THINK 2019: Revelation

What kind of a book is Revelation?

Interpretative Frameworks:
Idealist, Preterist, Futurist, Historicist

Idealist readings:
- Imagery and metaphor denotes timeless spiritual truths which recur throughout human history.

STRENGTHS: transferable to everyone, doesn't go out of date, fits the genre.
WEAKNESSES: very elastic and unclear, doesn't really help since 'if everyone is special, no one is.', not very reassuring since 'soon' loses its impact since it's been 2000 years.

Futurist readings:
- Most of the text focuses on the events leading up to the end of all things and the return of Christ: what, where and when.

STRENGTHS: literal interpretation of the book. It requires less explanation to get the book to say what you want it to say. It's predictive, transferable to all subsequent readers.
WEAKNESSES: timeless present problems, easy to get tangled and complicated/convoluted, weird (someone asked Aj 'are the weird locusts things, Apache helicopters?' and inconsistent with genre

Preterist view:
- The main focus of the book is on events contemporary to the text, such as the fall of Jerusalem (70), or that of Imperial Rome (410? 476?)

STRENGTHS: anchored in first century, fits genre, reassuring, 'soon' = soon.
WEAKNESSES: dating problems, not easily transferable

Historicist view:
- The shape of Revelation predicts the shape of church history as a whole, from the first century to today.

STRENGTHS: fairly literal and predictive, transferable to each generation
WEAKNESSES: indecipherable, structurally confusing and anchored in first century.

GENRE:

Chapter 1:1-11 look at the amount of different genre types John himself acknowledges that he's using.

Verses and genre:
1 - Apocalypse
3 - Benediction
4 - Epistle
5-6 - Doxology
7 - Apocalypse
8 - Prophecy
9 - Epistle

He jumps between different genres and therefore it helps us by suggesting that a 'one size fits all' mishmash of genres isn't going to work for us.

Revelation is an X-Ray not a crystal ball. It allows you to see into and beneath the surface of reality rather than into the future.

It is an apocalypse: a revelation from God, which peels back the curtain on the world and shows what is happening behind it.
Revelation as letter: An epistle to a specific group of believer with specific challenges and issues (whether in Asia Minor or not).
Revelation as prophecy: A message from God that calls for repentance and obedience, based on who God is and what he will do.

Structure of Revelation:

The structure of the book seems to move backward through Israel's history. It starts in exile, then to the heavenly temple status, then to the wilderness and then to the mountain which is where Israel as a nation begins.

Four times is says 'In the Spirit' or a variant of that which gives us a clear structure to the letter:


Observation: the challenge that we rarely preach the parts of the Bible that contains lots of warnings.

SESSION 2: 

The 'plot' of Revelation as an acronym 'reveal'. Standing back, this is some of what John is wanting to evoke for us.

Romance. Beautiful. Revelation (see abve) starts with the lover and ends with the Bride and in between there is the other woman (the harlot). Then there is also the challenge of making her ready in between. The appearance of the Second-Eve via the other woman (the harlot). WOW WOW WOW!!!!

Exodus. It is an exodus story. The plagues and curses unleashed - locusts, the boils, the rivers of blood - all exodus imagery. Plagues upon the oppressors; saved by the Lamb, martyrs freed into heavenly promise land via wilderness. Don't worry about what a flying locust scorpion is.

Victory. The message of Revelation is not 'Jesus wins!' because he's already won... the message is We Win! by faithful witness and song.

Exile. 

Apocalypse. Though written in a particular context, it exposes the patterns of worldly empires and divine justice.

Liturgy. 
- it can also be seen as a worship service.
- There is a call to worship, a doxology, letters to be read aloud, praise in psalms and hyms, a reading from a scroll, prophetic preaching, bowls of win, a wedding feast, blessing, commission and a prayer.

INSIGHT:

John and the book of Revelation as a two volumed work. This is VERY interesting and fascinating... It is possible that John wrote Revelation first.



Revelation is the most sensual book in the Bible. Nothing gets close to its tactile nature.

