1999 Issue 6 - An Overview of the Book of Revelation - Counsel of Chalcedon

8/12/2019 1999 Issue 6 - An Overview of the Book of Revelation - Counsel of Chalcedon

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Over the next several pages, I

am entrusted with the task of

giving an introductory overview

of the book of Revelation. Un

doubtedly, it is the most difficult

book in the Bible. It has been said

that wherever you find five

co=entaries

on the book

of

Revelation, you will find six

different views. To make matters

worse, many

of

the

co=entaries

are like a black hole - they are

so dense that no light can escape

from them. In fact, Ambrose

Bierce wrote what he called The

Devil's Dictionary. In his defini

tion of Revelation

we

read:

A

famous book in which st. John

concealed all that he

knew. The revealing is done

by

the co=entators, who know

nothing.

are the two basic positions held

by evangelical scholars today.

I fmnly believe that the

evidence from within Revelation

demands the early-date view.

Although there are numerous lines

of

evidence in this direction (see

my Before Jerusalem Fell , two

particular internal indicators

strongly suggest the correctoess

of the early-date view.

When you read the book of

Revelation, you find that the

temple is standing in JeruSalem

(cf. 11:1,2). Thus,

as

John

writes, the temple stands un

harmed in Jerusalem. That being

the case, Revelation must have

been written prior to A.D. 70. If

John wrote 25 years later, this

would be a most anachronistic

seven mountains, the natural

interpretation would be the seven

hills of Rome.

We

have then a

clear geographical reference to

the ancient city

of

Rome.

But who then are the seven

kings? John seems to be inform

ing us that these are emperors

of

the Roman Empire, particularly

the first seven: Julius Caesar,

Augustos, Tiberius, Gaius,

Claudius, Nero, and Galba. The

angel tells us that the first five

have fallen and that the sixth ,

one is. As a matter of historical

fact, Nero was the sixth in the

line of the emperors

of Rome. This demands that Nero

is alive when John writes and that

the composition of the book must

In this overview I

cannot deal with all the

details of this very perplex

ing book. I do, however,

want to highlight some

n

Overview o he Book

o Revelation

KenGenny

have,been prior to June 8

A.D. 68 the day Nero

committed suicide

as

Rome

erupted into civil war.

portions that I think will be

helpful as keys or tools to open

up

the book of Revelation to you.

I want us to focus on two big

issues: the date of the writing of

Revelation and the theme of

Revelation. These will provide

helpful keys to the correct

interpretation of the book.

Evidence for

an

Early

Dating of Revelation

In evangelical circles there are

two basic schools of thought on

when John wrote Revelation.

They are called the late-date

view, that says John wrote

in A.D. 95-6, toward the end of

the reign of the Emperor

Domitian. There is also the early

date view, that claims that John

wrote just prior to the destruction

of Jerusalem and the temple in

A.D. 70. According to this view,

Revelation was written sometime

between A.D.

65

and

70.

These

and confusing statement for his

original audience.

We also find evidence for an

early dating in John's discussion

of the seven kings. In Revela

tion,17:1-6, we have a vision of a

seven-headed beast. We find in

this visi(m evidence that Nero

Caesar, that infamous persecutor

of the church, is still alive.

In verses 9 and

10

the angel

gives John wisdom. As he does

so, he shows him that the book

cannot, be interpreted

literalistically. The angel interprets

this seven-headed beast

as

repre

senting seven mountains, and also

as pictoring seven kings. Five of

these kings have fallen, one is

(present tense), and one more will

corne and remain for only a little

while. The book of Revelation

was written sometime during

Imperial Rome's oversight. When

the angel interprets for John the

seven heads as representing

36 - THE COUNSEL ofChalcedon - October/November, 1999

The angel then says,

remarkably, the other is

not yet corne and when he comes

he will remain a short while.

After Nero died, the next Emperor

was Galba, who ruled from June

to January, a period of six

months. Thus, after the 13

y,

years of Nero's reign, we have

the extremely short reign of

Galba.

These two lines

of

evidence

strongly indicate that Revelation

was written prior to the destruc

tion of the temple (A.D. 70) and

the death of Nero (A.D. 68).

The Expectation

of

Revelation

We need to ask the question:

What did John expect in writing

this revelation? Consequently, it

is vitally important to understand

the original audience and how

they would read this book. Three

factors will emphasize the

historical circumstances

of

John's

original recipients of this glorious

composition.


