A Commentary in Simple English on Revelation

NOTES

[0.1] The critical debate about the authorship of John's Gospel, the three Epistles of John and the Book of Revelation is partly fuelled by many scholars' dislike of the Book of Revelation. It is true that there is a total difference between Revelation and the other writings. There were rumours in the early church of two 'Johns', both buried at Ephesus. I do not propose to deal with the issues. A helpful contribution to the debate is an article by Richard Bauckham published in JSNT 49 (1993) at pages 21-44 'The Beloved Disciple as Ideal Author'. I think it is hinting at John the Son of Zebedee as author of Revelation, and someone else as author of John's Gospel; but perhaps I am misreading its scholarly reticence!

[0.2] The Penguin Classics edition of Eusebius - The History of the Church - (Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1965) would be quite adequate for anyone who wants to know rather more of these early traditions. Several writers in Asia in the early part of the second century said very firmly that the apostle John had taught them.

[0.3] According to J M Court (p.78) there are about 15 Jewish 'apocalypses' from the period between the Old and New Testaments, and 24 early Christian examples. There may have been others, which are lost.

Beasley Murray's commentary on Revelation gives a good deal of space to exploring the possible links between these Apocalypses and Revelation. This is fair enough provided it is not used as a pretext for intruding into Revelation ideas that John left out of it. For example, it may be legitimate to say that John knew other writings in which the number 144,000 was used for the people. But then to say that in those other writings, the 144,000 is the army of Messiah, so that the 144,000 in Revelation is the army of Messiah is wrong. If John used other sources, then his decision not to say anything to hint that this was the army of Messiah ought to be respected.

[0.4] There is an article by D.E.Aune in JSNT 37 (1989) at pages 103-116, 'The Prophetic Circle of The John of Patmos.' We know that at times the church elders in the various cities did not welcome the prophets who went from place to place. The 'Didache' shows this, but so too does 3 John. The elder had his Sunday sermon ready and was not too pleased when a prophet turned up and wanted a hearing!

This may help to explain why the early church was not eager to use the Book of Revelation and why there were supposed to be two tombs of John. Some people respected him as a prophet; some respected him as an apostle and elder!

[0.5] R A Cole in the Tyndale series commentary suggests (p.155) that this section is 'seven significant signs'. It is not by any means easy to work this out.

The REB heads Chapters 12-14 'Seven Visions'. This is perhaps better.

We would of course love to find a chiastic structure in Revelation, but this has not yet been established. (See Court, p.85)

[0.6] One reason why in later years Revelation was not understood was that the nature of persecution had changed. Persecution began with local outbreaks of violence whether by the Jews or others. Nero's persecution was an extreme case of this, but he did not use the machinery of the law. The suffering of Christians under Nero was vast, but seems to have been local in Rome. By the end of the first century, the machinery of the law was brought in. Christians suffered because they belonged to a religion the law did not recognise, and they would not join in the Imperial cult.

It is clear enough that two centuries later, the position had changed. Instead of the uncertain, hesitant use of persecution to bring people back to heathen worship, there was a clear political objective. The church had grown to the point where it was seen as a threat. The bishop dominated many cities. The contest was now a political one. Many Christians still died for their faith. But some of their leaders sought power, status and influence. The innocence of the early age to which Revelation belongs was past. The 'Church' stood on the brink of a worldly triumph.

[0.7] In 'Revelation' in the New Testament Guides series published by JSOT Press (Sheffield Academic Press 1994) J M Court says: - 'Pluralism of method can turn into an ideological pluralism in which there are no objectively correct answers, only a range of subjective responses'. Thus, Post Modernism finds a happy situation in the various interpretations of the Book of Revelation. There is no need any longer to say: - 'This is right. That is wrong'. All we say is: - 'That is what you think. But I shall take no notice. I have always thought differently'. People going out of the church door now say: - 'It is interesting to hear what other people think.' But they see no need to respond.

Even the answer as regards Revelation, that we must establish the historical meaning, does not help too much. There are several possible assumptions regarding the date and therefore there can be some variety of perspectives on the historical background. Nevertheless I believe that the right way is first to establish as much as we can of the historical background, and then proceed to the pastoral applications, before we indulge in rather less useful speculation about prophecy.