Sound: Then I heard... Trumpets, shouts, waterfalls, harps, thunders, choirs etc.
Sight: Then I saw... Brightness, lurid colours, glorious visions, grotesque characters, evocative images.
Smell: (probably the one we're least used to) smoke, cinnamon, spice, myrrh, bowls of wine, incense.
Touch: He laid his hand on me. Hands holding sickles, stars, scrolls, palms, reeds, harps, cups, keys...
Taste: Because you are lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth.' Sweet as honey.

For 'how to preach it':

1: Jesus Unveiled     -    Main application How to Read Revelation
2-3: The Victorious Christian life     -    Main application : Affirmation, Warning & Promise
4: The Throne of God     -    Main application : Worship
5: The Lion and the Lamb     -    Main application : Worship and the gospel
6-7: Who Can Stand?     -    Main application : Diversity, Hope and World Mission
8-11: The Triumph of the Church     -    Main application : Prayer, Suffering and Justice
12: The Woman and the Dragon     -    Main application : Suffering and Victory
13-14: A Call for Endurance     -    Main application : Politics, Empire and Persecution
15-16: Worship, Witness and Wait     -    Main application : Justice and Vindication
17-18: The Unmasking of Evil     -    Main application : Threats to the Church
19-20: The Victory of Jesus     -    Main application : Worship, Victory and the Gospel
21-22:5 The Bride of Christ     -    Main application : Eschatology, Comfort and Joy
22:6-21 The New Creation     -    Main application : Faithfulness, endurance and hope


The Revelation of Jesus Christ


The apocalypse of Jesus Christ is both the one who is revealing and the one who is revealed.

The 'coming on the clouds' is likely to be a reference to the resurrection and ascension and not the future coming of Jesus to the earth. In Daniel the one like a Son of man is coming in the clouds to the throne room of the Ancient of Days.

John turns to see a voice (how do you 'see' a voice), and perhaps with echos of his gospel where he stresses the Word at the beginning.

Rev. 1:4-5 favourite Trinitarian passage in the Bible:
Two 3s and a 7.
God the Father is described in 3 ways, God the Son is described in 3 ways and the Sevenfold Spirit is.

In the Greek they don't write out the Omega but just have 'the O' - so it actually says 'I am the alpha and O'

Sevens - are everywhere!

Seven is a number symbolising completion, but the reason for this is that this is derivative of the week. The seventh = the week is now finished and there is rest/shalom.




The Sevenfold Son



Notes:

• 'Mastoi' is used of Jesus' 'chest' which is the word 'breast'. Why? Possibly because this is the sort of language used of the beloved in Song of Songs and this is a head to toe description of the beloved. 
• 'White' is the colour of purity. Pastorally we have to be clear and careful to ensure we acknowledge the challenges of 'whiteness' around skin colour. Our (my) skin colour is not 'white' (a car driving past that was my colour would not be said that it is white) but instead it's likely that in Christian history, people of our colour saw the link between 'white' and purity in scripture and thought 'that's a good colour to describe us!' 
• Read all the love songs in Song of Songs and then read the letters to the churches and the parallels are a lot more obvious and impressive. Right down to the lover knocking at the door. 
• Voice of Jesus like the crash of Niagra that's so rich and thick and full that you can't speak or be heard and instead just need to listen.
• The sword is in the 'wrong' place for us. We're used to swords being in our hands, but for Jesus it is in his mouth making the point that the word of God is the only weapon we need and nothing else. 
• Any reading of revelation that leads you to fear anything other than God, then you've read it wrong.

The letters to the church

• Comment on the letters as a whole: we don't tend to preach the warnings in scripture and yet Jesus when he addresses the church addresses them with encouragements and challenges.

• Jesus speaks very strongly to the churches, more strongly than anyone else speaks to churches (even Paul when he's at his most feisty doesn't speak like this). Some people (usually online) speak harshly about churches and claims the model of Jesus as being their justification. That's a bit like saying 'Lionel Messi shoots from 30yds out and it goes in, so I can too.' The answer of course is: yes and if you were as good as he is, you could too, but instead you should come closer before you shoot. Jesus can speak to his church more harshly than anyone else, purely on the basis of who he is. 