2/5

(I) Audience Relevance. John

wrote to seven historical

chnrches, and he knew

those churches quite well. There

. are subtle indicators that John

was familiar with detailed aspects

of their culture, social standing,

and historical circumstances in

the first century world.

We

also

notice that he wrote

in

order to be

understood (cf. 1:3). The idea of

hearing the words of the

prophecy of this book is not

simply receiving audible intona

tion, but hearing with discernment

so

that they can keep what he

has commanded them.

Therefore, Revelation must be

seen as directly relevant to the

first century church. He did not

write Revelation as directly

relevant to a church 2,000

years later. John wrote to a

particular historical audience.

Notice that this audience is

already in tribulation (cf. 1:9).

In chapters 2 and 3,

he

highlights

some growing problems they are

facing. Some of them are being

killed. Many are facing the

onslaughts

of

Satan.

He

is dealing

with real Christians with their

sandals firmly planted in the first

century. He is not taunting them

about cobra helicopters. He is

telling them about events that deal

with their specific circumstances.

Since they are in tribulation, they

need to know what will become

of them and the faith to which

they have committed themselves.

(2) Contemporary Expectation.

The interpretation ofRevelation

must begin in the first chapter.

John clearly expects the events

of

which he is writing to begin

occurring soon. He uses two

different terms, strategically

placed, to make this point.

In verse I, he writes that these

things must shortly take place.

Shortly is a translation of the

Greek word tachos. It most

definitely means what all

the translators affirm: the events

are shortly to take place. The

word also occurs at 2:6; 3:11;

22:6, and in its adverbial form in

22:7,

12 and 20. John also adds

for the time is near, literally, at

arm's length. This word occurs at

22:

10

as well.

Clearly, the temporal impres

sion that the original audience

nnder tribnlational affliction

would have received from this

book is that John expected these

events

to

occur very soon

because the time is

at

hand. Not

only does he utilize these two

different terms for this temporal

expectation, but he also places

them strategically in the book, at

the beginning and conclusion of

the book. Before one arrives at all

the difficult imagery

of

the book,

a very straightforward didactic

portion indicates the immediacy

of

John's expectation.

The Theme o Revelation

Behold, he is coming with

clonds, and every eye will see

him, and they also who pierced

him, and all the tribes of the land

will monrn because of him (Rev.

I :7). This theme statement

sounds like the Second Advent.

And there is indeed a relationship

between A.D. 70 and the final

glorions coming of Christ, just as

there are similarities between the

language here and the destruction

of

Babylon in Isaiah

13

and

Idumea in Isaiah 34. These are

activities of God in the realm of

Inen so we can expect silnilarities

of language.

Yet I believe that this verse

points to the judgment of God

upon Jerusalem and her temple in

A.D. 70. As we consider this, the

theme verse of Revelation, we

must be alert to the fact that four

verses prior to it, John

states that these things are near.

Six verses prior, he warns that

these things are shortly to come

to pass. This should alert us to

the fact that he is not speaking of

an event thousands of years

distant.

But how can we claim that this

refers to A.D. 70, and not to the

Second Coming of Christ? Let me

provide you with three lines of

evidence that indicate Revelation

1:7 teaches that Christ is coming

in judgment upon the temple.

(I) He speaks of his coming

with clouds. This is apocalyptic

language drawn from Daniel 7:13,

a heavenly vision of Christ being

given the keys of the kingdom at

his ascension, i.e., his being given

the right to rule over the world.

The cloud-coming metaphor is

common language among the

poetically inspired prophets

of

the

Old Testament. t speaks

of

divine

visitation upon historical nations

who set themselves against God.

When a nation falls, God is

judging. God has come into the

experience and realm

of

that

nation. Jehovah God has come to

judge that nation.

Isaiah 19:1 is a good parallel to

Revelation 1:7. There we learn

that God will ride a swift cloud

into Egypt. No sane commentator

will affirm that God hopped on a

cloud, taxied down to Egypt,

became visible, and began laying

it waste. They all agree that it is

an apocalyptic reference to Egypt

being

destroyed in a particular war.

