Revelation

1
Revelation

• Authorship, Genre,
• Point of View and Rhetoric

2
Who is the author?

• 1     The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which
  God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants
  things which must shortly come to pass and he
  sent and signified it by his angel unto his
  servant John 2     Who bare record of the word
  of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and
  of all things that he saw.

3
Author?

• True Believer the only biblical book authored
  by Christ John merely reports.
• Human intelligenceand human artificeare at
  work It is the one great poem which the first
  Christian age produced.
• Admiring Critics apocalyptic pornography,
  an insane rhapsody, the creative imagination of
  a schizophrenic
• Thomas Jefferson merely the raving of a maniac

4
Oral Tradition?

• Some claim it was probably first spoken aloud
  nearly 2000 years ago by a charismatic wandering
  preacher
• 3     Blessed is he that readeth, and they that
  hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those
  things which are written therein for the time is
  at hand.

5
What we know about author

• Almost certainly a Jew by birth and upbringing
• Perhaps a war refugee from Judea who had
  witnessed the destruction of the Temple of Yahweh
  at Jerusalem by the Roman army
• Seethed with contempt and loathing for the
  conquerors of the Jewish homeland
• Regarded Jesus of Nazareth as the long-promised
  and long-delayed Messiah

6
Jewish Document

• Rooted in Jewish history, politics, and theology
• a Jewish document with a slight Christian
  tough-up
• Midrash on the prophetic texts of the Hebrew
  Bible
• Author described as a Christian rabbi

7
First writing

• On parchment or papyrus toward the end of the
  first century
• Regarded with alarm and suspicion by some of the
  more cautious church authorities
• Offended by violence and lurid sexual promiscuity
  described
• Put off by idea of the 1000 year reign of King
  Jesus over an earthly realmJewish notions of a
  messianic kingdom
• Troubled by what was missing life and death of
  Jesus, sublime moral teachings

8
Most alarming

• Ordinary human being who claims to have heard the
  voice of God.
• 10     I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and
  heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
• Fear that such freelance prophecy could lead only
  to theological error, social and political chaos

9
John as Author?

• Which St. John the Evangelist, John the
  Baptist, presbyter John, a different John?
• The bulk of Jewish scriptures and a good deal of
  the Christian scriptures can be regarded as
  false writings in the sense that they were not
  actually written by the authors who are credited
  in their titles
• Work of a Johannine circle, school or community?
• Composite of several different and unrelated
  texts, each written in a different time and place
  by a different author?
• Most modern scholars agree work of a single
  author who was mystic and a visionary, a
  charismatic preacher and a poet of unexcelled and
  enduring genius.

10
Genre

• 3 types of literature
• Revelation/Apocalypse
• The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave
  unto him
• God ?Christ?angel?John (author)?servants of God
• the word revelation or apocalypse
  (apokalypsis) suggests that it belongs to the
  genre of ancient Jewish and Christian literature
  called apocalypses (make revelations of the
  ultimate divine purpose)
• Prophecy
• Intended to be read aloud in the context of
  Christian worship
• Confirmed in epilogue And if any man shall take
  away from the words of the book of this prophecy
• Letter follows conventional form of a circuit
  letter
• An apocalyptic prophecy in the form of a circular
  letter to the seven churches in the Roman
  province of Asia

11
Tone

• Opens with a few words of grudging praise or,
  more often, bitter denunciation for his fellow
  Christians, most of who he finds to be
  complacent, gullible, self-indulgent, and
  woefully lacking in zeal.
• 16     So then because thou art lukewarm, and
  neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my
  mouth.
• Embellishes with a few pious beatitudes that are
  intended to authenticate his visions.
• 3     Blessed is he that readeth, and they that
  hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those
  things which are written therein for the time is
  at hand.

12
Tone

• Lacking in loving-kindness
• A punishing text, full of rage and resentment,
  almost toxic in its longing for bloody revenge
  against ones enemies
• Only rarely does the author allow his readers to
  glimpse a kinder and gentler realm, which he
  explains will only arrive after the earth as we
  know it is strewn with corpses and flooded as
  high as a horses bridle with blood and is
  destroyed.
• Happy ending for them which are saved.