• John write to seven gentile cities (as Paul does).

• In light of the issue that so many of the issues Jesus picks with churches that are tolerating sexual immorality among them it ought to make us concerned and listen up and learn. for churches that are on the 'affirming' side of the sexuality debate need to be conscious of these words.

The Biblical theology in the book:

The Heavenly Liturgy

• 'Come up here' : the chapter (4) begins with a call to worship, this is what our musicians ought to do. 
• Praise : 'holy, holy, holy' (cmt: the Beatles sang 'love, love, love' but the angels sang 'holy holy holy.') Worthy are you... 
• Songs are central to Christian worship in a way that they aren't to others. Consider the centrality of singing in European sporting events in a way that isn't in other cultures/countries.
• Lament / Prayer
• 5:4 weeping loudly
• 6:10 prayer for justice
• Silence. 8:1 for half an hour
• Preaching of the Word
• The scroll is unsealed, the scroll is eaten and proclaimed.
• Bread and wine
• The earth is harvested, grapes are gather and wine is pressed

The Vision: Centred on the throne

God is at the centre, surrounded by torches and a rainbow. 

We pan out through concentric circles, zooming out which is the opposite direction to Ezekial 1. 

Eugene Peterson: worship is a meeting at the centre. Eccentric living is 'off centre' living.

Another way of seeing the heavenly throne room is the new creation and new temple.

 This is BEAUTIFUL and incredible again...

The whole cosmos becomes a temple. 

Chapter 5 is heaven's view of Jesus coming to heaven. 

The Scroll and the Lamb

This is like the scroll of Deuteronomy proclaiming the blessings and the curses, the purposes of God, judgment and blessing.

The first book of the Bible raises this theme 'the lion of Judah; and the question 'who is this lion?' is answered in the last book 'it's Jesus.'

The root of David and the shoot are the same thing.

All of the imagery leads us to expect a king who is going to conquer Jericho throw down idols and cleanse the land. When the lamb is revealed (who is a very different Joshua) the song cascades outwards, the four, the 24million, then every creature -  it emanates out form the epicentre. The blowing of the trumpets is falling of Jericho.

The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse 

The riders are agents of good sent to bring God's judgement. God is bringing his purposes of judgement through his appointed angelic emissaries. The rider on the white horse is Jesus.

The fifth seal represents te question of the whole of the book: How long O Lord, until you bring judgement. 

6:11 each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer and told to rest a little longer. There are going to be a lot more martyrs before you receive the kingdom you're waiting for.

Sixth seal: complete implosion of the cosmos. The world collapses in two sevens. It collapses int he things (earth, moon etc.) and people (kings, great ones, generals etc.). It is the collapse of the known world (symbolically), that occurred (like 'moon turned to blood' as Peter thought it had happened). That's how Jewish apocalyptic writing works. Who can stand? The answer is, the angels and the 144,000 redeemed. John looks and sees an innumerable multitude from every tribe and nation. He is shocked and astounded by the diversity of people. 

Seventh seal: The seventh seal ushers in silence. Chapters 6-7 are very noisy, the prayers of the saints are handled very carefully and ascend in smoke to the throne of God. In John's gospel, the time is significant. In his gospel it is 'the hour has come' the 'half hour' could be 'in the middle of the night.' Like Passover perhaps, rescued in the middle of the night, the darkness...

Trumpets: The End of the Beginning

Mapping John onto Ezekial. 

• The opening half of Revelation is about a book being opened and a prophet sent out. 
• The opening few chapters of Ezekial loom large in the background to Revelation 1-11

The first half of the book is the commissioning of John.

There are two kinds of trumpet in the OT: The Shofar (made of a ram's horn) is blown in Joshua, the silver trumpet blown in Numbers.

Silver trumpets are for jubilee and celebration/worship, the shofar is for war. Trumpets therefore = worship and war.

