Apocalyptic? #9: Revelation 1:1-3 Commentary

 

Writing from the Isle of Patmos (pictured above):

1 “The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 

2 who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 

3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.”

 

(Revelation 1:1-3 NIV)

                                                                                                                                              

Are you ready to “take on” what the dean of all Revelation scholars, R.H. Charles, has called “the most difficult book in the entire Bible”?  Dr. Charles began his Lectures on the Apocalypse for the British Academy in 1919 with the words:  "From the earliest ages of the Church, it has been universally admitted that the Apocalypse is the most difficult book of the entire Bible.  School after school has essayed its interpretation, and school after school has in turn retired in failure from the task."  Nevertheless, using principles culled from the writings of more recent scholars of Revelation, over the past 100 years, fully understanding Revelation is very possible.  I have attempted to prepare you for this daunting task with my first eight posts in this series:

Apocalyptic?  #1:  The End introduced Jesus and God as the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.  Before John penned these words in the Book of Revelation, the Greek philosopher Aristotle coined a word—entelechy/εντέλεχεια—to describe any process that has a beginning, a middle, and an end.  Although I began this series with a look at YOUR END, the human drama John sees had its beginning in Creation (Genesis 1-2) and its end in a New Creation (Revelation 21-22).  God is there at both the beginning and the end.  He is also there at every point in the middle—even the point at which you and I are living (and dying).

Apocalyptic?  #2:  Reading Revelation through the Mirror showed you how to read this book, in light of the entelechy John is unfolding.  Entelechies (the one in Revelation, included) are frequently mirror images.  If the same person is BOTH the First AND the Last, BOTH the Beginning AND the End, we can visualize a single person looking into a mirror.  The individual appears BOTH Outside the mirror AND Inside the mirror as equidistant images of the VERY SAME INDIVIDUAL.  I showed you that the book of Revelation is a mirror image of everything that had happened before John wrote the book, and that the key to understanding the book is to look at the future through the mirror of the past.

Apocalyptic?  #3:  The Mirror Image of the Week showed you that one of John’s major mirror images is the Creation “week”—which lasted 7 “days.”  John takes us to Daniel 9 and makes much of the fact that, in 69 A.D. (when John is writing), his audience was living in the MIDDLE of the last WEEK of years (7 years) prophesied by Daniel:  “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week (7 years): and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of ABOMINATIONS he shall make it DESOLATE, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the DESOLATE”  (Daniel 9:27).  Daniel’s prophecy of the ceasing of the sacrifice was fulfilled in 70 A.D., as the Romans destroyed the Jerusalem Temple.  The Roman War against the Jews had begun in 66 A.D. and would last for SEVEN years (3 ½ more years)—until 73 A.D. 

Apocalyptic?  #4:  The Week that Lasted 7000 Years cites Revelation 20:2 (NIV): “He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.”  With his mention of the 1000 years in which the Dragon is confined to the Abyss, John raises the specter of the Cosmic Week (7000 year human history) discussed by the School of Elias.  The German scholar, Paul Billerbeck, observes that, according to the school of Elias, humankind would exist on earth for a total of six thousand years, followed by the 7^th day (Sabbath), i.e., eternity in the New Heavens and New Earth. 

Apocalyptic?  #5:  The 7000 Year Drama and the 3 Women introduced a breakdown of the 7000-year-long week into 3 segments of 2000 years each, with each 2 day (2000 years) represented by a metaphorical woman at war with a metaphorical dragon.  The first woman, Eve, represented the time from Adam to Abraham.  That time was PAST, when John penned his book.  The second woman, Israel, represented the time from Abraham to the birth of Christianity and the 7-year-long war between the Jews and Romans (from 66-73 A.D.).  That time is now PRESENT (for John’s audience), but its END IS NEAR.  The third woman, the Church, is preparing to be rescued from the world, and to rule with Christ for more than a thousand years.  That time is still FUTURE (for John’s audience), but its BEGINNING IS NEAR.

Apocalyptic?  #6:  The Divorce of God (7 Seals) points to God saying in Isaiah 50:1 (See also Jeremiah 3:6-10): “Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, with which I have put her away?” Isaiah and Jeremiah were prophesying a time when God would divorce Israel.  Catching the attention of Israel was the goal of the Seven Seals of Revelation.  He wanted to warn Israel that (in 69 A.D.) she was in the process of being DIVORCED, to give her the chance to repent.  J. Massyngberde Ford observes: “The Hebrew document which resembles the apocalyptic scroll most closely is the get mequssar, the tied (folded and sealed) deed [used by] . . . priests who wished to divorce their wives.”

Apocalyptic?  #7:  The Number 666 and the Friday Fixation enlightens us concerning the SIXES in Revelation (including the ominous number 666 [Revelation 13:18]). John is using what Kenneth Burke calls the psychology of form to indicate to his audience (in 69 A.D.) that it was on the brink of the “end” of a list of seven.  Something cataclysmal was about to happen.

