Preamble to Revelation

 

Thematic overview of the

REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST TO JOHN

The book of Revelation unpacks itself like a Russian doll.  The entire book (22 chapters) is “contained” in the first chapter:

Chapter 1	Content introduced	Content unpacked
1.10-11	Introduces the 7 churches to whom letters will be sent.	Chapters 2-3
1.8	The Lord God, the Almighty, declares himself to be “the Alpha and the Omega” (i.e. the beginning and the end).  A vision of his throne room is given in chapters 4-5.	Chapters 4-5
1.1-3	Announces the soon-to-be-fulfilled prophecy of the thrice-repeated series of 7 judgments (seals, trumpets, bowls = “the wrath of the Lamb”) which will befall the rebellious world.	Chapters 6-16
1.4-7, 12-20	Description of Jesus Christ as: -The faithful witness -The firstborn of the dead -The ruler of the kings of the earth -the One who loves us and freed us from our sins -the One who made us to be a kingdom of priests -coming with the clouds -the Son of Man -Sharing the attributes of the Ancient of Days (cp. Rev. 1.13-16 with Dan. 7.9-14) -the One from whose mouth comes a two-edged sword -The first and the last -The living One -Holding the keys of Death and of Hades All of this anticipates the final victory of Jesus: ·         over the kings of the earth and their armies, following which the 2 beasts are thrown into the Lake of Fire; ·         at the Great White Thone Judgment, following which Satan along with Death & Hades are thrown into the Lake of Fire (chapters 17-20).	Chapters 17-20
1.5-6, 9	Celebration of the kingdom of God and of the Lamb.	Chapters 21-22

The opening verses of the book of Revelation give us invaluable clues regarding how to understand what will follow.  I would like to highlight 4 themes (prophecy, crisis, kingdoms in conflict and martyrdom):

·        This book is a “prophecy” of the sort that John’s Jewish readers would be familiar with (due to their understanding of the Scriptures)

o   Revelation begins with a blessing on those who read, hear and obey its prophetic message: “Blessed is the one who reads…the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it; for the time is near.” (Rev. 1.3)

o   Revelation ends with a curse on those who alter the content of the prophecy: “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book; if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.” (Rev. 22.18-19)

§  This rhythm of blessing and/or cursing is reminiscent of the book of Deuteronomy – a restatement of the First Covenant which was introduced in the book of Exodus – which included the promise of blessing for obedience and the threat of cursing for rebellion (cf. Dt. Chapter 28).

o   Jesus is the fulfillment of all prophecy: “For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you… was not “Yes and No”; but in him it is always “Yes.” For in him every one of God’s promises is a “Yes.” For this reason it is through him that we say the “Amen,” to the glory of God.” (2 Cor. 1.19-20; cf. Lk. 24.25-27)

o   The Lamb unlocks the Scriptures: John writes his book as the “unveiling” (i.e. “revelation”) of the fulfillment of all the prophecies of the Hebrew Scriptures (OT), which are now to be understood, not as the future victory of the nation of Israel over her enemies, but rather as the victory of the Lamb of God over all the forces of evil (human and non-human).

o   The victory of the Lamb

§  was accomplished on the cross (past),

§  is being accomplished through the suffering of the Church (the “present” of John’s readers) and

§  will be accomplished through,

·        first, the final judgment of the “great whore”, “Babylon”, the 2 “beasts” and the Dragon, along with all those whose names are not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Rev. 17-20), and

·        by the marriage of heaven and earth and the full actualisation of the kingdom of God (future; cf. Rev. 21-22).

o   A commentary on the Scriptures: John says NOTHING that is not inspired by the Hebrew Scriptures.  Already in chapter 1, John is relying heavily on Zechariah 12.10 (cf. 1.7) and Daniel 7.9-14 (cf. 1.7, 12-16), not to mention Exodus 19.5-6 (cf. 1.5-6).  In Revelation 4-5, John bases his vision of God’s throne on Ezekiel chapter 1, Daniel chapter 7 (once again!) and Isaiah chapter 6, not to mention the “lamb” from Exodus 12… 

o   A Jesus-centred reading of the Hebrew Scriptures.  Here is a (lengthy) quote from G.B. Caird, A Commentary on The Revelation of St. John the Divine, San Francisco: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1966, pp. 292-93:

·        “John reminds his readers that the events they must live through are part of an all-embracing purpose.  His constant allusions to the Old Testament imply an interpretation of history already foreshadowed in the prophetic writings.  His use of typology, and especially of the Exodus story, points to an eternal pattern in God’s ordering of history.  His frequent references to the creation myth [of Genesis] (Rev. 4.6; 9.1; 11.7; 12.3; 13.1; 15.2; 21.1) serve to depict the imminent crisis as part of the agelong battle between good and evil, light and darkness.  And his even more frequent use of eschatological language is an assertion that history has an end and therefore a meaning.  But at every point we must remember that only the earthly life and death of Jesus provides the key to the divine purpose.  The Old Testament leads John to expect a Messiah who will be the Lion of Judah, but the facts of the gospel present him with a Lamb bearing the marks of slaughter (Rev. 5.5-6).  The Old Testament predicts the smashing of the nations with an iron bar, but the only weapon the Lamb wields is his own Cross and the martyrdom of his followers (2.27; 12.5; 19.15)…  The Red Sea through which the followers of the Lamb must achieve their new Exodus is the bloodbath of their own martyrdom (15.2).  The monster from the abyss can be conquered only be being allowed to conquer and so to burn itself out (13.7); and the perfection of the holy city… is achieved by allowing evil to exhaust its strength in unavailing attacks on the people of God.”

·       A crisis is coming soon!

o   “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place…” (Rev. 1.1)

o   “Blessed is the one who reads…the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear…it; for the time is near.” (1.3)

o   “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Beware, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have affliction. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (Rev. 2.10)

 

·       Kingdoms in conflict

o   “The Lord is king; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!… Moses and Aaron were among his priests…He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud; they kept his decrees, and the statutes that he gave them” (Ps. 99.1, 6-7).

o   Serving the empire or serving God: Ever since Yahweh rescued his people from slavery to the empire of ancient Egypt, the God of Israel and Creator of all has sought to establish his kingdom in his world, a prerogative that has been usurped by a seemingly never-ending series of human kingdoms, stretching from the builders of the Tower of Babel (i.e. “Babylon”) to those who aspire to dominate today’s world.

o   A priestly kingdom: Israel, the people of God, was the Creator’s bridgehead among the rebellious nations of the world.  At Sinai, Yahweh told the Israelites: “…if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation…” (Ex. 19.5-6; cp. Rev. 1.5-6).

o   Kings of the Jews: During the period of ancient Israel’s monarchy (c. 1,000 – 587 B.C.), and especially during the “Golden Age” of David and Solomon, there was a hope among the people of God that Yahweh’s reign would be established over the pagan nations through Israel and her king (cf. Pss. 2; 89, etc.).  However, this hope was dashed following the destruction of Jerusalem & the Temple by the Babylonians and the ensuing 70-year exile, followed by a return of a small minority of the Jews to Palestine to rebuild their national shrine and capital of Jerusalem (c. 515 B.C.).  Besides the short-lived Hasmonean dynasty (167 – 63 B.C.), there were to be no more “Kings of the Jews” following the Babylonian exile (Herod the Great’s claim to the title at the time of Jesus’ birth notwithstanding), as a series of pagan empires, culminating in Rome, dominated the Jewish people.

o   The final conquest: Jesus was crucified with the title “King of the Jews” ironically (but truthfully) fastened to his cross.  The book of Revelation calls Jesus “the ruler of the kings of the earth” (1.5) and joyfully proclaims that “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever” (Rev. 11.15).  Revelation repeatedly promises that those who “conquer” as Jesus conquered (i.e. through martyrdom; cf. Rev. 3.21) will reign on the earth (Rev. 5.10).  Through the victory of Jesus, the king of Israel and Lord of the world, and that of his faithful followers, the Creator will finally reign over his creation, in accordance with his will expressed in the Lord’s Prayer (Mt. 6.9-10).

 

·       “The Martyr’s Manifesto”

o   John is to send his book to the 7 churches of Asia (Rev. 1.11).

§  Each of the letters to the 7 churches ends with the words: “To everyone who conquers…” (Rev. 2.7, 11, 17, 28; 3.5, 12, 21)

o   The way to conquer is to bear witness (Gr: martureo), to give testimony to Christ despite the threat of death, even to the point of being martyred.

§  “[the martyrs] have conquered [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they did not cling to life even in the face of death.” (Rev. 12.11)

o   “I, John, your brother who share with you in Jesus the persecution and the kingdom and the patient endurance…” (Rev. 1.9)

John wrote his book on the eve of a new wave of imperial persecution in order to encourage the Christians of the province of Asia to remain true to their faith, even at the cost of their lives.  John desired to help them understand what was about to happen from God’s perspective and to realize that the coming crisis had been foretold in the Scriptures of Israel and to assure them of God’s ultimate victory over all the forces of evil.