Judgement exposes what is already there. The Nile is already blood red because of the baby boys, Egypt is in darkness worshipping the sun god not the real God, the judgements expose (apocalypse) what is already there. That's how judgement works. 

Scriptures strangest chapter is the Locust-Scorpions vs the Horse-Lions

They are described using a seven-fold wasf. There is another place in the NT where you find these same things. Luke 10:17-20

The great mighty angel (messenger) is Jesus:

The Seven Visions:

After eleven chapters of build up, the seventh trumpet sounds and the heavenly vision proper begins. 

Chapter 12 - the woman and the dragon. 

The woman is Israel. The dragon is the Devil. The ten horns and seven heads matters. There areten horns in the tabernacle as well, hinting that this is a false priesthood as well. 

John is using pagan mythology and fusing it with biblical images and the Christ story. 

The throwing down of Satan takes place in the ministry of Jesus not before Creation. It's John Milton popularisation of pre-creation fall of Satan that has influenced our understanding of Satan. Before the fall of Satan (Jesus' ministry) he was the Accuser in the court of heaven, now he is the liar, because there are no accusations left that can be levelled at us since we're covered by the blood of Jesus.

The Beast Rising out of the sea

This is straight out of Daniel 7 representing the worldly empires that rage against the people of God: 

Lion = Babylon 

Bear = Persia

Leopard = Greece

Terrifying beast = Rome

The Dragon stands on the beach between the land (Israel) and the sea (Greece). Then we have a Beast who comes out of each. Andrew thinks: we will have a gentile beast and a Jewish beast and they will come together to fight the church. 

Beasts in the Bible are animals that kill humans. A beast is an animal that humans can't tame. There is a wildness

In mythology beasts originate from bestiality. Ezekial 16 the most sexually graphic chapter in the Bible. 

The Second Beast: 

Prevented from trade: Christians under Nero were persecuted because of their devotion. 

The two together: state power and religious power. An alliance between state power and idolatous religious power to attack the true church.

There is a paradoy between how the people of God are meant to be known. 

Buying and selling: worship, temple connection? Jesus driving out from the temple? The Herodian temple was the idolotous state temple, self-agrandisement for the one who would be king (Herod). 

666 = Nero : NRWN QSR = Nero Caesar adds up to 666. 

Also: 616 because for some people removed the 'N' which would make the number 616 in the game.

6 is man's number, because man was made on day 7. If instead of honouring the God who rested on day 7 you honoured the man who was amde on 6. 

666 appears with Solomon. Solomon is the example par excellence of what happens when a king pursues wealth and women and power instead of God.

This is Nero but also bestial worldly powers who are perportedly Christian, are the truest threat there is to the church.

The Harvest of the Earth

From heaven's perspective when you die it will be seen as rest and release. 

The idea of Resting in Peace (RIP) can be found to come from here. The martyrs can rest. 

There is a harvest. Jesus harvests 

Both the wheat and the grapes are the church. The winepress isn't the place where you judge grapes. The blood of the martyrs is the thing that is then poured out over the world to judge it. 

Matthew 13: sifting the wheat from the chaff. The martyrs are being taken up to heaven from the earth, they are being harvested. 

Most interpreters think that the wheat represents the saints, and the grapes represent the wicked. But given the parallels between the chapters, the vine imagery in Scripture, the treading “outside the city,” and the sacramental overtones, Caird argues, both represent the harvest of the martyrs. Grapes (=martyrs) are not judged in winepresses; their juice (=blood) is prepared for a cup (=wrath) that their enemies must drink. Martyrs are agents of judgment, not objects of it. When the city finally falls, it is covered in “the blood of the saints” (18:24).

The phenomenon of people working miracles who aren't believers/worshippers of God is common in the NT and early Christian mind. 

Chapter 15: 

The bowls of wine are the wines from the winepress.

Chapter 16: 

Exodus imagery is eevrywhere. Rev. 15 has reordered the events of the Exodus and plagues. Why?

The first battle of Armageddon was won with camping equipment: the battle between Deborh and Barak, won by Jael driving a tent peg through the king. 