Apocalyptic?  #8:  ZERO STRESS—Shalom—The New Heaven and New Earth glimpsed the “happy ending” of this vast human drama.  John offers us a glimpse of an existence in which there is no stress at all.  Zero Stress or perfect peace/perfect rest involves experiencing Zero Corporal Stress—no illness, injury, hunger, thirst, pain, tears, death, etc.  Zero Community Stress—no conflict, war, litigation, argumentation, fighting, etc.  Zero Conscientious Stress—zero temptation.  Zero Cash Stress—no money.  Nothing to spend money on. Zero Competence Stress—no difficult tasks required to be done.  Zero Confusion Stress—no sense of being lost.  Zero Chrono Stress: Eternity has no deadlines.

 

So, now to my commentary:

Revelation 1:1-3:  The Prologue

1 “The revelation”--The literary genre in which Revelation is placed most frequently is the literary genre "apocalyptic."  Even this placement, however, is not totally satisfactory.  (The genre placement proves itself by itself.)  The genre is actually named for the book of Revelation (Oepke, in Kittel's Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, III, 578).  The Greek word for revelation is apokalupsis from which derive the English terms:  Apocalypse and Apocalyptic.  Thus, the book of Revelation became the paradigm (prime example) for the genre classification "apocalyptic."  There are, nonetheless, both Jewish and Christian "apocalypses" which parallel many of the features of Revelation and at least some of these "apocalypses" borrowed much of their form from Revelation.

“from Jesus Christ, which God gave him . . . He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John.”—John may be the one writing this book, but his Acknowledgements begin with the person who showed him the revelation—Jesus the Messiah—and the person who gave the information to Jesus—God.  John does not mention, in the first sentence of the Prologue, either the other intermediary—God’s angel—or himself, John, perhaps, because, by so doing, he is indicating that he and the angel are less significant than the true authors: God and Jesus.  Indeed, John refers to himself as but a “servant.”

“to show his servants what must soon take place.”  Even though John is but a “servant,” he states that it is, actually, FOR THE SAKE OF God’s “servants” that they are given the revelation.  God and Jesus want their servants to know something about THEIR IMMEDIATE FUTURE: “what must SOON take place,” so that they will not lose faith, but will persist through the tragedies.  R. H. Charles asserts that the close affinity of Revelation to Jewish apocalypses indicates that (like Jewish apocalypses) Revelation should "be taken as referring first and chiefly to the times in which it was originally written" (Lectures, 1).  This assertion by Charles summarizes the position of the CONTEMPORARY-HISTORICAL methodology of interpreting Revelation.  Along with the scholarly consensus, the Contemporary-Historical methodology is the methodology I follow in my interpretation.  Therefore, it is of utmost importance to decide which of the two dating extremes is more acceptable.  The two optional dates are 96 A.D. and 69 A.D.  As you may have noticed in my previous posts, like F. F. Bruce, I am much more persuaded by the 69 A.D. date.  The historical events John describes in Revelation are events that “took place” SOON after 69 began.  Disagreeing with the 69 A.D. date, Adela Yarbro Collins cites evidence from individuals who wrote long after John’s book was written, suggesting that the "date [of writing] [was] about 95 or 96" (Crisis, 76) under the reign of Domitian.  However, she also states that "[t]here is insufficient evidence to warrant the conclusion that Domitian persecuted Christians as Christians" (Crisis, 77).  She points out that many interpreters see Revelation as a response to this situation:  Domitian was persecuting Christians, even forcing them to worship the emperor.  She says this entire scenario is false.  Yarbro Collins claims the crisis addressed in Revelation is more perceived than real.  In other words, she thinks the writer of Revelation was mistaken in his prophecy.  Collins’s view is frustratingly erroneous.  A more elaborate dramatistic analysis and more historical consistency may be found by dating the writing in 69 A.D.  A more consistent and elaborate dramatistic analysis of Revelation is what this blog series attempts to produce.

2 [John] who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.  John is not personally “composing” this revelation; he is simply “testifying” to what he “saw.”  In the 7 letters in chapters 2 and 3, he even appears to be taking dictation from Jesus to the seven churches of Asia Minor, much in the same way Silas did for the Apostle Paul, in his letters.  Yet, John clearly uses his own symbol-system (as Kenneth Burke would call it).  John uses his own language in giving his testimony. 

Incidentally, the terms “testifies” and “testimony” are cognates (in the same word family) of the word “martyr.”  The word “martyr” did not originally mean one who is killed; it simply meant one who witnesses.  Later, as the witnesses were slain for their testimony, “martyr” took on the connotation of one who is killed because of his testimony.  John identifies himself along with his "brothers--those having the testimony [marturia] of Jesus—and states that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" (19:10).  Also connected as a cognate of the word “martyr,” then, are the two Witnesses (martusi) that prophecied for three and one-half years, and then lay dead for three and one-half days on the street of the great city where their lord was crucified (11:3,6).

