Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

REVELATION, BOOK OF

The Four Horsemen (Rev. 6:2-8), woodcut from The Apocalypse by Albrecht Dürer (probably 1496/1498). Death, Famine, Pestilence, and War trample their victims (Rosenwald Collection, © 2000 Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington)

The last book of the NT, also called the Apocalypse (or Revelation) of John.

Genre

The book of Revelation is widely regarded as an apocalypse, a genre of revelatory literature widely represented in early Judaism from ca. 200 b.c.e. to 200 c.e. The term “apocalypse” itself, used as a modern generic designation for revelatory literature similar to the Revelation of John (e.g., 1-2 Enoch, 2-3 Baruch, 4 Ezra), was derived from the title of the book as found in its opening words: “the revelation (Gk. apokálypsis) of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 1:1). The book is formally framed as a letter, with an epistolary prescript which concludes with a doxology (1:4-6) and an epistolary postscription consisting in a grace benediction (22:21), though typical epistolary features are not found in the body of the work. It contains a number of characteristics which are often said to characterize apocalypses including pseudonymity, reports of visions, reviews of history presented as prophecies, number speculation, the presence of an “interpreting angel,” expectation of an imminent end, pessimism, dualism, determinism, and bizarre imagery. Such lists are problematic since many of these features are found in eschatological literary contexts which are clearly not apocalypses. A more adequate description of the apocalyptic genre takes into account the three related generic dimensions of form, content, and function: (1) Form: an apocalypse is a 1st person prose narrative, with an episodic structure consisting of revelatory visions often mediated to the author by a supernatural revealer, so structured that the central revelatory message constitutes a literary climax, and framed by a narrative of the circumstances surrounding the primary revelatory experience. (2) Content: the communication of a transcendent, usually eschatological, perspective on human experience through a variety of literary devices, structures, and imagery, which (3) function so that the recipients of the message will be encouraged to continue to pursue, or if necessary to modify, their thinking and behavior in conformity with transcendent perspectives.

Authorship

The author of Revelation tells us that his name is John four times in the framework of the book (1:1, 4, 9; 22:8). Since John (the anglicized form of Ioannes, in turn a graecized form of the Hebrew name Yohanan, meaning “Yahweh is gracious”) was a relatively common Jewish name in antiquity, it is not immediately evident who this particular John actually was. The author further identifies himself as “his (God’s) servant” (1:1), as well as “your brother and companion in the tribulation, kingdom, and endurance in Jesus” (v. 9), but this does not help very much except that it indicates that the author regards his audience as equals. The book is traditionally part of the Johannine corpus, which consists of five compositions: the Gospel of John, the three Letters of John, and the Revelation of John. However, the name John occurs only in the titles of the Gospel and Letters of John, which appear to have been added to these works sometime in the 2nd century c.e. While there was some doubt in the ancient Church that Revelation was written by John the Apostle (the dissenting opinions of the elder Gaius and Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, were preserved by Eusebius HE 7.25), the common view among the church fathers of the 2nd and 3rd centuries was that all of these works were written by the Apostle John, the son of Zebedee and the brother of James. Modern critical scholars, aware of the striking differences in the grammar, vocabulary, style, and theological perspective between the Gospel and Letters of John and the Revelation of John, generally assign these works to at least two different authors, neither of which is thought to be the Apostle John. Various scholars have proposed that Revelation was written by the shadowy figure of John the Elder (Eusebius HE 3.29.2-4), or by John Mark or by John the Baptist or the heretic Cerinthus (3.28.2; Epiphanius Adv. haer. 51.3-6).