13
Vision

• On the island of Patmos off the west coast of
  Asia
• Achieved a trancelike state of mystical ecstasy
• Sees a scroll on which is written Gods secret
  plan for the end of the world
• Closed with seven seals of wax or clay
• All must be broken before the scroll can be
  opened and read

14
Riddles

• Only rarely does he invoke the unambiguous name
  and title of Jesus Christ
• Prefers to conceal the identity of his celestial
  source in puzzes and riddles
• 8     I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the
  ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was,
  and which is to come, the Almighty. 18     I am
  he that liveth, and was dead and, behold, I am
  alive for evermore, Amen and have the keys of
  hell and of death.

15
Point of View

• Author flashes back and forth in time and place
• sometimes finding himself in heaven and sometimes
  on earth
• sometimes in the here and now
• sometimes in the end-times
• sometimes watching from afar
• sometimes caught up in the events he describes
• Refers to same characters by different names and
  titles
• Describes the same incidents from different
  vantage points
• Everything shimmers with symbolic meanings that
  always float just out of reach

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Point of View

• Signifies the way a story gets toldthe mode (or
  modes) established by an author by means of which
  the reader is presented with the characters,
  dialogue, actions, setting, and events which
  constitute the narrative
• Two types
• Mode of narration 1st, 2nd and 3rd person
  narration
• Stance of narration relation to space, time and
  ideology

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Stance

• Essential to understanding what the narrator
  wants the reader to adopt
• Through the attitude, norms, values, and beliefs
  of the narrator, a critic can better understand
  the responses a narrator wants to elicit
• Susan Lancer Point of view conditions and
  codetermines the readers response in the text.
• Allows the reader to stand where John stands and
  to see what John sees

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5 Planes of Point of View

• Spatial-Center/Perimeter, Outer/Inner,
  Above/Below, Open/Close
• terms of space, vantage point
• Events on earth or in heaven?
• Why are some events seen from heaven while others
  are seen from earth?
• How are they related?
• Temporaltime future, present, past or all 3?
• PhraseologicalHear/see, Passive voice, Speech
  characters speech and expressions, especially
  names and titles
• Psychologicalfeelings and thoughts of characters
  disclosed through the narrative comments or
  characters speech
• Ideological-Beliefs, Values, Norms, Worldview
• beliefs and values that shape the work.
• May be authors own or narrators, or even one of
  the characters
• Embedded in 4 other planes identified though
  intuitive understanding
• Helps reader understand the purpose of the text
  and the narrators belief and value system

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TemporalTime

• Events of Revelation are imminent they must take
  place soon
• 11     The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which
  God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants
  things which must shortly come to pass and he
  sent and signified it by his angel unto his
  servant John
• 226     And he said unto me, These sayings are
  faithful and true and the Lord God of the holy
  prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants
  the things which must shortly be done. 7    
  Behold, I come quickly blessed is he that
  keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
  
• Encompasses the past, present and the future.
• 119     Write the things which thou hast seen,
  and the things which are, and the things which
  shall be hereafter
• Problemetizes the time line

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SpatialSpace, center/perimeter

• Focuses on an object at the center of his vision
  and then pans outward to describe the perimeter,
  or vice versa.
• Center represents core of his theology
• Perimeter may be transformed by the center, or it
  may remain hardened, obdurate and resistant to
  the truth at the center
• 112-20 describes the perimeterthe seven golden
  lampstandsthen focuses on the person who is at
  the center of his visionthe one like a son of
  Man.
• Intensity of light in the narrative changes as
  the seer describes first the perimeter and then
  the center.
• Perimeter 7 golden lampstands which illumine a
  darkened world
• Center searing, blinding brilliance of one
  like the Son of Man
• By moving from lampstands to Son of Man John
  reinforces his ideological point of view that
  Christ is the source of light both for he
  lampstands, i.e., the seven churches, and for a
  darkened world.