Even though John is only reporting/testifying to what he saw, John’s language is unique.  This fact is actually evidence that only one person (John) wrote the book of Revelation.  Some Revelation scholars have made the mistake of thinking that Revelation was “composed” from several sources.  Although John writes in Greek, he thinks in Hebrew.  His language shows that dual-language mind, throughout the book.  Therefore, correspondence between Greek and Hebrew terms often points to and resolves important issues.  John’s “Hebraized Greek” language may be compared to someone’s unique use of Spanglish (Spanish and English mashed together), in modern day.  Johns unique language is so prominent that Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza states: “The unitary character of Revelation's language and symbol system argues against . . . an arbitrary dissection of the text" (161).  Throughout her chapter on "The Composition and Structure of Revelation," Fiorenza champions the unity of Revelation:  "The unitary composition of Rev[elation] does not result from a final redactor's arbitrary compilation but from the author's theological conception and literary composition" (159).  Once again, although Fiorenza uses the term “composition,” John is not composing this revelation.  He does, however, choose from his own unique vocabulary the terms of his testimony.  As a lawyer might say to a witness on the stand: “Tell us in YOUR OWN WORDS what happened.”

3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.”  The concept of a Hebrew “blessing” is often misunderstood by modern-day Christians.  Christians say, “Bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies.”  When Jesus “blessed” food, however, he did not actually “bless food.”  He used the words, “Blessed art Thou, O Lord, our God, who bringest forth bread from the earth, the one who created the fruit of the vine.”  Christians say, “Bless this house, O Lord, we pray,” but in the Hebrew mind, we do not ask God to bless food or houses.  Instead, we BLESS PERSONS (especially God)!  John blessed “the ONE who reads aloud the words of this prophecy AND . . . THOSE who hear it and take to heart what is written.”  We bless GOD.  We always give a justification for our blessing:  BECAUSE He brings bread out of the earth; He creates grapes.  For John, the justification for blessing the reader and hearers is this: “BECAUSE the time is near.”  The time is near for what?  John already mentioned it in verse 1: “what must SOON take place.”

 

More commentary SOON!

Apocalyptic? #8: ZERO STRESS—Shalom—The New Heaven and New Earth

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ^{. . .}  

“Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. . . .  

‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

 

(Revelation 21:1-4 NIV)

                                                                                                                                              

How does the matter of stress pertain to the New Heaven and New Earth?  Tomorrow (August 7, 2020), I will officially retire from my Teaching Professorship at Florida State University.  I will continue, however, at the request of the school, to teach two online courses (with the assistance of three mentors who hold master’s degrees from FSU—Ms. Lara Herter, Ms. Mary Sue Woodruff, and Ms. Julia Chrencik).  One of these two courses is my most popular course in my career, attracting hundreds of FSU students each year:  COM4132 Communication and Stress Management, based upon my book, The Seven Cs of Stress. 

In my book and my course, I teach that humans face, essentially, only SEVEN basic types of stress.  I use alliteration to label each of these stressors with a word beginning in the letter C.  Hence, the Seven Cs of Stress are:  Community, Competence, Confusion, Conscientious, Corporal, Chrono, and Cash.  If you desire a fuller explanation of each type of stress and the available relief valves for each, you may read my book.  If you are a good navigator and chart your course using the information that my book provides, you can successfully "sail the Seven C's of Stress!"  In a nutshell, the Seven Cs may be briefly summarized:

Corporal Stress:

Corporal stress is any stress that is encountered primarily due to the functions of the human body. The word root “corp-“ means “body.” When someone dies all that remains is the “corpse.” When children are spanked, they receive “corporal” punishment. Animals and humans certainly experience disease, injuries, hunger, fatigue, thirst, the need to urinate, the need to defecate, sexual tensions, etc. These are all Corporal Stresses.

Community Stress

Community stress is the stress that one feels when one must deal with other people.  Because humans often disagree, stress between humans occurs. Even friendships are frequently tested by Community Stress. Married people experience a good deal of this stress.  A humorous toast goes: Here’s to you, here’s to me; hope we never disagree. Just in case we ever do, here’s to me; the heck with you.  Community Stress may be inevitable in this world.  

Conscientious Stress

Conscientious Stress is the stress humans face due to morality. Kenneth Burke asserts that the human penchant for morality (and the moral codes or laws that come with it) relates to the very nature of humans. According to his definition of the human, humans are “moralized by the negative” (p. 9).   What Burke considers important about the human use of the negative is what he calls the “hortatory negative,” represented by the injunction: “Thou shalt not!”  Saying “Thou shalt not!” to someone implies that the person to whom it is spoken has free will. It implies morality. It implies choice.  The Conscientious Stress comes as we struggle to abide by the dictates of our conscience, to obey our own “Thou shalt nots.”

Cash Stress

Cash Stress is any stress that is produced by the necessity of performing money management.  Kenneth Burke refers to money as a sociological function (1984, p. 163) and as a substitute for God (1984, p. 194, and 1969, pp. 108-113). Clearly, money is symbolic; it can represent time, property, labor, food, shelter, political interest, etc. When one does not have enough of it, Cash Stress results. When one has a great deal of it, but is unsure where to safely and successfully invest it, Cash Stress results.  The easiest stress for many to understand is Cash Stress — stress caused by disparity between one’s monetary supply and the demands of one’s lifestyle.