Even though it is no longer possible to know who this John was who wrote Revelation, it is possible to construct a basic profile of his social identity. Since the name John was exclusively a Jewish name until it came to be used by Christians beginning in the 2nd century, the Jewish origin of the author is certain. The grammar of Revelation indicates that the author was a native speaker of Hebrew or Aramaic, who reveals an interest in Jerusalem and the Jewish temple and exhibits an intimate familiarity with the OT, usually in Hebrew, though occasionally in Greek. Further, the author was a Christian who considered himself a prophet in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. Though the author does not explicitly identify himself as a prophet, he does describe the book he is writing as a “prophecy” (1:3) and a “prophetic book” (22:7, 10, 18-19). His prophetic self-consciousness is also revealed by the presence of two commissions in the book (1:9-20; 10:1-11) which are similar to prophetic call narratives in the OT (Isa. 6:1-13; Jer. 1:4-10; Ezek. 2:8–3:3; cf. 1 En. 14:8-25). The author comes closest to identifying himself as a prophet in the words attributed to the revelatory angel in Rev. 22:9: “I am your fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets.” John appears to have been a member of a prophetic circle or guild, perhaps as a master prophet, who exercised a prophetic ministry among the Christian churches of Roman Asia. It is likely that the author was a Palestinian Jew who became a Christian and emigrated to Roman Asia in the wake of the First Jewish Revolt (66-73).

Date

During the 19th century the prevailing opinion among scholars was that Revelation was written between 64 and 70 c.e. Since the early 20th century, however, there has been a gradual shift toward the new consensus that Revelation was written ca. 95, toward the end of the reign of Domitian (81-96). The main reason for this shift in opinion is that the proponents of the earlier date read Revelation against the background of the Neronian persecution which took place in Rome following the great fire in 64, while advocates of the later date read Revelation against the background of the supposed Domitianic persecution of the late 90s. Among the weaknesses of the earlier date is the fact that “Babylon” was not used as a symbol for Rome before the First Jewish Revolt in 66-73, and the fact that the Nero redux (“returned”) or redivivus (“returned to life”) myth, reflected in Rev. 13 and 17, did not begin to become current until some time after Nero’s suicide on 9 June 68. The chief weakness of the Domitianic date lies in the fact that scholars now recognize that no widespread, officially sanctioned persecution of Christians took place under that emperor. Both the earlier and later dates proposed for Revelation contain aspects of the correct solution, for it appears that the book was written over a 30-year period beginning with the mid-60s and not completed until the end of the 1st or very beginning of the 2nd century.

Purpose and Setting

Throughout Revelation there is an emphasis on the repression and persecution experienced by the followers of Jesus. Rev. 6:9-11 describes the cry for vengeance of those slain for the word of God and the witness they had borne. Rev. 2:13 indicates that Antipas of Pergamon had been executed for his faith. The whore on the Beast, representing Rome, is said to be “drunk with the blood of the saints and martyrs of Jesus” (17:6). Until recently, it was thought that a persecution under the emperor Domitian provided the historical and temporal setting for the composition of the book: the end of the reign of Domitian (81-96). It is now known that the so-called Domitianic persecution was largely the invention of church fathers from the 3rd century on, who were probably extrapolating the historical situation within which Revelation was written from the book itself. While it is clear that some persecution has actually occurred (e.g., the execution of Antipas of Pergamon), it is less clear whether other references to persecution refer to the past or to the author’s expectations for the future. The author does regard the present time as a critical period in the history of the world and imminently expected the final conflict between God and Satan to be enacted through the people of God against those people held in thrall by the Roman Empire. While no official persecution of Christians was put in motion by Domitian, it is likely that sporadic opposition to Christians took various forms in Roman Asia, and that these incidents were regarded by John of Patmos as presaging the eschatological conflict to come. In this situation of tension and conflict, the author provided his audience with the divine assurance that their God was fully in control of historical events and that they would eventually be vindicated by him.

Sources and Integrity

The author of Revelation exhibits a close familiarity with many of the works which came to comprise the OT, particularly with such prophetic books as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the apocalypse of Daniel. Though he alludes to the OT from 300 to 400 times (scholarly assessments vary considerably), he never formally quotes a biblical text. Nevertheless, the OT is used in a variety of ways in Revelation. Frequently the author uses phrases and motifs from the OT (often a pastiche of allusions to two or more books) as a vehicle for expressing his own theological perspectives. While other early Christian authors characteristically use the OT to demonstrate that the biblical promises have been fulfilled in Christ, the author of Revelation rarely uses the OT in this way. Occasionally he uses larger segments of books such as Ezekiel and Daniel to structure sections of his visionary narratives.

