Revelation 1-5

Grant me, O Lord my God, a mind to know you, a heart to seek you, wisdom to find you, conduct pleasing to you, faithful perseverance in waiting for you, and a hope of finally embracing you. Amen.

~ Prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas

The Message of the Apocalypse?

Revelation and the NT

“Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Matt 6:10

“Take up the cross and follow me . . . those who are ashamed of me . . . of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed.” Mark 8:34-38.

“My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting . . .” John 18:36.

“It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God” Act 14:22.

“. . . so that no one would be shaken by these persecutions. Indeed, you yourselves know that this is what we are destined for.” 1 Thess 3:3.

Similar Sounding Imagery (“apocalyptic”): Mark 14 par.; 1 Thess 4-5; 2 Thess 1 & 2; 2 Pet 3

Revelation and the Johannine Literature

Authorship: “John” Rev 1:1, 4, 9; 22:8-9; cf. Rev 21:14 (implications?)

Dominant Traditional Identification:

a) Justin Martyr, Trypho 81.4

“And further, there was a certain man with us, whose name was John, one of the apostles of Christ, who prophesied, by a revelation that was made to him, that those who believed in our Christ would dwell a thousand years in Jerusalem; and that thereafter the general, and, in short, the eternal resurrection and judgment of all men would likewise take place.”

Justin Martyr, “Dialogue of Justin with Trypho, a Jew,” in The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, ed. Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe, vol. 1, The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1885), 240.

Dionysius of Alexandria (Eus. H. E. 7.25.15)

“7 Therefore that he was called John, and that this book is the work of one John, I do not deny. And I agree also that it is the work of a holy and inspired man. But I cannot readily admit that he was the apostle, the son of Zebedee, the brother of James, by whom the Gospel of John and the Catholic Epistle were written.

“8 For I judge from the character of both, and the forms of expression, and the entire execution of the book, that it is not his. For the evangelist nowhere gives his name, or proclaims himself, either in the Gospel or Epistle.””

Eusebius of Caesaria, “The Church History of Eusebius,” in Eusebius: Church History, Life of Constantine the Great, and Oration in Praise of Constantine, ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, trans. Arthur Cushman McGiffert, vol. 1, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Second Series (New York: Christian Literature Company, 1890), 309–310.

3. Major Alternatives

John the Elder (if different from the apostle)

An otherwise unknown John (so Bauckham, OBC, 1288)

An anonymous figure employing a pseudonym

4. Minimal canonical commitment: to read Revelation within the context of the Johannine literature

5. Links to the Johannine literature?

6. Departures from the Johannine literature?

Date

Either mid-to-late 60s or 90s

1. Irenaeus, Adv. Haer. 5.30.3

“We will not, however, incur the risk of pronouncing positively as to the name of Antichrist; for if it were necessary that his name should be distinctly revealed in this present time, it would have been announced by him who beheld the apocalyptic vision. For that [or ‘he’] was seen no very long time since, but almost in our day, towards the end of Domitian’s reign.”

Irenaeus of Lyons, “Irenæus against Heresies,” in The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, ed. Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe, vol. 1, The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1885), 559–560.

2. Arguments for an earlier date:

Is the temple still standing? Rev 11:1-3

How to count the seven heads of the beast so that you end up in the 90s, assuming that they refer to the Roman Emperors? Rev 17:9-11

(Julius Caesar), Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero (54-68), (Galba, Otho, Aulus Vitellius), Vespasian, Titus, Domitian (81-96), Nerva, Trajan

3. A third option posits final composition in the 90s while making use of material from the 60s

Revelation, Approaches

Historicist

Preterist

Idealist

Futurist

Genre

Apocalypse, Rev 1:1-2.

See Bauckham, OBC, 1287, section 2: What four features of an apocalypse are highlighted?

On apocalypse and imagination, see ibid., section 3.

Prophecy, Rev 1:3.

See ibid., section 4

Letter, Rev 1:1-6; 22:21.

See ibid., section 6

Key Contexts

The Greco-Roman World of Imperial Rome: especially of Palestine and Western Asia Minor, including Patmos

The scriptural heritage of the Jews

Bauckham’s Outline, supplemented

Prologue, Rev 1:1-8.

Title and Beatitude, Rev 1:1-3

note the thrice repeated emphasis on imminence in the prologue

Epistolary Opening, Rev 4-5a

“to the seven churches that are in Asia”: “This is important for interpretation, since it makes it clear that the whole book (not only chs. 2-3) was written with relevance immediately to these first recipients.” Bauckham, OBC, 1290

“who is and who was and who is to come” v. 4 a reflection the divine name revealed to Moses, Exod 3:14, YHWH (related to the verb “to be”)?