Competence Stress

Competence Stress is the stress one feels when one questions one's own competence to perform a task (when one does not consider oneself completely competent to handle a specific task).  This stress may be due to a lack of self-esteem, a lack of knowledge on the subject, or a lack of skill, etc.  When you first learned to drive, you were nervous, tense, stressed.  When you needed to take an exam over a subject you were uncertain of, you were nervous.  When you first asked someone for a date or went on your first date, you were nervous, experiencing Competence Stress.

Confusion Stress

Confusion Stress occurs whenever someone feels lost.  Children feel it when they become separated from their parents at a large store. Travelers feel it when they are in transit and suddenly realize they do not recognize any of the road signs or surroundings. Students feel it when taking an educational course that is far too difficult for them to pass. Litigants feel it when attempting to win a court case and the lawyer opposing them confuses every issue.  Religious people experience it when their religious faith is challenged and they do not have appropriate answers.  It is Confusion Stress.

Chrono-Stress

Chrono Stress is stress caused by the perceived need to accomplish something within a fixed time limit.  Chrono-logical means that our narratives are presented according to the logic of time—the time order in which events occur.  That humans are conscious of their own death produces not only confusion stress (we do not know about the beyond) but also chrono stress — the stress one feels when confronted with deadlines. One’s death is, after all, one’s ultimate time deadline. There are tasks one must complete within a specific timeframe. As the deadline draws near and tasks remain unfinished, stress mounts. Any task that carries with it a time deadline is capable of producing some Chrono Stress.

ZERO STRESS is Impossible

No living person has yet experienced Zero Stress.  From the time we first experience pain—even in the womb—our “corpses” (i.e., our bodies) have Corporal Stress.  Once born, we feel stresses to breathe, to eat, to urinate, etc.  We have illnesses, injuries, skin rashes, body aches.  Ask a newborn baby at 3 a.m. if he or she is experiencing stress and he or she will scream the answer back to you.  The only time there is Zero Corporal Stress is when we die and only our unfeeling “corpse” remains. 

From the time we first interact with other humans, we have Community Stress.  When your baby wanted attention and you chose to sleep instead, your baby let you know that there was a disagreement between you two at that time, as well.  When two preschoolers want the same toy, there is Community Stress.  The only way for humans to completely avoid Community Stress is to become total hermits.

Babies might not experience much Conscientious Stress, but teenagers do.  Children who hugged and kissed their parents goodnight are appalled at the thought of such behavior when reaching their teen years.  Why?  Their society (teenage society) issued a Thou Shalt Not on that behavior.  Some humans appear to be amoral, having no moral code, but the vast majority of us do have such a code—whether our list of Thou Shalt Nots is supplied by religion, family, or even political correctness.  To struggle with keeping those moral codes is to experience Conscientious Stress.  Even Jesus displayed Conscientious Stress in the Garden of Gethsemane, as he sweat drops of blood, praying to God that he be spared the ordeal of crucifixion.  Hebrews 4:15 states: “For we do not have a high priest [Jesus] who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.”  To be tempted is to experience Conscientious Stress.

All humans who exchange money experience Cash Stress.  This includes the boy in the old song, “My name is Michael; I’ve got a nickel; I’ve got a nickel, shiny and new.  I’m gonna buy me all kinds of candy; that’s what I’m gonna do.”  Granted, Tom Hanks’s character in the movie Castaway, could not have experienced Cash Stress, unless he was worried about financial issues back home, while he was stranded on a desert island.  But even Jesus’ disciples were faced with Cash Stress when faced with feeding the 5000 from their own funds.  Jesus, of course, was not concerned.  He just momentarily borrowed two little fishes and five loaves of bread from a little boy in the crowd and solved the problem.  Having served as a financial consultant for several years, I can assure you that humans have Cash Stress until the day they die.  They even worry about cash stress experienced by others after they are dead; they buy life insurance to protect their families.

There are situations where we no longer experience much Competence Stress.  Experts call the circumstance “unconscious competence.”  For example, I may now have nearly zero Competence Stress as I drive my car on “auto-pilot” after years of practice driving.  However, when I drove a new rental van (with the driver’s seat on the right-hand side) in Ireland, driving on the opposite side of the twisting narrow roads, with no knowledge of the land and roadways, I experienced a good deal of Competence Stress.  Michael Jordan may experience nearly zero Competence Stress on the basketball court, but he surely had Competence Stress on the baseball field.  Humans always have Competence Stress about something.

Confusion Stress abounds throughout our lifetimes.  As babies, our Confusion Stress pertains to the frustration of not knowing how to communicate our wishes or needs to parents or baby sitters.  As a child, I became lost in a cornfield on my parents’ farm.  I was in severe Confusion Stress as I wandered seemingly miles in the maze, seeking an exit.  As a retiree, I do not know for certain that my future will be secure.  Though I have employed financial planning, I wonder:  what if the American Currency melts down or what if politicians manage to destroy our nation’s capitalistic system?  I mentioned earlier that humans are conscious of their own death, and that produces Confusion Stress.  Even as a Christian, I do not know what dying will be like.  Not knowing brings Confusion Stress.