If, therefore, apocalyptic

language will allow us to under

stand a divine judgment in history

as a cloud coming, then the

possibility is open to us in

Rev,?lation 1:7. This is significant

October/November 1999 - THE COUNSEL ofChalcedon - 37


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for our interpretation of this

passage. John says that these

events are near at hand. Christ

will come upon a cloud in judg

ment soon.

Moreover, the parallel in

Matthew 21 :40ff makes the

J ernsalem reference certain. This

passage is interpreted by even

Dispensationalist scholars as a

reference to A.D. 70. Christ says

that when the owner

of

the

vineyard arrives, he will destroy

those wicked men miserably. In

verse 43, Christ affirms that the

kingdom of God will be taken

away from the Jewish nation.

Matthew 21 uses coming

language for the destruction

of

Jerusalem. The scribes and

Pharisees perceived his point: he

was speaking of their judgment.

John is utilizing the same com

ing language in Revelation 1 7.

(2) Christ is coming against

those who pierced him. Who are

those who pierced Christ? It is

especially the fIrst-century Jews.

They cried out for his death.

They refused to allow Pilate to let

him go, even though Pilate

protested vehemently against their

treachery. They called the curse

of his blood upon. themselves. In

short, the Jews of the first

century demanded Christ's

crucifixion; and his blood did

come down upon them and their

children in that generation.

Throughout the New Testa

ment record, the primary cov

enantal onus

of

Christ's death

falls upon the Jews. In Acts 5:30

Peter blames his Jewish kinsmen

for crucifYing Christ (cf. 2:36;

3:13-15; 7:52; 1 Thess. 2:14,15).

The responsibility for the death

of

Jesus Christ, according

to

the

biblical records, falls upon the

Jewish nation. They demanded it. .

This fits nicely with our exposi

tion

of

Revelation 1:7 which

speaks of his coming against

those who crucified him.'

(3) All the tribes of the land

will

mourn. The Greek word for

earth (Gk., ge) can either mean

earth or land. The land is

a

famous designation

for

Israel's

land, the promised land. The idea

of

the land is something pre

cious to the Jews. When you

think

of

Israel, you think

of

its

division into the twelve tribes. So,

what John is saying is: Jesus

whom you crucified is coming

to

judge you, and al1 the tribes will

mourn as a result of the judg

ment. His judgment will be a

public event

of

great and grievous

1?foportions.

Thematic Characters

in

the

ook of

Revelation

Revelation is a drama. It is

written in vivid, terrifYing imag

ery. Before we can trace the

movement of Revelation, we

should consider two major

characters we encounter there:

the beast and harlot.

The

Beast

of

Revelation

Audience relevance tells us

that these people were living

during the time of Rome, and that

the image must refer to something

in their own historical time frame.

We must understand John's beast

imagery both generically in terms

of

its corporate reality, and its

specifically, as an individual

representative

of

the corporate

entity.

Generical1y, the beast repre

sents Rome. The beast has seven

heads and has seven mountains or

hills, which is clearly an historical

description of the city of Rome.

The beast arises out of the sea.

Rome and its soldiers will come

across the Mediterranean Sea

from Rome. The crowns on the

8

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THE

COUNSELofChalcedon - October/November, 1999

beast's head represent political

power, with which Rome was

well-endowed.

As

al1

commentators - even

dispensationalists such

as

Walvoord recognize - the image

of

the beast shifts between this

corporate, national power and a

specific representative

of

that

power. One

of

the heads, or

kings, is. The one that is is

the sixth emperor

of

Rome, Nero.

Nero fits the facts in many

remarkable ways.

In 13:18 the number of the

beast is the number of a

man,

666 (six hundred sixty-six).

Hebrew, John's native language,

does not have a separate number

ing system. They used the letters

of

the alphabet

to

represent

numbers, 1-10, then

lOs

then

100s. When you add up the first

century Hebrew letters

of

the

characters that make up the

Hebrew render

of

'Neron Kaiser,

you fmd that

it

adds up to 666.

Furthermore, Nero was the

first imperial persecutor of the

Christian Church. Persecution

broke out in November ofA.D.

64 and did not cease in finality

until June of A.D. 68, a period of

roughly 42 months. In 13:10 we '

read of the sword death of the

beast. Nero committed suicide by

slitting his own t1rroat with a .

sword. \

In 13:3 we have further proof

for the Neronic identity

of

the

beast. Revelation's beast has a

head thai dies, causing the beast

to crumple to its death. But,

surprisingly, the beast rises again

to the amazement of the world.