[1.1] (1:1) We shall find a number of places where John refers to the old Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, or to the Tent for worship (Tabernacle) which Moses made. It is not clear here whether we should think of the curtain in front of the Holy Place or of the curtain between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. See verse 12.

[1.2] (1:2) 'Theologos', the Word of God, is paralleled in inscriptions of the Imperial cult from the cities of Asia.

[1.3] (1:4) Dr C.J.Hemer's book 'The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia in their Local Setting' is crammed with information on the seven churches. In 'The Biblical Archaeologist Reader' IV there is an article by O.F.A. Meinardus, 'The Christian Remains of the Seven Churches of the Apocalypse', describing what he saw on his visit to the sites. B.A.R. II included articles on Ephesus and on Laodicea and its neighbours.

[1.4] (1:4) John Owen's great treatise 'Of Communion' takes up most of Volume 2 of his works (Banner of Truth Trust 1966). His theme - that the Christian believer has communion distinctly with each Person of the Sacred Trinity - might well have been based on these words.

[1.5] (1:4) Ogden in JSOT 53 at p 112 in an article entitled 'Idem per Idem'.

[1.6] (1:4) Bauckham (pp 110-115) sees the Old Testament background in Zechariah 4:1-14. The expression is often connected with Isaiah 11:2; but that verse is unwilling to yield seven rather than only six attributes of the Holy Spirit.

[1.7] (1:5) There is one place in the New Testament where the paid informer or 'delator' peers out at us between the lines. This is in Mark 15:10. Pilate no doubt had his agents who quickly told him what the Jewish Sanhedrin was up to!

[1.8] (1:5) An article ''Koinonia' and Baptist Ecclesiology' by N G Wright in The Baptist Quarterly Volume 35 No 8, October 1994, pages 363-373 makes several references to the implications of the doctrine of the Trinity for the fellowship of the church.

[1.9] (1:8) 'Omega' is of course the 'great O' as compared with 'omikron' the 'little O'. No one seems to seize on this as meaning that God will not merely be there at the end: He will be great at the end. Could this be what John intends here?

David Aune in The Word Biblical Commentary on Revelation (Word, Incorporated 1997, Dallas) provides in Volume 1 at page 100 a complete statement of the uses of ‘Ego Eimi’ in the New Testament. The words can be translated: - ‘I am - it’s me!’ He ventures to say that most uses are ‘of christological or theological interest’.

1. Of the 48 uses in the New Testament the following have no reference to God or Christ: -

a) Matthew 26:22 and 25 The disciples and Judas

b) Luke 1:19 Gabriel

c) Acts 10:21 Peter

d) Acts 22:3 and 26:29 Paul

e) John 9:9 The man born blind - The exceptional case in John’s gospel

In these cases, the words are no more than an emphatic ‘I’.

2. The use of the words by Jesus on Galilee was especially memorable (Matthew 14:27; Mark 6:50).

3. Also the use by Jesus when he was on trial was memorable (Mark 14:62; Luke 22:17).

4. See also Matthew 22:32; Luke 24:39; Acts 9:5; Acts 18:10; Acts 22:8.

5. There are two negative uses: -

a) In Matthew 24:5; Mark 13:6 and Luke 21:8

b) In John 1:20 and Acts 13:25

6. Then there are 24 uses in John’s gospel. 8 of them are ‘Absolute’, that is, without predicate. Of these, John 6:20 is parallel to 5(a) above.

7. In Revelation, the uses in 1:17, 2:23 and 22:16 are closely related by their contexts. There is some doubt as to the correct reading in 21:6.

For me, the use of ‘Ego Eimi’ here in 1:8 is confirmed because it makes up four names in the verse. See 19:11-16 and also 12:9 and 20:2.

This all begs the question of what Aramaic words Jesus might have used. Yet the view is gaining ground that Jesus would have spoken some Greek and perhaps Latin - learnt working at Sepphoris! - and Hebrew.

See also [1.17] below.

[1.10] (1:9) Iron ore has been mined on Patmos in modern times, but there seems to be no evidence of mining on Patmos in Roman times. Mining and quarrying destroy the very evidence on which archaeology depends, of course.

