Women of the Apocalypse

1
(No Transcript)
2
Apocalyptic Animals and Women of Revelation
3
Apocalyptic Animals

• Idealized animals of Revelation
• 4 living creatures
• The Lamb
• The eagle
• The lion
• Hybrids of heaven and earth

4
2nd Trait Irresistible Strength

• Lion represents tremendous strength
• Eagle has unsurpassed swiftness and power
• Lamb, though not in nature a strong animal, is a
  being of incontrovertible might in Rev.

5
3rd Trait Animals of Deliverance

• Bring deliverance to Gods people
• Eagle carries woman on its wings to spare her
  from the dragon (1214)
• Lamb inaugurates a new exodus for Gods people

6
4th Characteristic

• Some have Antithetical Traits (binaries)
• Strength and weakness
• Power and sacrifice
• Victory and defeat

7
Four Living Creatures

• Mentioned 20 times either collectively or
  individually
• Innermost circle of the heavenly council before
  the throne of God (46-8)
• Each has eyes in front and behind with six wings
  full of eyes all around inside (48)
• suggests their vigilance and ability to see
  everything
• Since nothing is hidden from them, including
  their creator, they enjoy perfect knowledge of
  God
• Each resembles a different animal
• 1. lion (wild animal), 2. ox (domesticated
  animal), 3. human face (over all created beings),
  4. flying eagle (most majestic bird)
• Each at apex of their respective domains
• Reminiscent of Ezekiels 4 cherubim and the
  seraphim of Isaiah
• 4 is the number of the created ordercreatures
  are a cipher for the entire animate creation

8
Four Living CreaturesSymbolism

• Perfect union and continuity between heaven and
  earth
• Apocalyptic counterpart to demonic hybrids
• Gods creation in complete harmony with its
  creator
• Represents what Gods creation is supposed to
  doworship God ceaselessly (48)
• Worship is not something you do, rather it
  signifies the perfect harmony between God and the
  creation

9
Lamb

• Metaphor for Christoccurs 28 times in Rev.
• Roles of the Lamb
• inaugurate a New Exodus
• Conquer Satan
• Reign with God
• Symbolism of Lion and Lamb

10
Lamb Inaugurates a New Exodus

• Eschatological exodus that delivers a new Israel
  to a new promised land
• (59-10) 24 elders prostrate themselves before
  the
• Mimics Moses and Israelites song on the Red Sea
  liberating Israel to be Gods priestly nation
  (Exod. 196)
• Elders commemorate the Lambs new act of
  redemption of a new nation of kings and priests
  with is Gods anti-empire commissioned to counter
  the beasts empire
• 1524 Martyrs who have conquered the beast stand
  by a fiery sea of glass to sing the song of Moses
  and the song of the Lamb

11
Lamb Conquers Satan

• John deforms traditional expectations of
  messianic conquest by redefining conquest in
  terms of sacrificial death
• Although Michael throws Satan out of heaven,
  Christs death on the cross actually brings about
  his downfall (1210-11)

12
Lamb Reigns with God

• Coupled with reference to God 7 times
• 513, every creature in heaven, on and under the
  earth, and in the sea sings praises to the one
  seated on the throne and to the Lamb
• 616, after the opening of the 6th seal the earth
  cries out fall on us and hide us from the face
  of the one seated on the throne and from the
  wrath of the lamb
• 710, all nations and tribes cry out salvation
  belongs to our God who is seated on the throne,
  and to the Lamb
• 144, virgins (men) have been redeemed from
  humankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb
• 2122, John sees a New Jerusalem without a
  temple, for its temple is the Lord God the
  Almighty and the Lamb
• 221, the river of the water of life flows from
  the throne of God and of the Lamb
• 223, nothing accursed will be found in the
  heavenly city, but the throne of God and of the
  Lamb will be in it

13
7-fold reference

• Symbolizes the Lambs perfect reign with God
• Shared reign most evident at end of Apocalypse
  where Lamb shares the throne (221, 3)
• Lamb is worthy of praise that was Gods alone

14
Symbolism of Lion and Lamb

• Antithetical characteristics of Christ
• Conquering might
• Sacrifice
• 5 5     And one of the elders saith unto me,
  Weep not behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda,
  the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the
  book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. 6
      And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the
  throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst
  of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain,
  having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the
  seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the
  earth.
• Possible Interpretations
• First coming is the slaughtered Lamb Second
  coming will appear as wrathful Lion who brings
  judgment
• Lamb is simply an alternative symbol for the
  LambLamb with 7 horns and 7 eyes is a lamb of
  irresistible strength making him interchangeable
  with the lion, an image of conquering might