Interestingly, After Nero died,

Rome had a rapid succession of

emperors, four in one year. The

empire was in catastrophic

turmoil. Its tributary nations

attempted to escape Roman


4/5

authority.

t

looked

to

all as

if

eternal Rome were

dying.

Contemporary Roman historian

Tacitus wrote (Histories 1:11):

"This was the condition of the

Roman state when Galba

entered upon the year that was to

be for Galba his last

and

for the

state almost the end."

Rome in that she relies

on

imperial

Rome to get at Christianity.

Remember how the Jews relied

upon the Roman judicial apparatus

to

crucify Jesus? This is the

"sitting" John mentions

in

Revela

tion 17. Several lines of evidence

unite

to

suggest that the harlot is

Jerusalem.

(1) In Revelation 14:8, Babylon

is

called the "great city." But what

is this "great city"? It is first

mentioned in Revelation

11

:8.

There we learn that it is "the

place where Jesus was crucified,"

i.e., Jerusalem.

woman's dress is described in

imagery reminiscent of the Old

Testament high priest and the

temple decoration (cf. Ex.

28:5,6). This was a dramatic

feature of the ritnal dress

of

the

high priest. TIle harlot's colors

were precisely those that decked

the priesthood and the temple.

John

is

picking up on temple

imagery to portray the harlot.

(4) The harlot has something

written on her forehead. This

reminds us (though negatively)

that in Exodus 28:36, the high

priest has something written on

his forehead, "Holy to the Lord."

But what happens? The beast

revives Suetonins,

the

second

centnry Roman historian, tells us

in Vespasian, chapter

1,

"The

empire which for a long time had

been nnsettled and drifting

throngh the nsurpation and violent

death of three emperors, was at

last taken in hand and given

stability by the Flavian

"Revelation is the

most

Old Testament

flavored

book

in

the

entire

New

Testa

ment. I cannot be understood apart

from this

background.

family." Vespasian lays hold

of

the reins of the kingdom,

revives it, and the empire

lives again. The whole world

John focuses in on the high

priest because he represents

the temple, which stands at

the heart

of

Jerusalem and

Israel. Readers in that day

would have made associa

tions with the temple.

as

snrprised at the radical

change

of

circnmstances.

Josephus reports: "So upon this

confirmation

of

Vespasian's entire

government, which

was

now

settled, and npon the unexpected

deliverance

of

the Romans from

ruin. Roule's civil war was so

rninous that everyone was sur

prised by her recovery.

Thns, the evidence suggests

the beast was first century entity:

the Roman Empire ruled over by

the evil Nero Caesar.

This

fits

well with the temporal

indicators and the thematic

statement in Revelation

1:7.

Tbe Harlot of

Revelation

(17:3,5)

Many wonld tell

ns

tbat tbis

woman seated upon the beast is

Rome, the city itself, because

Rome is, after all, seated on seven

hills (cf. 17:9). The beast, how

ever, is already Rome, and this

identification would

be

rednndant.

I believe this woman

is

Jerusalem.

She sits on tbe seven hills of

(2) The Babylonian harlot is

"fnll

of

the blood

of

the saints"

(16:6; 17:6; 18:24). Certainly,

Rome had recently begun perse

cnting the saints. The evidence

suggests, however, that Jerusalem

is a better identification of the

harlot at this point, for the follow

ing reasons:

(a) Throughout Acts, Jerusa

lem is shown to be the persecntor

of

Christianity (cf. 4:3; 5:18; 8:1).

(b) The theme of Revelation is the

judgment upon Israel

1

:7). The

judgment or execution

of

the

theme is in chapters 17 and

18.

If

the theme pertains to Jerusalem,

so does the judgment that fnlfills

the theme. ( c) The slain Lamb

appears twenty-seven times in

Revelation. The Lamb is seeking

vengeance upon his slayers. In

Matthew 27:35, the Jews

as

sumed the guilt of the Lamb's

blood. They called down a

covenantal curse upon themselves.

(3) In Revelation 17:4 the

(5) In Revelation

17

and 21,

John compares two women: the

harlot (which I am arguing is the

city of Jerusalem) and the Bride,

which is definitely called the

new and heavenly Jerusaleln.