[1.11] (1:10) How we wish that we could be certain where John was standing! Presumably in verse 1 he is standing in the Holy Place in front of the curtain. He expects the curtain to be opened up so that he will see Jesus in the Holy of Holies. Instead, he turns round and sees that Jesus is already in the Holy Place, with the churches closer to the world than John is! For the candlesticks replace the Menorah which was in the Holy Place. The Epistle to the Hebrews may suggest that through the work of Christ, the heavenly reality answering to the Holy Place has been done away; but this thought need not be introduced here. The concept of the heavenly reality answering to the Tabernacle or Temple keeps cropping up in Revelation.

There is a tradition that Procorus (Acts 6:5) was with John on Patmos and wrote down Revelation for him; but this is of little value.

[1.13] (1:12) There is a famous representation of the seven branched candlestick carved on the Arch of Titus in Rome. The candlestick was among the loot taken by the Romans from Jerusalem when the city fell in AD 70. and it was paraded through the streets of Rome.

[1.14] (1:15) See Hemer, pp 111-117. The point is that the secret of distilling pure zinc may have been known to a trade guild in Thyatira, and later lost.

[1.15] (1:16) A coin of the Empress Domitia, consort of Domitian, shows her infant son as a 'god' sitting on a globe and stretching his hands out to seven stars. (See Hemer, pages 4 and 214) This is thus another picture of the conflict between the worship of the Emperor (and his family) and the Christian church.

[1.16] (1:17) This point is well made by Calvin in his commentary on Matthew 1:20.

[1.17] (1:17) See [1.10] above. 'Ego Eimi' in the New Testament should, I believe, be understood to assert that our Lord Jesus Christ is no less than Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament.

We have to assume of course that our Lord spoke Aramaic, and if we were to back-translate 'ego eimi' from Greek to Aramaic we could not be certain that we had the exact words of Jesus. However, we do know that the Greek version of the Old Testament, the Septuagint (or LXX) uses 'ego eimi' as an equivalent for I AM, the sacred Name of God. (See A T Lincoln, 'Trials, Plots and the Narrative of the Fourth Gospel' JSNT 56 pp 3-30, Pages 21 and 22). LXX uses 'ego eimi' in Isaiah 41:4; 43:10,25; 45:19; 46:4; 48:12 and 51:12. This is a part of the Old Testament that the New Testament writers knew and used. They knew that using these words to express what Christ had said was to make a clear confession that Jesus was the 'I AM', Jehovah; He is not just 'a god': He is God.

The publication of' 'I AM' in John's Gospel' by D M Ball (No.124 in the JSNT Supplement Series), Sheffield Academic Press, 1996 provides a full treatment of this whole question. It does not cover the other three Gospels, where the uses in Mark's Gospel are of great importance. The discussion of the work of Kundzins (pp 40-41) bears on Revelation. 'The real key to the understanding of the 'I AM' sayings...is to be found in the New Testament and particularly in the 'I AM' sayings of Revelation'.

D M Ball wrote using the current 'literary' approach, and he does make the valid point that in John's Gospel the 'I AM' sayings have a 'narrative audience' which can respond in some way to what Jesus says, the sayings in Revelation have no responsive audience.

[1.18] (1:18) See the lecture by F Kermode in JSNT 28. This is the only thing I have read which really helped me to understand the beginning of John's Gospel. The verb 'to be' is reserved for God. Everything else 'became'. That is until we reach verse 14 when 'The Word became flesh'. I have attempted to convey this in the commentary but it is another indication that the John of the Gospel and the John of Revelation are by the same person. There are other striking uses of ‘become’ in Chapter 16 and in other parts of the New Testament.

[2.1] (2:2) We do not know what these 'false apostles' taught or who they were. Paul writes about 'false apostles' in 2 Corinthians 11:1-15. These were most likely Jewish teachers but we think that this letter to Corinth was written about forty years earlier. The 'false apostles' of Ephesus may have been the same as the Nicolaitans of verse 6: again, we do not know.