Har-Mageddon - a hill near Megiddo. 

Har = mountain of Mageddon = of Megiddo

Also the site near Carmel where the battle between demonic gods and God in Elijah took place. 

The only way to make sense of the battle of Armageddon is that it is the fall of Babylon.

It is otherwise quite strange. The armies line up and get ready for a fight and then 3 chapters later we come back to the battle and there are corpses everywhere. Therefore it seems C17-19 is the battle. 

Chapters 17-19:10

The eschatology of Revelation is a recapitulation of the esch. of Ezekial, it is a very clear retelling of the narrative. It helps especially when you come to the millennium.

The harlot: is Jerusalem

The beast: is Rome

We (the people of God) have two enemies not one. Seven headed beast (Rome's seven hills).

The harlot in the OT is Israel. Israel is often represented as a whore throughout the OT. She is the unfaithful wife.

The woman dressed in priestly clothing with a name on her forehead: the priestly garments. She represents religious power, specifically Jewish. 

She is a city 'drunk with the blood of the saints' which takes us back to 11:8. but before she was the woman clothed with the sun and stars. 

The fall of Babylon

There are compelling suggestions to associate Babylon more with Rome, but Aj feels it's more compelling to see it as Jerusalem and not Rome.

Empires often fall very quickly even when they look completely indestructible. 

Right hand column (above) is the preaching application even though the left hand column is more likely what John's early readers would have read it as. 

Ian Paul Q&A: 

Revelation is puzzling and contradictory everywhere. 

- Provisionally: John was intending to communicate something. John had an intention. Babylon is mentioned 6 times in contrast to many things being mentioned 7 times. 6 is man's number, 7 is Jesus. 144, 000 in Rev. 12: refers to saints/believers/christians everywhere - us! We are all martyrs: Jesus, take up your cross and follow. Paul, we have died.

Revelation doesn't make much distinction between those who are dead and those who are alive. 

The beast and the harlot are both Rome he says.

Evil is self-destructive.

Whenever revelation talks about evil it is all chaotic. In contrast the numbers associated with God are all round and square, symmetrical and perfect/beautiful.

Consider how revelation describes time and space. 

Metaphor: Two most obvious features of use of revelation

1) it is highly rhetorical and sued as a bit of a club. 

2) It's about the present day.

Both of them are explained by the use of its language. 

Revelation 19-20

Jesus when he appears again after a few chapters, he is no longer standing as a priest but seated as a king. There are four names of Jesus revealed in this chapter:

1) faithful and true

2) we're not told (a name so sacred that no one knows it)

3) The Word of God

4) King of kings and Lord of lords

The tattoo on his thigh is where you would expect a sword and his mouth, where you'd expect a word is a sword

The blood on his robe is the blood of the martyrs, those he died for.

Rev. 19: refers to the coming of Jesus into heaven at the ascension (compare the parallels with Matthew's gospel).

The Millennium: 

Discussion moderated by John Piper: between Sam Storms, Jim Hamilton and Doug Wilson "An Evening of Eschatology"

Final Judgment and Hell

C.S. Lewis : The door to heaven is locked from the inside.

Lewis's portrayal of Hell stresses well the idea that Hell is already at work in the world.

Joshua Ryan Butler's book: Skeleton's in God's Closet

Ryan-Butler: God's agenda is to get the Hell our of Earth (Aj 'and the Hell out of me as well)

New Creation in Revelation

Every generation puts the emphasis on different ones of the four components of the New Creation expressed in Revelation.

Instead we need to keep all four aspects of it in balance

NB: top right, there are 6 'no mores' in heaven.

Revelation 21

Arguably the most important chapter for understanding the doctrine of the church. 

The book ultimately doesn't culminate in the New Creation but in the bride being displayed - let me show you the bride!!!

In the end: we move from the land of 7s to the land of 12s

The contradictory metaphors (pure gold transparent as glass) imply John's attempt to explain something that is 'too beautiful to describe'

Fin. 

Amazing!