21
Spatial outer/inner

• Outer garments represent a persons character
• 1615     Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is
  he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest
  he walk naked, and they see his shame.
• Church must stay awake by being clothed
  spiritually and morally, for the only clothing
  God accepts is righteousness as symbolized by
  bright and pure linen

22
Spatial above/below

• Describes events that take place in heaven and on
  earth
• The above perspective is interpreted by the below
  perspective or vice versa
• Below perspective reveals internal problems of
  seven churches
• Above perspective churches face external
  attacks in the form of persecutions by the beast
• Resolved in the New Jerusalem in which the above
  and below are merged in perfect unity the new
  heaven and the new earth are no longer estranged
  from each other.

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Spatial Example

• 7     And there was war in heaven Michael and
  his angels fought against the dragon and the
  dragon fought and his angels, 8     And
  prevailed not neither was their place found any
  more in heaven. 9     And the great dragon was
  cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and
  Satan, which deceiveth the whole world he was
  cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast
  out with him. 10     And I heard a loud voice
  saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and
  strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the
  power of his Christ for the accuser of our
  brethren is cast down, which accused them before
  our God day and night. 11     And they overcame
  him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of
  their testimony and they loved not their lives
  unto the death.
• On the spatial plane, Michaels war against
  Satan is the above perspective of what happens
  below. Michaels victory is simply the heavenly
  and symbolic counterpart of the earthly reality
  of the Cross. Michael, in fact, is not the field
  officer who does the actual fighting, but the
  staff officer in the heavenly control room, who
  is able to remove Satans flag from the heavenly
  map because the real victory has been won on
  Calvary.

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Spatial open/close

• Doors are opened or closed, representing either
  access or denial of access
• An open door symbolizes heavens access to earth
  and vice versa
• Closing of a door denies access

25
Spatial/Psychological Link

• As John goes up spatially, he also goes up
  in terms of a psychological point of view.
• 1     After this I looked, and, behold, a
  door was opened in heaven and the first voice
  which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking
  with me which said, Come up hither, and I will
  shew thee things which must be hereafter. 2    
  And immediately I was in the spirit and, behold,
  a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the
  throne.
• Rev. 41 represents Johns spatial point of view
• Rev. 42 the spatial point of view is synonymous
  with being in the spirit.
• To move up spatially is to ascend to another
  realm on the psychological plane.

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Psychological

• Characters reaction are twofold
• amazement, praise, and terrifying fear that
  results in glorifying God
• Cursing of Gods name and remaining obdurate
• Illustrates the deceptive power of evil not only
  are the inhabitants of the earth carried awayin
  stupefying amazement at the beasts poer, but
  also Christian prophets such as John may be
  deceived by the lure of the world.

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Phraseological PlaneSpeech

• Divine Passive Uses passive voice to
  demonstrate that God is in control of events in
  history, whether good or bad.
• 64     And there went out another horse that was
  red and power was given to him that sat thereon
  to take peace from the earth, and that they
  should kill one another and there was given unto
  him a great sword.
• John relates the same event from an auditory and
  visual perspectivealternates between the two
• What he hears interprets what he sees, or vice
  versa
• The hearing is the inner reality whereas the
  seeing is the outward appearance

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Phraseological Example

• 74     And I heard the number of them which were
  sealed and there were sealed an hundred and
  forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the
  children of Israel. 79     After this I
  beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man
  could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and
  people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and
  before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and
  palms in their hands
• Although he heard 144,000, he saw a great
  multitude. The two are not separate, but
  manually interpret each other.

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More examples

• 55 hears a report about a Lion56 sees a Lamb
• 141 sees 144,000142 hears a sound of many
  waters
• 127 sees a war in heaven1210 hears a loud
  voice that interprets the significance of the
  heavenly way
• 916 hears the number of the cavalry is 200
  million917 sees riders on horses whose heads
  were like lions heads
• 1311 sees a beast come out of the earth with two
  horns like a lambhears the voice of a dragon
• 1413 seer hears a voice from heaven saysing,
  Write this Blessed are the dead who from now
  on die in the Lord.1414 When he looks, he sees
  one like the Son of Man, with a golden crown on
  his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand.
• 171-6 sees a great whore who is seated on many
  watershears from an angel an interpretation of
  this scene in v. 7
• 1821-24 sees the destruction of Babylon191-8
  hears a great multitude singing praises to God
  For his judgments are true and just.