Chrono Stress means that human lives are fraught with time deadlines.  When my children were young and we made annual treks from Indiana to Florida and Walt Disney World, they moved frantically from one Disney ride to another, since we only spent one day per year in the parks.  They were afflicted with Chrono Stress as they sought to do everything in a single day—the maximum that we would pay for.  College students experience Chrono Stress as they struggle to turn in all assignments on time.  Old people compose “Bucket Lists,” and try to complete everything on them.  Rarely do we find an individual who doesn’t have incomplete goals out in front of him or her.

Shalom, Peace, and Sabbath

Although there is no such thing as Zero Stress in this lifetime, we long for the “relative” lack of stress from time to time.  “Shalom” is the Hebrew “Hello” greeting and good-bye message that indicates our wish that the one to whom it is spoken has “Peace”—i.e., the relative lack of stress.  The Apostle Paul used the greeting in each of his letters/epistles, but he used the Greek word for “peace (IRENE)” and coupled it with the word “grace (CHARISE)”—plausibly the method by which one attains maximum peace.  God instituted the law of Sabbath to facilitate a period of relative peace, every week, for humans.  We all need respite from stress from time to time (Rest=Sabbath).

Maximum peace/rest involves experiencing the least amount of Corporal Stress—very little illness, injury, hunger, thirst, pain, tears, death, etc.  It involves experiencing the least amount of Community Stress—very little conflict, war, litigation, argumentation, fighting, etc.  It involves experiencing the least amount of Conscientious Stress—very little temptation, desire, greed, lust, need to lie, hatred, etc.   It involves experiencing the least amount of Cash Stress—very little financial need, concern for monetary safety, etc.  It involves experiencing the least amount of Competence Stress—very few difficult tasks or jobs required to be done, very little required skill, etc.   It involves experiencing the least amount of Confusion Stress—a very low sense of being lost, a sense of security, etc.  It involves experiencing the least amount of Chrono Stress—very few deadlines, plenty of time to complete tasks.

Retirement

I think such “peace” is what most people envision for retirement.  My wife planned a surprise retirement party for me, two days ago, and arrived at my home with pizza and our pickup truck pulling a trailer with a golf cart in it.  It was a big surprise, and I have enjoyed driving the golf cart around our subdivision.  Unfortunately, I have a little too much Corporal Stress (sciatica) to actually play golf, but the cart is a great way to get from my house to my mailbox, up the street.  I still have blog posts and books and musicals to write and courses to teach so there is still some Chrono Stress in my life as I check things off my “bucket list,” but, at least, I have no meetings to attend any more, and that’s great!  I have Competence Stress as I try to master electronic music software to record and publish my musicals, but less Competence Stress regarding job-related matters.  My Conscientious Stress has steadily decreased over the years as I have matured as a Christian, but that’s probably not attributable to retirement.  Having no disagreements with colleagues means that my Community Stress has been diminished.  My Cash Stress is probably lower for the time being, because I have used financial planning principles throughout my career.  I expect my Confusion Stress to tick upwards toward the end of my life, but for now, I have accumulated a lot of knowledge and wisdom.  On the other hand, that’s not really attributable to retirement.  Nevertheless, my retirement years do not even approximate Zero Stress.

New Heaven and New Earth:  Zero Stress

So, John offers us a glimpse of an existence in which there is no stress at all.  Zero Stress or perfect peace/perfect rest involves experiencing Zero Corporal Stress—no illness, injury, hunger, thirst, pain, tears, death, etc.  Revelation 21:4 paints the picture: “[God] will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”  John offers us a glimpse of an existence in which there is no Community Stress—no conflict, war, litigation, argumentation, fighting, etc.  The greatest adversary we have had—the Devil—will have been been completely annihilated in the Lake of Fire, along with Gog and Magog and all enemies of God’s people (Revelation 20).  John offers us a glimpse of an existence in which there is no Conscientious Stress—zero temptation.  Our “test” will be over.  The “tester” himself is gone. We will have “passed.”  Revelation 21:8 assures us: “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice drug use, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”   John offers us a glimpse of an existence in which there is no Cash Stress.  Psalm 50:10 states: “For every animal of the forest is [God’s], and the cattle on a thousand hills.”  Jesus tells his disciples in John 14:2: “In my Father's house are many mansions” (KJV). No money.  Nothing to spend money on. “The kings of the land will bring their glory into” the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:24).  John offers us a glimpse of an existence in which there is no Competence Stress—no difficult tasks required to be done.  God’s “servants shall serve Him . . . and they shall reign forever and ever” (Revelation 22:3-5).   John offers us a glimpse of an existence in which there is no Confusion Stress—no sense of being lost.  I Corinthians 13:12 states:  “Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (NIV).  Jesus’ servants “shall see his face . . . And there shall be night no more . . . for the Lord God shall give them light” (Revelation 22:4-5).  John offers us a glimpse of an existence in which there is no Chrono Stress.  Eternity has no deadlines.  “He that is athirst, let him come; he that will, let him take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17 ASV). 

Talk about a Retirement Party!  Shalom!

Apocalyptic? #7: The Number 666 and the Friday Fixation

This calls for wisdom. 

Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. 

That number is 666.