15
Another Symbolic Meaning

• Other two interpretations do not take into
  account Johns rhetorical technique of
  juxtaposing scenes in which he hears one thing
  but sees another
• Coupling of lamb and lion establishes a
  primacy/recency effect that deforms conventional
  messianic expectations
• Lion plays on traditional messianic expectations,
  creating a powerful primacy effect
• Slaughtered Lamb modifies the expectations,
  creating a new definition of conquest and
  mightcreating a new definition of victory
• The way to conquest is not by might (lion), but
  by sacrificial death (slaughtered lamb)
• Establishes new patternreaders achieve victory
  through their obedience and faithfulness even
  unto death

16
Paradox

• Beast conquers the saints (117, 137) but
  triumph is ephemeral
• Good triumphs over evil
• From below perspective, it appears that evil has
  the upper hand
• From above perspective, good triumphs
• For Christians, what it means to win has been
  redefined by the cross of Jesus

17
Eagle

• Magnificent bird that stands apart in its
  unsurpassed strength and speed
• 47 one of the four living creatures
• Represents the apex of the flying creatures
• 813   And I beheld, and heard an angel flying
  through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud
  voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the
  earth by reason of the other voices of the
  trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to
  sound!
• brings news of impending doom
• 3fold woes imitates the cawing sound of an eagle
• 1214   And to the woman were given two wings of
  a great eagle, that she might fly into the
  wilderness, into her place, where she is
  nourished for a time, and times, and half a time,
  from the face of the serpent.
• Allusion to Exodus 194 where God carried Israel
  on eagles wings to the wilderness

18
Lionapocalyptic animal

• 103, thunderous roar characterizes the mighty
  angels loud voice
• 47, one of the four living creatures
• 55, lion is an image of Jesus overwhelming power

19
Women of the Apocalypse

• Book of Revelation

20
Sexual Imagery

• To shock the reader into a realization of evils
  seductive traits
• Relationships between men and women mirror the
  relationship between God and humanity
• Reveal loyalties of the human heartfidelity

21
Two Images of Women

• Illustrate the antithetical traits of
  faithfulness and unfaithfulness
• The whoresymbolizes death and ruination
• The briderepresents life and eternal bliss
• 2 maternal images
• Mother of whores
• Mother in chapter 12

22
Whore of Babylon

• Represents evils desirous, alluring,
  intoxicating nature
• 173   So he carried me away in the spirit into
  the wilderness and I saw a woman sit upon a
  scarlet coloured beast, full of names of
  blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4
      And the woman was arrayed in purple and
  scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious
  stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her
  hand full of abominations and filthiness of her
  fornication 5     And upon her forehead was a
  name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE
  MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
  6     And I saw the woman drunken with the blood
  of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs
  of Jesus and when I saw her, I wondered with
  great admiration.
• Intoxicating yet abominable
• Apparel suggests beauty and charm
• Holds in her hand an abundant supply of filth
  that bespeak her corrupt nature

23
Whores Name

• Written on her forehead
• Remains a mystery
• 1718 the great city that rules over the kings
  of the earth
• Enthroned on a scarlet beast that was full of
  blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten
  horns (173)
• Seated on many waters (171, 15)
• Eventually dethroned by beast who strips away her
  decadent finery, makes her desolate and naked,
  devours her flesh, and then sets her on fire
  (1716)
• Suggests that evil is at war with itself

24
Interpretations

• Commonplace to identify her with Rome or the
  Empire
• 179 7 heads of the monster are 7 mountains on
  which the woman is seateda well known reference,
  it is assumed, to Romes seven hills
• Seven heads also represent seven kings of Roman
  Empire, of whom five have fallen, one is living,
  and the other has not yet come and when he
  comes, he must remain only a little while
  (1710)
• No compelling evidence to limit the whore and
  beast to Rome
• When John sees the whore sitting on the waters in
  the desert (173), he does not envision Rome
• Desert is haunt of demons, a foreboding realm, an
  unclean dwelling place, and thus, the whore
  represents the preeminent demonic, antichristian
  city
• John says more about the characteristics of evil
  than about Rome in particular

25
Seven completeness

• 7 mountains archetypal earthly city, the entire
  world
• 7 kings not individual emperors, but the
  totality of arrogant human rule that deifies
  itself and arrays itself with every form of
  self-indulgence
• The 8th king that belongs to the seventh (1711)
  is the final parousia of evil
• 8 symbolic of a new beginning
• The 8th king represents the beginning of evils
  last stand

26
Purpose of Whore

• Represent every arrogant, human city that pursues
  it own ends unrelentingly and thereby opposes the
  one true God
• Show seductive nature which parodies God and is
  oddly self-destructive
• Evil attacks itself because its very nature is to
  use, consume, and then discard
• God uses evil for his own purpose by allowing
  this self-destructive process

