father of lies.
14:6. 3 angels. Calls for patient endurance; gets real graphic about
punishments for disobedience. 14:13 blessed are the dead who die in
the Lord. Hang in there, God will protect you, take care of you.
14:14 Son of man may or may not be Jesus.
15:6 image of purity; you are called to be pure. 7 golden bowls of
God's wrath; earlier, prayers of the saints.
16:15 Don't fall asleep; Jesus will come like a thief in the night.
16:16 Armageddon, in Israel, is a crossroads for merchant trade. If
you control Armageddon, you had strategic power. Many bloody battles
were therefore fought here. Final battle even messier than earlier
ones here. Makes perfect sense that final battle would occur here.
16:17 "It is done." Reference to the last word of Jesus on Cross.
Jesus is back, vindicating us.
17:1 etc. V5 Babylon = Rome. Jews in captivity; Christians in
captivity. Harlot is drunk with the blood of the saints. Your death
will bear witness to Jesus. V8 "existed once, exists no longer, will
exist again," etc. You have to be wise to understand passages like
this, the author himself tells us. Perhaps a message that a decoding
is necessary.
7 Hills on which woman sits; 7 Hills of Rome.
17:14 Fight Lamb with us; faithful in winner's circle.
Beast with ten horns hates woman/harlot. Evil/Rome has seeds of
self-destruction with her/it. Roman Empire itself will leave Rome
destitute.
10 horns. Power of persecution will only last a short time. Hang in
there, it won't be much longer, now.
18:2 Angel shouting: Rome will be destroyed! She says she will
never mourn, but she will.
v15 mourning v16 mourning. v21 The Church are the little ones;
millstone -- Matthew's Jesus says, Hurt one of these little ones,
better that a millstone tied around your neck and cast into the sea.
19:1-8 Praising God. Put Chapter 18 side by side with Chapter 19.
Whose side do you want to be on?
19:8 Linen represents righteous deeds of the saints. Good leaders
point to God, worship only God.
19:9 Wedding supper of the Lamb. Luke 14, Matthew 22 (?).
19:11 White Horse -- Purity. Rider -- Faithful and True. This is
Jesus Christ. Earlier horseman looked like him but not the real
thing. Robe dipped in blood.
19:17 Supper of God; eat flesh of kings, etc. Satan often
masquerades as an angel of light (here, angel standing on the sun).
Bease and false prophet thrown into fiery pool burning with sulfer.
Chapter 20. Millenialism/post-Millenialism/etc. Dragon/devil in
abyss; released, etc. Beheaded; Roman favorite form of execution.
1000 years -- a long, long time. Satan let out for a short time;
wiped out; etc.
20:12-13 Names in the Book of Life.
20:14 Hell thrown into lake of fire. Everything not of God will be
completely and utterly destroyed.
21:6 and earlier OT imagery; Isaiah all the evil ones, fire in sulfer,
second death; people try to lead them away. Burning pool of fire.
12 gates; number of completion, again. Measuring rod; building of new
Temple. New Temple is among us in our very hearts. Lord God is the
Temple; Glory of God gives light.
Chapter 22. River of lifegiving water; tree of life. Genesis
beginning tree of life; Revelation ending tree of life. No pain, no
tears; His Name on their foreheads. Angel will send servants to show
you.
22:12 Behold, I'm coming soon.
Don't get flustered about evildoers; God will take care of them; but
_you_ stay righteous. Let God worry about them; _you_ worry about
yourselves and stay righteous.
Okay, those are the end of my notes. Obviously, you need to have the
Book of Revelation in front of you to really understand what's going
on. Hal Lindsey with his "Late Great Planet Earth" nonsense has
really screwed up people's understanding of the Book of Revelation.
It's obvious, when you get the background information. Well, enough
food for thought for this issue. Let me know what you think.
--
Sincerely,
Cindy Smith
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