[2.2] (2:8) Hemer inclines to the view that the Messages of Chapters 2 and 3 were written first. The titles of Jesus fit the cities. Smyrna was the city which had 'died' about 580 BC. and only came to life again in 290 BC. The titles of Jesus were then gathered together in Chapter 1.

[2.3] (2:10) 'Chained in Christ' by C S Wansink (JSNT Supplement Series 130) published by the Sheffield Academic Press, Sheffield in 1996 is of great value on the whole subject of prison in the New Testament period; although it is concerned mainly with attitudes to prison. Much of what is said about prisons derives from late legal sources and thus may not reflect the real state of affairs. There is no known archaeological evidence for prisons.

Because of the lack of source materials, Wansink only mentions in passing the sort of house custody, which Paul appears to have experienced in Rome. (Acts 28) This does not help other parts of his argument relating to Philippians and especially Philemon. There must have been a great variety in prison conditions in the Roman world. Also, since 'equality before the law' was not a Roman principle, the treatment accorded to a slave would be harsher by far than that given to a Roman citizen.

It is also helpful to observe that although prison sentences were not given by judges as punishments, people nevertheless sometimes languished in prison for long periods. Acts 24:26 shows one reason - hopes of bribes. The next verse indicates another - politics. Presumably Paul was a prisoner in Rome for two years waiting for his appeal to Caesar to be heard. And if you were in a prison, you were exposed to filth, disease, over-crowding, starvation and murder by other prisoners not to mention being fed to the wild beasts. Cattle were too expensive: prisoners were cheaper when there were public shows.

Such was the classical world of ancient Rome, which some people admire!

[2.4] (2:11) I am not sure! John may mean 'the second great event - Death!' and 'the first great event! - Resurrection'. We may be wrong to bring in 'the first death' and 'the second resurrection': he does not speak of these.

[2.5] (2:14) We can only guess that the false teachers said: - 'The Apostolic Decree was intended to regulate fellowship between Jewish Christians and other Christians. There are no Jews here, so it does not apply'. They were wrong, of course. And there was a double temptation. It may have been difficult to find food that was not 'priest-offered'. But anyone who refused such food would at once be suspected of being a Christian.

[2.6] (2:17) Hemer (pp 96-102) discusses seven main explanations of the white stone without reaching any conclusion. The word for stone (psephos) means a pebble, not a slab of stone, which should be 'lithos'. But I find his suggestion attractive because of the connection with the New Jerusalem.

[2.7] (2:20) 'Sexual immorality' here and in many other places in Revelation may mean nothing more than 'idolatry'. But the heathen feasts probably finished up with a good deal of sexual immorality. The two could not be separated.

[2.8] (2:22) The Greek simply says 'bed' or 'couch'. 'Sickbed' or 'bed of suffering' is perhaps a sensible interpretation of the Greek, but it brings in something that is not there. I think this is one of the many places in Revelation where the meaning would have been clear enough to John's readers. But our knowledge of what went on at the temple feasts is not sufficient for us to grasp the point.

[2.9] (2:23) John writes 'kidneys and hearts' but he means feelings and thoughts. Different peoples think of emotions and the intellect as located in different parts of the human body.

[2.10] (2:24) After all, by this time, the Acts of the Apostles itself could have been known in Asia. But in any case, Paul distributed copies of the Apostolic Decree to the churches in central Asia Minor, and copies could well have found their way to the 'Churches of Asia'.

[2.11] (2:25) It has been suggested that in a workaday town such as Thyatira, the imperial cult was less of a problem than in the other cities. This may well be so.

[3.1] (3:1) Such collapses of the upper city are known to have happened since and no doubt they had happened before. This would explain why late Bronze Age remains were found about 13 metres below the present ground level. There was no hope of digging the victims out alive after a collapse brought about by an earthquake.

[3.2] (3:1) The first mention of 'Lud' is in Genesis 10:13. The connection with 'Mizraim' (Egypt) fits into place. Lydia at one point was part of the Egyptian Empire. See also 1 Chronicles 1:17; Isaiah 66:19; Jeremiah 46:9; Ezekiel 27:10 and 30:5. One queen of Lydia, Omphale, is still remembered as well as the last king, Croesus.