27
Whore of Thyatira (220-23)

• If Babylon represents the mother of whores
  (175), then the whore at Thyatira, Jezebel, is
  one of her daughters (220)
• 220 Notwithstanding I have a few things against
  thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel,
  which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and
  to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and
  to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
• Jezebel was the queen of Ahab who seduced Israel
  into worshipping the Canaanite god, Baal
• Modern day Jezebel at Thyatira seduces the people
  of God
• Beguiles the people to of God to abandon their
  fidelity and worship other godsreligious
  harlotry
• Beguiles to consort with every form of
  self-indulgent, self-deifying behavior

28
Contrast with the Bride (197 212)

• Contrasts between the whore and the bridethe
  earthly city and the heavenly cityrepresent two
  alternatives for the reader
• Emphasizes the purity and righteousness of the
  one, and the degradation and wickedness of the
  other

29
Bride

• Splendidly adorned, figure of perfection, the
  ideal wife
• Clothed with purity and righteousnessfine linen,
  bright and pure (198)
• Has twelve jewels, twelve pearls, and unblemished
  gold, transparent as glass (2119-21)
• 12 is a number of completeness
• City-bride is an emblem of the perfect new
  creationNew Jerusalem
• Wears garments of new creation

30
Bride vs. Whore

• Dressed in white fine linen, bright and pure
  (198)
• Sits on high mountain (2110)
• Dwelling in new heaven/earth (212, 10)
• River of the water of life (221)
• Everything unclear banned (2127)
• Adornment eternal

• Dressed in purple and scarlet (174)
• Sits on beast seven mountains (173, 9)
• Dwelling in desert (173)
• Cup of abomination (174)
• Haunt of every unclean thing (182)
• Adornment ephemeral (174 1816, 17)

31
Symbolism

• Whore death and destruction

• Bride life and eternal bliss

32
The Mother (121-6, 13-17)

• Adorned with heavenly splendorclothed with the
  sun, the moon under her feet and a crown of
  twelve stars on her head (121)
• Gives birth to a child who is to rule all the
  nations with a rod of iron (125)
• Child snatched away and taken to Gods throne
• Woman flees to wilderness for 1260 daysa place
  of security prepared for her by God
• Meanwhile, battle between Michael and the dragon
  erupts in heaven and the dragon is thrown down to
  earth to pursue the woman with the child
  (127-13)
• Mother escapes to wilderness on eagles wings
  where she is nourished for a time, and times,
  and half a time (1214)
• Dragon makes war on her children (1217)

33
No Ordinary Momma

• Arrayed in celestial garments with the splendor
  of the heavens
• Crown of 12 stars that represents the 12 tribes
  of Israel which symbolized the end-time community
  of salvation (74-8)
• Wears garment of the first creation (the natural
  order), which will be absent in the new creation
  (bride) because the only source of light will be
  God and the Lamb (2123 225)
• Mother illuminates a darkened world, but in the
  new heaven and new earth, she is no longer
  neededbride replaces mother

34
Mothers Two Children (or sets of children)

• A male child who will rule all the nations with a
  rod of iron
• The rest of her children, those who keep the
  commandments of God and hold the testimony of
  Jesus (1217)

35
Interpretations

• Commonplace Old Testament messianic community
  that gives birth to the Messiahimplausible(121-
  6), and later to the churchindisputable(1213-17
  )
• No mention of Jesus as the male child in 121-7
• Male child represents those who remain faithful,
  the true messianic community (226-7)

36
Striking Views of Messianic CommunityRev. 12

• Describes the church invisible, the messianic
  community, which is inviolable and protected by
  God
• Childbirth pains symbolize the travail that the
  mother of the messianic community experiences as
  her child faces the end-time woes and
  distress caused by the dragonchild snatched
  away
• Child represents the salvation community in its
  inviolable state, ruling with God in heaven

37
Second View 1213-17

• Portrays the mother as the mother of the
  messianic community, but her offspring represent
  the church as individual believers who are
  subject to intense persecution.
• Although church as a spiritual entity is
  unscathed, the church as individual believers on
  earth is not shielded form the menacing
  afflictions of the dragon

38
Summary

• If bride represents the end-time community of
  salvation (the church) as it reigns with God and
  the Lamb in the new creation, then the mother
  signifies the end-time community of salvation in
  the present travail and distress as it lives
  on earth
• If whore is an image of death and destruction,
  the mother is an image of life in the midst of
  travaila life reliant upon Gods protection and
  provision, but at the same time subject to the
  distresses and persecutions of the dragon (Satan)