In addition to allusions to the OT the author also makes frequent use of apocalyptic traditions which are also reflected in such nearly contemporary works as the Similitudes of Enoch (1 En. 37–41), 4 Ezra, and 2 Baruch, though it does not appear likely that he alludes to these works directly.

Structure

Revelation exhibits the most complex structure of any Jewish or Christian apocalypse. One of the most obvious features is the significance to the author of the number seven, which occurs 54 times throughout the book. The author makes extensive use of groupings of seven, such as the seven proclamations to the seven churches (chs. 2–3), and the visionary narratives of the seven seals (6:1–8:1), the seven trumpets (8:2–11:18), and the seven bowls (15:1–16:21). Various attempts to arrange other unnumbered vision sequences in groups of seven have not proven convincing (e.g., A. Y. Collins, The Combat Myth). These series of seven are juxtaposed with other units of text which have little to do either with the heptads within which they are embedded or the larger context of Revelation. These quasi-independent textual units, often called “interludes,” include 7:1-17 (the sealing of the 144 thousand); 10:1-11 (the angel with the little scroll); 11:1-13 (the two witnesses); the woman, the child, and the dragon (12:1-18); the beasts from the sea and the land (13:1-18); the whore of Babylon (17:1-18); the fall of Babylon (18:1-24); the rider on the white horse (19:11-16). These units are very different from each other. Some are symbolic visions whose meaning is not explicated (12:1-18), while the meaning of other symbolic visions is explained by an interpreting angel (17:1-18). Others are not visions at all but prophetic narratives (11:1-13; 13:1-18). All of these texts are extremely important to the author, who has embedded them in unifying literary structures. The diversity of form, style, and structure suggests that these textual units were not originally written for inclusion in their present literary contexts, but were rather adapted to the context when the author produced a finished composition toward the end of the 1st century.

While the four series of seven dominate Rev. 1–16, chs. 17–22 are dominated by a very different literary structure. Rev. 17:1–19:10 and 21:9–22:9 are a pair of angelic revelations with a very similar beginning and concluding structure:

Rev. 17:1–19:10

Rev. 21:9–22:9

17:1 Then came one of the seven angels with the seven bowls

21:9 Then came one of the seven angels with the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues

and he spoke with me saying, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great Whore. . . .”

And he spoke to me saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. . . .”

17:3 He then transported me to the desert in prophetic ecstasy

21:10 He then transported me in prophetic ecstasy to a great and high mountain.

Then I saw . . .

Then he showed me . . .

[Vision reports
17:3b–19:9]

[Vision reports
21:10b–22:5]

19:9b Then he said to me, “These are the true words of God . . .”

22:6 Then he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true . . .”

19:10 Then I fell before his feet to worship him

22:8b And when I heard and saw this I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.

But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who maintain the witness to Jesus.

But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets and with those who keep the commands of this book.

Worship God!”

Worship God.”

These formal parallel structures each frame a sequence of visions. Rev. 17:1-3; 19:9-10 frame three vision sequences: the whore on the scarlet beast (17:4-18), the fall of Babylon (18:1-24), and the victory celebration in the heavenly throne room (19:1-8). Rev. 21:9-10; 22:6-9 frame the vision of the new Jerusalem (21:11–22:5). These paired angelic revelations in 17:1–19:10 and 21:9–22:9 also frame, and thereby emphasize, the intervening text in 19:11–21:8, which contains visions narrating the final defeat of God’s foes.

Bibliography. D. E. Aune, Revelation, 3 vols. WBC 52 (Nashville, 1997-98); R. Bauckham, The Climax of Prophecy: Studies on the Book of Revelation (Edinburgh, 1993); G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation. NIGTC (Grand Rapids, 1999); A. Y. Collins, The Combat Myth in the Book of Revelation. HDR 9 (Missoula, 1976); Crisis and Catharsis: The Power of the Apocalypse (Philadelphia, 1984); J. J. Collins, ed., The Origins of Apocalypticism in Judaism and Christianity, vol. 1 of Encyclopedia of Apocalypticism (New York, 1998); L. L. Thompson, The Book of Revelation: Apocalypse and Empire (Oxford, 1990).

David E. Aune

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

REVELATION, BOOK OF

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)