[3.3] (3:5) The reference to the Jewish tax in Suetonius (The Twelve Caesars, Penguin Classics, London 1989; see page 308) is quite instructive. He wanted money and that was why the Jewish tax was collected rigorously. It is fairly obvious that there was confusion as to whether some people were Jews who were liable to the tax, or whether they were Christians, or whether they were Jews who were Christians.

The test of burning a pinch of incense as an act of worship to the Emperor may not have been used until a rather later date: but the famous letter of Pliny to Trajan from Bithynia suggests to me that it was already a routine test of loyalty at that time, perhaps about twenty years after the time of John.

[3.4] (3:7) Research at Philadelphia and excavation may yet reveal evidence of a Jewish presence in the city at this period, but Hemer could find nothing except a reference in an inscription 10 miles to the east to a Jewish Synagogue; even this is thought to be more than a century later.

[3.5] (3:7) Much as one respects Dr Hemer, I feel that his suggestion that the Christians rebuilt Philadelphia in the form of a square at a later period in order to conform to the reference in 21:16 is fanciful. Until more evidence is available perhaps from excavation, it seems safer to assume that the city already had this form when John knew it.

[3.6] (3:10) I have never been able to accept the 'Rapture' theory, because of the way Scripture was manipulated to wring it out! 'The Great Tribulation' may yet be future; but it could have been the Second World War, when so many millions of Jews perished - and not only Jews. The word ‘rapture’ is unhelpful. It is not scriptural and it draws attention away from the glory of Christ at His coming to our supposed experience.

[3.7] (3:14) Much of the stone from Laodicea has been taken to build the Turkish town of Denizli. There is more to see at Hierapolis, and that site has been studied much more than Laodicea. So we must be a little careful in what we say, as we may be proved wrong by future excavations and discoveries. However, it is noticeable that unlike the other six cities, Laodicea is not associated with any heathen 'god'. Hemer refers to the possible connection between the ancient shrine of Men Karon and the medical school at Laodicea, but if this was so it was not the dynamic link, which existed at Pergamum.

There is some information in a section on Laodicea by S E Johnson in The Biblical Archaeologist Reader 2, at pp 358-362; but this does not alter the impression that heathen worship in Laodicea lacked the vigour which it had elsewhere. Hence the more scientific approach to medicine at Laodicea. We probably have a secular society in Laodicea - as we have in the Book of Esther, where there is no mention of either Jewish or heathen religion. The same is true of Ecclesiastes It is likely that over the course of 350 years the Jewish community had prospered and largely lost its character. The Jews elsewhere said: 'The wines and baths of Phrygia have separated the ten tribes from Israel' - indicating at once the scale of Jewish settlement, the luxurious life style, and the loss of Jewishness. No Jewish names have been found on inscriptions at Laodicea.

[3.8] (3:18) 'We may think of the gold of Christ's righteousness imparted to us as believers'. (Lenski, p 159).

[3.9] (3:20) Some writers - Lenski included - think that this interpretation is too forced. We should also note that the word for 'door' also means 'gate', but I certainly feel that we should understand the door of a large house in the city here rather than one of the gates in the city wall

[4.1] (4:1) See Hurtado in JSNT 25 at p. 106. Jewish mystical writers imagined a series of stages by which they attained a 'vision' of heaven. The simplicity of John's access to heaven is very different.

[4.2] (4:2) It seems usual these days to think of a Throne Room as the setting of this vision. This had never occurred to me, and I notice that Lenski criticised it. I thought only of the expanse of infinity, of eternity - not empty, of course! - but filled with God's glory and His hosts.

[4.3] (4:3) In Exodus 28:15, Moses is told by God to make a breastplate for the High Priest. 12 precious stones were mounted in this (verse 17). It is not possible for us to identify the twelve stones. The exact meaning of the Hebrew words is not known, but it has been supposed that the two stones in the first part of verse 3 are the first and last of the twelve. The whole subject, including the twelve precious stones of Revelation 21:19-20 is obscure, and debate about it is not helpful.