Paul likewise makes this compari

son between the earthly, literal

Jerusalem and the heavenly

Jerusalem of Christianity (Gal.

4:24). The writer

to

the Hebrews

utilized the same

imagery (Hebrews 12:24ff.).

Under the guise of two women,

John is setting Israel (Judaism)

against Christianity (the Church).

The following evidence strongly

suggests the comparison:

(a) The same angel comes to

John

to

reveal both the harlot and

the bride (Rev. 17:1 with 21:9).

(b) The two women have a

contrasting character, one is

negative, one positive (17:1 with

21:10). (c) The two women are

set in contrasting environments

(Rev. 17:3 with 21:10), which

bespeak their relationship but

difference.

October/November, 1999 - THE COUNSEL o Chalcedon - 39


5/5

(6) In

Revelation, Jerusalem is

called

by

pagan

names. In 11:8

sheis

called

Sodom and Egypt.

She

apparently is also called

Babylon.

Each

of

these

city-states were enemies of God's

righteousness. John's moral point

is that as Jerusalem crucifies the .

Messiah and

persecutes his

followers, she is acting exactly

like

the

enemies

of

God from the

Old Testament era.

(7) Revelation is the most Old

Testament flavored book in the

entire New Testament. t cannot

be understood apart from this

background. In the old covenant

economy, Israel was God's bride

or

wife.

God

graciously married

this nat ion, i.e., entered into

covenant with

her. Accordingly,

in

eremiah God

rebukes his

faithless wife: Return, 0 back

sliding children, because I

married

you.

In

31:32, where the

new covenant is revealed, he

says,

They

broke my covenant

though I was a husband to them.

Israel, however, is an unfaith

ful

wife. She chases after foreign

gods. Accordingly, God sends his

lawyers, the prophets, to warn

her.

They

bring a case, a legal

brief, against

her

(cf. Hos. 4:1;

Mic. 6:2).

On

the basis

of

God's

law, God calls forth witnesses

against his faithless wife (Isa. 1:2,

21). The same problem existed in

the Old Testament as we encoun

ter

in

the

New

- marital infidelity

on

Israel's part.

All of this covenant imagery

and

the legal actions involved in

them

bear

upon the application

of

the judgments in Revelation upon

Israel. In Revelation 4, prior to

the

announcement

of

the judg

ment, John sees God seated on

his throne. Forty-seven

of

the

sixty-two times throne appears

in the New Testament are found

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Thdnk You

in Revelation. Within Revelation is

found much language

of

judicial

judgments: judgement, wit

nesses, wrath, and

so

forth.

Why

is God seated

upon

the

throne and why is there so much

judicial imagery in the book?

Because he is legally divorcing his

wife, Israel.

He

intends to

take a new Bride, the Church.

The

scroll, therefore, in Revela

tion 5 is a bill

of

divorcement

against Israel. John is picking up

on

imagery that Jeremiah has

already utilized (3:3,8). Jeremiah

was writing about the original

Babylonian captivity. John is

writing

of a new Babylon that

once again causes the temple to

be destroyed: Jerusalem, the'

apostate wife

of

God.

The

seven

sealed scroll indicates a sevel1fold

judgment

upon his adulterous

wife. God will now capitally

punish her for her capital crime

(Rev. 6-19).

Having legally disposed

of

his

adulterous wife, God turns to a

new wife. So at the end

of

Revelation

we

turn to a vision

of

the

new

Bride.

In

Revelation

21 : I0 John sees the new city

coming down out

of

heaven. This

bride is a new Jerusalem, who

fills the

void

of the old Jerusalem

just judged. Therefore, Revelation

is teaching us of God's divorce of

Israel because they had commit

ted a final, horrible transgression

for which he must divorce and

punish her.

I do believe Israel will experi

ence a glorious renewal

in

the

plan

of God

when God at last

raises

her

dry bones from the

dead in conversion.

But

Revela

tion warns and explains

of

her

first century judgment, an histori

cal event about to occur in the

lifetimes of the original recipients

of

the book.

'Transcribed by

Chris Strevel

for The ounsel o halcedon

from the 1999 Ligonier National

Conference

4 - THE COUNSEL ofChalcedon - October/November, 1999

Documents

1999 Issue 6 - An Overview of the Book of Revelation - Counsel of Chalcedon