(Revelation 13:18 NIV)

                                                                                                                                              

Have you ever used the abbreviation: TGIF?  Be careful of what “day” you are thankful for!  Friday may seem pleasant to you, because the weekend—Day 7, meaning “rest”—is approaching.  But, if we are approaching Day 7 in God’s Cosmic Week—if we are indeed living in Day 6 (Friday)—we are on the brink of the “end” of the week.  Day 6 can be comforting or it can be scary!  Two numbers are extremely powerful in the Jewish mind:  Twelve and Seven.  I mention these two numbers because they are both powerfully significant for understanding what happens between the opening of the sixth and seventh seals.

Seven (and its multiples) represent Completeness/telos.  There are the 7 churches of Asia Minor (Rev. 1:4), the 7 golden lampstands/candlesticks (Rev. 1:12), and the 7 stars (Rev. 1:16) which are the 7 angels of the 7 churches (Rev. 1:20).     There are the 7 letters to the 7 churches (Rev. 2-3) and the 7 spirits of God (Rev. 2:1) which are the 7 lamps of fire burning before the throne of God (Rev. 4:5).   There are, of course, the 7 seals of the scroll (divorce book) which we discussed in the previous post (Rev. 5:1), and to the end of which (Seal #7) we are now approaching.  The Lamb had 7 horns and 7 eyes, which were the 7 spirits of God (Rev. 5:6) sent forth into all of the earth.  There were 7 trumpets sounded by 7 angels (Rev. 8:2) and 7 thunders (Rev. 10:3).  There were the 7 years (week of years) that were divided in half (=3½ years=42 months=1260 days) that I discussed in my post “Apocalyptic?  #3:  The Mirror Image of the Week.”  The Dragon had 7 heads (Rev. 12:3) as did the Beast with 7 heads (Rev. 13:1) before adding an 8^th (Rev. 13:3).  There were the 7 last plagues (Rev. 15:1) and the 7 angels who administered them (Rev. 15:8) by pouring out the 7 bowls of the wrath of God (Rev. 16:1).  There are the 7 mountains on which the Harlot Babylon sits (Rev. 17:9)

Twelve (and its multiples) represented God’s Chosen.  There were 12 tribes of Israel, chosen by God (Rev. 21:12).  There were 12 apostles, chosen by Christ (Rev. 21:14).  There were 24 (12X2) elders sitting on 24 thrones, surrounding God’s throne in Heaven in Revelation 4:4 (just as there were 70 elders, chosen by Moses to assist in ruling Israel in Numbers 11 and Exodus 24).  There were 12 foundation stones of the walls of New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:14), plus 12 gates to the city (Rev. 21:12), plus 12 angels—one at each gate (Rev. 21:12).  The woman in Revelation 12:1 had a crown of 12 stars on her head.  144,000 (12X12X1000) were sealed out of every one of the 12 tribes of Israel (Rev. 7:4):  12,000  from each tribe (Rev. 7:5-8).  The length and breadth and height of the New Jerusalem were each 12,000 furlongs (Rev. 21:16).  The walls of the New Jerusalem were 144 cubits of an angel (Rev. 21:17).  The 12 foundations were each a special precious stone (Rev. 21:20) and the 12 gates were 12 pearls (Rev. 21:21).   In the midst of the city was a river of the water of life with a tree of life on either side, bearing 12 different kinds of fruit every one of the (12) months (Rev. 22:2). 

The Importance of the Number 6

I began this post by asking:  Have you ever used the abbreviation: TGIF?  In considering Revelation 1:1, the scholar G. B. Caird asked: "What did John think was 'bound to happen soon'?" (Caird, p. 236).  The answer to that question is found by watching out for the number six in Revelation.  The supreme archetype in the entire book of Genesis is the creation week.  When day number seven arrives, telos/the end has already been achieved.  Creation has been completed (perfected) by the end of day six in Genesis.  The word "sabbath" even carries the perfected denotation of "rest" in Hebrew.  Since John (intuitively) knows that his seven structure has aroused an expectation of telos in the number seven for his audience, John consistently places himself and his audience at the number six, thus indicating almost by the sheer psychological weight of the number six that he and his readers are on the brink of telos--but they are still in the process of entelechy (telos has not yet come).

The Sixth Emperor

The most poignant verses in the book of Revelation for those looking for evidence of the date of Revelation are 17:10-11 (KJV):  “¹⁰ And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. ¹¹ And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.”  Scholars have agreed that the "seven heads = seven kings" refer to Roman emperors.  Hence, calculations ensue in an effort to determine the emperor's reign under which the book is being written.  While the answer to the calculation is of vast importance, the psychological significance of the verses has been missed.  John states that "five fell, one is, and the other has not yet come."  That places John and his audience precisely in the reign of emperor number six.  They are on the brink of telos.