“the seven spirits” v. 4 the Holy Spirit or Seven archangels (cf. Tob 12:15; 1 En. 20)?

threefold description of Jesus Christ, v. 5a: how are these titles appropriate to the message?

Doxology, Rev 1:5b-6

threefold description of his redemptive work, vv. 5b and 6a—relevance?

“set us free from our sins by his blood” New Exodus; cf. also Exod 19:5-6 (be attentive to such imagery throughout the book)

A Scriptural Testimony and Prophetic Oracle, Rev 1:7-8

v. 7 “Look” the reader is invited to participate in the vision. “clouds” cf. Dan 7:13-14

“I am” 1:8 & 21:6; 1:18 & 22:16

Inaugural Vision of Jesus Christ and his Messages to the Seven Churches, Rev 1:9-3:22

John’s Vision and Commission, Rev 1:9-20

vv. 9-11, what important information do we learn about the settings of the text?

vv. 12-20

the even lampstands and stars are interpreted in v. 20

v. 13 “in the midst of the lampstands…one like the Son of Man” Dan 7:13-14

v. 16 “from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword”

v. 17 “first and the last” cp. “Alpha and Omega”

v. 18 “I have the keys of Death and of Hades” “means he can liberate the dead from [their realm]” Bauckham, OBC, 1291

v. 19 “Write what you have seen [or ‘you see’], what is, and what is to take place after this”

some see here an outline of the book, but this is uncertain

the vision gives full assurance of the outcome of the conflict between good and evil

The Seven Messages to the Churches, Rev 2-3

“Each [oracle] forms a kind of introduction to the rest of the book for that particular church, highlighting and evaluating the particular situation (as Christ discerns it) in which the believers in that church are urged to ‘overcome’ or ‘conquer’. The rest of the book will show them how, by conquering, they can get from their situation in the present (chs. 2-3) to the New Jerusalem (chs. 21-2).” Bauckham, OBC, 1291

each message has a similar structure, cf. Bauckham, ibid.

the speaker is not John, but Christ, the one like a son of man, who nevertheless often speaks in the idiom of the Jesus of the gospels “let anyone who has an ear...”

the messages are addressed “to the angel of the church in x”, indicative of the apocalyptic worldview in which earthly and heavenly realities often mirror each other (in the lower parts of heaven, it seems)

each opens with a description of Christ drawing from part of the inaugural vision which is particularly relevant to the individual message

the messages are often illuminated by background knowledge of the cities in question (e.g., Pergamum, seat of the Roman government, cf. Rev. 2:13)

what kinds of criticisms and warnings are levelled at the churches?

what kinds of promises are made to those who overcome?

Inaugural Vision of Heaven, Rev 4-5.

God on the Throne, Rev 4:1-11; cf. Isa 6 and Ezek 1

“In this chapter God’s sovereignty is seen as it is already fully acknowledged in heaven, and therefore as the true reality which must in the end prevail on earth. John is taken up into heaven so that he can see that God’s throne is the ultimate reality behind all earthly appearances.”” Bauckhan, 1292

v. 4 “God’s throne-room is both a temple where God is worshipped, the archetype of the earthly temple, and the centre from which he rules the cosmos.” Bauckham, OBC, 1293

v. 4 the Twenty-Four elders: a “political image”: the members of the heavenly council?

v. 5 “storm phenomena accompany divine appearance (cf. Exod 19:16-19): the formula used here recurs later in association with judgements, indicating that these emanate from God’s holy presence.” Ibid. (Rev 8:5; 11:19; 16:18-21)

vv. 6b-8 the living creatures “priests of the heavenly temple” ibid.

v. 11 God is hailed as the creator of all things

The Lamb on the Throne, Rev 5:1-14 (“on”? cf. Rev 3:21; 7:17)

vv. 1-5 the seven-sealed scroll (containing the divine plan for the coming of the kingdom) can only be opened by the one who has made the coming of the kingdom possible.

v. 6 how does this verse come as a surprise after v. 5?

v. 12 “the worship of the Lamb in v. 12 is parallel to that of God in 4:11, while in v. 13 worship is offered to both together, ensuring that the Lamb is not seen as an alternative object of worship (another god) but recipient with God of the honour due to God” Bauckham, OBC, 1293

vv. 9-12, in 4:11 God was hailed for creation; now the Lamb is hailed for redemption; in 5:13 both are hailed together by the whole (restored) creation (cf. Phil 2:6-11)