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Why?

• By alternating between seeing and hearing, John
  shows that
• the appearance of an event (what he sees) has a
  second, deeper meaning (what he hears)
• or that what is heard (a traditional expectation)
  is to be reinterpreted by what is seen (a new
  reality).
• What John sees is complementedsometimes
  correctedby what he hears.

31
Analyzing Hear/See

• Conclusion of every letter to each church John
  records an identical refrain
• Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the
  Spirit is saying to the churches
• Hearing is a call for the churches to internalize
  Christs message and to respond obediently.
• After the beast rises out of the sea, John
  records a command to hear
• 13 9     If any man have an ear, let him hear.
  10     He that leadeth into captivity shall go
  into captivity he that killeth with the sword
  must be killed with the sword. Here is the
  patience and the faith of the saints.
• The appearance of the beast is a time for the
  saints to remain faithful and not succumb to the
  description of the beast.

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Accentuates Hearing/Seeing

• 228     And I John saw these things, and heard
  them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down
  to worship before the feet of the angel which
  shewed me these things.

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Ideological PlaneBeliefs

• Lies beneath the surface of the narrative
• Several times he juxtaposes contrasting images to
  transform or transvalue the readers
  understanding of events.
• Rev. 5 a lamb slain replaces the Lion, a
  traditional symbol of messianic expectation.
• Deformation shows that victory occurs through the
  sacrifice of a slain lambthrough Christs
  self-giving and self-negation.

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Johns ideological point of view frames a new
definition of conquest.

• Eschatological battle in 1911-21
• The Word of God (i.e., Christ) comes on a white
  horse and makes war on the beast.
• But the war is not a battle in traditional sense,
  for from his mouth comes a sharp sword with
  which to strike down the nations (1915).
• A sword protruding from Christs mouth replaces
  the normal battle posture of the sword in the
  right hand.
• Might and conquest is found in his word, The Word
  of God, and not in traditional weapons of
  destruction.
• The Word of God is both the testimony about Jesus
  and Jesus own testimony, i.e., his death.
• Transformation Victory occurs not through might
  and power of a conquering warrior in the
  traditional sense, but through the testimony
  about Christ and through Christs own powerful
  testimony on the cross.

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Rhetoric

• The art of putting a thought over in a particular
  manner command of number of artfully different
  manners of expression or persuasion
• How the story is told to create certain effects
  on the reader
• Revelation relies on three rhetorical devices
• Numerals
• Repetitions
• Figures of speech

36
Numbers

• Symbolical usage
• Twoconfirmation and valid testimony
• Threedivine or a counterfeit parody of the
  divine
• Three and one-halfa limited, indefinite period
  with an end in sight (Ex 42 months 1260 days
  time, times and half a time)
• Fourcreated order and associated with the 4
  points of the compass
• Sevencombination of the divine number, three
  (heaven) and of the number for the created order,
  four (earth). Represents perfection, fullness,
  or completion
• Tenindefiniteness and magnitude
• Twelvea combination of three times four,
  represents perfect fullness. The 144,000 is a
  combination of 12 x 12 x 1000.
• Use of Numbers http//catholic-resources.org/Bib
  le/Revelation_Numbers.htm
• Symbolic meanings http//catholic-resources.org/
  Bible/Numbers.htm

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Numbered Rhetorical Series

• Threes
• holy, holy, holy
• in the annotation on Gods eternity who is and
  who was and who is to come (14, 18)
• 178 beast parodies the divine sobriquet was
  and is not and is to come
• Fours associated with the earth
• every tribe and language and people and nation
  (59)
• The entire creation sings blessing and honor and
  glory and might (513)
• Destruction of the earth flashes of lightning,
  rumblings, peals of thunder, and a violent
  earthquake (1618) The hour, the day, the
  month, and the year is the appointed time for
  the destruction of a third of humankind (915).