The Number 666

Furthermore, the number of the beast "who has the wound of the sword and lived" (13.14) is the infamous number "six hundred sixty-six."  My parents, when they were about to discipline me, used a technique of counting to three.  However, they would not count 1, 2, 3.  Instead they would count 1, 2, 2 and ½, 2 and ¾, etc., extending this final number for a longer time, thus, giving me more opportunity to behave and comply.   The infamous number 6-6-6 seems to signify the last brink of the last brink of the last brink of telos.  Gematria is the technical term for the activity of codifying someone's name into a number, a very popular practice in the first century.  Unlike English, which uses an alphabet for letters and an Arabic number system, ancient languages such as Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin made the alphabet serve a dual purpose.  The use of Roman Numerals in English, today, illustrates such a dual use of letters, so that the name LIV (a nickname for Olivia; see Liv Tyler and Liv Ullmann) also equals in Roman Numerals the number 54.  An Aramaic document of Nero's reign from the Wadi Murabba'at, in Jordan, contains the required spelling for Nero Caesar which would equal 666 in either Aramaic or Hebrew.  But the psychological significance comes not from identifying the individual to whom the number referred (John's primary audience surely knew!).  The sense of being on the ultimate brink of telos comes from the sheer "expectation" that, with the number six in place, the number seven (the end/the telos) is almost on the scene.

The Sixth Seal and Sixth Trumpet

John has proceeded rapid-fire through the first 6 seals.  He uses only one chapter (Revelation chapter 6) to go through all 6 seals.  Nevertheless, he does not discuss seal number 7 until he has sealed the foreheads of the 144,000  from the 12 tribes of Israel (Revelation chapter 7), presumably to protect them from the final disaster (the divorce of Israel).  Also, in chapter 7, he identifies a group that is called an “uncountable number.”  Then, he spreads out his description of the opening of the 7^th seal through chapters 8, 9, 10, and 11.  The opening of the 7^th seal in chapter 8 introduces 7 more half-steps—the blowing of 7 trumpets.  This use of the number six (in chapter 7) is similar to the positioning of an interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpets, in which John introduces 7 more half-steps: the 7 thunders, but does not write the messages down; he eats the scroll that was sweet in his mouth but bitter in his stomach (i.e., he must prophesy); he measures the temple; and the two Witnesses prophesy.  Since the seven trumpets are an expansion of the seventh seal, John and his audience members realize (at this point, chronologically) that they are on the last brink of the last brink of telos.  An interlude of eating a scroll and hearing seven thunders does not tell much about the temporal standpoint of John and his audience.  There are some clues in the measuring of the temple and in the prophecy of the two Witnesses, however.  If it is the Jerusalem "temple" which John is told to measure, the date should probably be placed before 70 AD, the year in which the temple was destroyed, so there would no longer be a temple to measure.

The Friday (6^th Day) Interlude

If you find that there is an interlude of relative peace following the two World Wars, or following the end of the Cold War, or following the Islamic terror attacks around the world, or following the COVID19 pandemic and the subsequent reign of protests, looting, and chaos, don’t relax.  It may be just the interlude before last trumpet.  If you are thanking God that it is Friday, know that a cataclysm could occur on Saturday.

So, what was the purpose of the Friday interlude in Revelation?  In Revelation 11, the interlude between the 6^th trumpet and the 7^th trumpet was to provide a time to “measure the temple” in Jerusalem.  In the academic world, we know that “measurements” are evaluations. A common one is the Midterm Exam. We seek, as professors, to evaluate whether our students have mastered the important elements of our courses.  When God asked John to measure the Temple, he was asking him to evaluate whether the Priesthood and Temple Cult in Jerusalem had mastered the important elements of Judaism and Israel’s role with regard to God.  Did they repent, as God’s divorce scroll intended?  The answer was generally:  No.  The High Priestly party continued to resist God.  If you begin to experience an interlude, be careful!  You could be in the process of being measured by God.

In Revelation 8:1, the interlude is pictured as “silence in heaven about the space of half an hour,” before the 7 last trumpets were sounded.  In Revelation 7, the interlude is pictured as four angels standing at the four corners of the “land” of Israel, holding back the four winds, so that they should not blow on the land, while the 144,000 were being sealed.

The Importance of the Number 12

The 144,000 

Who are these 144,000 whom God is now protecting from the coming violent divorce, just as he protected the Israelites who had sealed their doorposts with the blood of a Lamb from the Tenth Plague in Egypt?  They are Jews who came from the 12 tribes of Israel (Rev. 7:4-8).  So, it’s true, many Jews DID REPENT and were NOT DIVORCED by God.  Why were they not divorced?  Because, in contrast with the Harlot Babylon (the High Priests and their followers in Jerusalem), these were “virgins” (Rev. 14:4), not “defiled” among women as was the Harlot Babylon.  The term John uses—defiled/molunô—is a cognate of the word Daniel 1:8 uses—defiled/summolunô—when he suggests that Daniel and his three companions (later renamed Shadrach, Meshach, and Aved Nego [Abednego]) who were captured by the Babylonians and commanded by Babylonian authorities to conform to Babylonian cultural and religious practices.  The heroes of Daniel are these young men who refused to be defiled; they resist conforming to the Babylonian cultural and religious practices.  The very names Shadrach, Meshach, and Aved Nego (Abednego) are the NEW names which their captors gave them, corresponding to Babylonian gods.  Their original (Hebrew) names were Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.  Daniel himself was given a new Babylonian name by his captors, corresponding to Babylonian god Bel:  Belteshazzar.  Nevertheless, Daniel is the name of the book, not Belteshazzar.  Daniel refused to be “defiled” by the new Babylonian culture!  Daniel and his companions refused to eat Babylonian food (Dan. 1:8) on the grounds that they would be defiled (summolunô in LXX) by the act of eating the king's food.  This is possibly the verse that John had in mind when he spoke in 14:4 of the "virgins" who were not defiled.  John uses the cognate molunô (defiled).

Syncretism

The technical word for what Daniel called defiled (summolunô in LXX) is “syncretism.” It means that the Jews incorporated portions of the heathen culture into their own religion and culture.  Syncretistic tendencies have been identified by Revelation scholars as the porneia (fornication) of which John accuses Jezebel (Rev. 2:20-22) and Babylon (Rev. 14:8).  (Notice that the reference to Babylon as a harlot/pornē in Revelation 14:8 is just four verses removed from the reference to “women” and “virgins” in Revelation 14:4. This is significant.)  Perhaps, syncretistic tendencies are an important rationale in John's choosing "Babylon" as the name of the harlot.  John appears to be greatly influenced by the book of Daniel.  The heroes of Daniel are the young men who resist syncretism, once they have been carried away into "Babylon." 

Not only do the Babylonians attempt to assimilate the young men into their religion by renaming the young men with Babylonian names, often associated with Babylonian deities, Daniel is determined to resist the law outlawing prayer to his God, even if it means incarceration with lions.  The other three young heroes are determined to resist pagan worship, even if it means death in a fiery furnace.  These heroes are models of anti-syncretism.  Even John's literary style in many ways imitates this thoroughly anti-syncretistic book.

"Why," John's favorite Psalm (the 2nd) asks, "do the heathen [Gentiles/goiim] rage and the people [Jews] imagine vain things?"  "They [the Jews and the Gentiles] have plotted together against the Lord and His Messiah," it answers.  It was the syncretistic alliance between the High Priestly party of Judaism with the Gentile leader Pontius Pilate to crucify Jesus that amounted to ultimate syncretism/harlotry/porneia.  All other nationalities are expected to oppose the Lord and His Messiah.  Therefore, syncretism does not matter for the heathen.  They are all united against the Lord and His Messiah, anyway.  Any alliance with these heathen is porneia, for John.  The dragon is not syncretistic, because the union of heathen gods, religions, and cultures is not porneia.  Only when Jews or Christians are united with heathen elements is there the type of syncretism which is equivalent to porneia.  The Old Testament harlot, Israel/Zion, is guilty of harlotry only to the extent she seduces and enters into alliances with her heathen neighbors.  The specific identity of the neighbor is insignificant--so long as it is heathen.  Therefore, John, in guarding against porneia, is interested only in this type of syncretism--Jewish (and Christian) alliances with heathen cultures.

Is There Syncretism in Christianity Today?

What about modern-day syncretism?  Have 21^st Century Christians united with ancient Greco-Roman culture to form new cultural and religious values and practices?  Paul warned against uniting with Greco-Roman culture in I Corinthians 5:1: “It is actually reported that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not even among the Gentiles.”  5:11: “I wrote to you not to keep company, if any man that is named a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one no, not to eat.”  6:9-10: “Be not deceived:  neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”  Paul describes the Greco-Roman practices in Romans 1:26-27: ”²⁶ Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. ²⁷ In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.”

The issue of syncretism is not whether other cultures sin.  The issue of syncretism is whether Christians and Jews participate in the heathen cultural practices and/or support them in these practices.

Who Are the 144,000 Virgins?

I commented earlier that the reference to Babylon as a harlot/pornē in Revelation 14:8 is just four verses removed from the reference to “women” and “virgins” in Revelation 14:4: “These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb (KJV).”  I noted that this is significant.  Why?  Because this Revelation 14:4 passage has been used to argue that Catholic priests should be celibate (=virgins).  This is a misunderstanding of the passage.  We have already pointed out that “defiled” refers to syncretism.  We have already shown the contrast between the harlot/pornē Babylon just 4 verses later and the 144,000 Israelites who are “virgins.” The final piece of this puzzle is the little word “with/meta.”  

Meta

Meta is the first part of the word metaphor.  John has been using a “woman” metaphor throughout Revelation.  Israel was the metaphorical wife of God.  Hence, Israel assumes the metaphorical Eve role.  Thus, she has an archetypal conflict with the serpent.  Just as Paul saw Israel/Jerusalem as two virwomen (in a positive sense and a negative sense) in Galatians 4:25-26, John seems to split the "woman" here into "virgin" and "harlot."  The woman who (in Eden) was torn between her two choices has, by the end of Revelation, completely split into two women--a good woman (or virgin) who yields her life in faithfulness to God, and a bad woman (or harlot) who perfects her unfaithfulness so fully that she commits porneia with the serpent's representative.

The task of the readers of John’s Revelation is to remain metaphorical “virgins,” as did the 144,000 Israelites—to not succumb to the syncretistic temptation of joining the heathen culture in their practices.  After all, if it is now Friday, the dreadful 7^th day is just around the corner!