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Number Rhetorical Series

• Sevens in description of perfect beings
• The Lamb is worthy to receive power and wealth
  and wisdom and might and honor and glory and
  blessings (512)
• God receives blessing and glory and wisdom and
  thanksgiving and honor and power and might
  (712)
• Designates the fullness of humanity in all its
  various ranks and social circumstances the
  kings of the earth and the magnates and the
  generals and the rich and the powerful, and
  everyone, slave and free (615)
• Broader patterns
• Seven beatitudes (13, 1413, 1615, 199, 206,
  227, 14)
• Seven letters to the seven churches
• Seven seals (61-81)
• Seven trumpets (86-921, 1115-18)
• Seven bowls (161-21

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Repetition

• A rhetorical device reiterating a word or phrase,
  or rewording the same idea, to secure emphasis.
• Employed by deliberate design, it adds force and
  clarity to a statement.
• Stylistic and poetic device gives pleasure by
  arousing, by satisfying, or by producing surprise
  by failing to satisfy a sense of expectancy.

40
Repetition

• Focus on particular events, persons, pivotal
  moments
• Accentuate the importance of threes, fours, or
  sevens
• Used as verbal links
• The four living creatures call forth each of the
  four housemen with the cry, come, which is the
  identical summons at the conclusion of the book
  for Christ to come (2217, 20)
• Links the coming of the four horsemen with the
  coming of Christ
• Gods self-identification , I am the Alpha and
  the Omega frames the narrative (18 and 216)

41
Repetition in the Seven Letters to the Seven
Churches

• Addressed to the angel of the church
• Followed by Christs self-identification
• Contains an I know phrase in which the speaker
  reveals what he knows about the church
• Followed by a phrase, but I have a few things
  (or this) against you
• A command to repent or remember
• A promise to those who conquer
• An admonition to listen

42
Figurative Language

• Intentional departure from the normal order,
  construction, or meaning of words in order to
  gain strength and freshness of expression, to
  create a pictorial effect, to describe by
  analogy, or to discover and illustrate
  similarities in otherwise dissimilar things.
• Unusual images to describe events
• Metaphors and similes are used to describe
  apocalyptic and demonic animals (beasts, dragon,
  lion, locusts), women (whore, bride, woman
  clothed with the sun), and cities (Jerusalem,
  Babylon)

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Similes

• The one like a Son of Man has 5 similes (11415)
• his head and his hair were white as white wool,
  white as snow his eyes were like a flame of
  fire, his feet wee like burnished bronze . . .
  And his voice was like the sound of many waters
• Accentuate Christs transcendent features

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Metaphors

• The pregnant woman in Rev. 12
• clothed with the sun, with the moon under her
  feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars
• The comparison of a seven-horned, seven-eyed Lamb
  to Christ allows the reader to identify Christs
  specific traits that make him worthy to open the
  scroll
• 56 Then I saw a Lamb standing as if it had been
  slaughtered, having seven horns and seven eyes,
  which are the seven spirits of God sent out into
  the world.
• Seven is the number of completeness
• Horn is the image of power in the ancient Near
  East (Deut 3317)
• Modified lamb emphasizes the complete power of
  Christ, his omnipotence
• Seven eyes symbolize the Lambs ability to see
  all and know all
• Slain lamb standing is a portrayal of Christs
  crucifixion and resurrection
• Accentuates Christs worthiness to open the
  scroll because diving wisdom and might are made
  known in his death and resurrection
• Without metaphors, the seer could not convey this
  concept as dramatically or as forcefully as he
  has with the image of seven-horned, seven-eyed
  Lamg.

45
(No Transcript)
46
God Shapeshifter

• Celestial king dressed in a golden robe, with
  hair as white as snow, eyes like a flame of
  fire, holding seven stars in his right hand,
  and out of His mount went a sharp two-edged
  sword.
• Figure of a lamb looking as though it had been
  slain, and yet standing upright, with seven
  horns and seven eyes.
• Divine warrior mounted on a white horse, crowned
  with many diadems and wearing a bloodstained
  robe.