[4.4] (4:5). This seems most likely, but see 1 Chronicles 24:4. Rosenthal (pp 251-253) argues at some length the view that 1 Chronicles 24 provides the background to the twenty-four elders. Or is this the heavenly 'Sanhedrin'? Or is it a picture of God's council? Is there something drawn from the court of a Roman governor or Caesar?

[4.5] (4:7) At this point we should say something about the twelve signs of the Zodiac. They are very ancient and John would have seen them in the temples of the cities quite often. They may have been part of the decoration of synagogues, too

Now three of the four 'living beings' represent cardinal points of the Zodiac. The Lion = Leo; the Ox = Taurus; the Man = Aquarius. But the Eagle takes the place of the far less noble Scorpion. And the sequence of the signs is the reverse of the order of the Zodiac. It is said that the twelve precious stones in 21:19-20 are the gem equivalents of the signs of the Zodiac, but again the order is reversed.

John seems to be saying: 'The Zodiac is associated with astrology and false religion. God will turn it upside down'.

Some writers attempt to interpret Revelation using the signs of the Zodiac. For example, we can see Sagittarius in 6:2. Libra can be seen in verse 5. So is Scorpio in verses 3 and 4? The two witnesses in 11:3-12 might represent Gemini. The Woman of 12:1 might be Virgo. The Dragon in 12:7 might be Scorpio, and the Beast from the Sea (13:1) might be Cancer, the Crab. There may be other references.

I take the view that it is wrong to impose the pattern of the Zodiac on Revelation and to use it as a tool to interpret the Word of God, as some have done.

[4.6] (4:8) Isaiah says: - 'With two wings they covered their feet' but this is a polite Jewish way of saying that in modesty, they covered their bottoms!

[4.7] (4:8). It may help some people to understand 'Holy Holy Holy' if we remember that in the Tabernacle and later in the Jewish Temple, there was a Holy Place and beyond that a Most Holy Place. Perhaps through the Holy Place Isaiah could glimpse the Curtain in front of the Most Holy Place. But he could not see into it, because it was so holy. But the real holiness of God was far beyond this: and the Lord was 'High and lifted up'.

Hebrew often repeated a word by way of emphasis. A well-loved example is Isaiah 26:3 'Peace, peace', that is, 'perfect peace'. Notice that in the Gospels our Lord often repeats the name of someone he is speaking to.

It is unusual in the Old Testament to find a word used three times like this. In Ezekiel 21:27, 'A ruin, ruin, ruin' means 'an utter and complete ruin'. See Jeremiah 7:4 and 22:29.

[4.8] (4:11) The title 'Our Lord and God' was not used in the Old Testament, but the Roman Emperor Domitian insisted that everyone addressed him in this way. Christians could not call any mere man, even Caesar, by this title. We do not know, however, whether Christians had been speaking of God like this for some years and were then offended by Domitian's blasphemous use of it, or whether John knew Domitian used it and then claimed the title for the living God.

[5.1] (5:1) The word 'scroll' in Chapter 5 is simply the word for 'book'. However it is generally thought that the 'codex' or book as we know it came into use after the time of John; it was useful to the church because a codex could contain the whole of the New Testament whereas the longest scroll could not. An article by E.Randolph Richards in Bulletin for Biblical Research 8, 1998 at p.151 suggests that Paul sent scrolls of his letters but kept copies in codex form. The whole issue is still open.

'Writing on both sides' also suggests a scroll, while the one open edge of a scroll could be sealed more readily than the page edges of a book. See, however, an article by Bezalel Porten in Biblical Archaeology Review, May/June 1995 (Volume 21 number 3). At pages 64 and 65 there is a discussion of a marriage contract dating from 449 BC and from Yeb (Elephantine) at the southern boundary of Egypt in ancient times. Papyrus documents relating to a Jewish military colony and a Jewish temple of the same dimensions as the Jerusalem temple have been discovered there.

Porten explains that legal documents were rolled up and then flattened. This would leave a title at the foot of the back page, so that the document could be identified. Then the two ends were folded in so that the flattened roll was reduced to one third of its length. It was then fastened with a lump of clay and a seal was impressed in this before the clay was hard.

The scroll of Revelation 5 and 6 could well be like this. Elephantine was at the edge of the known world, and the Jews had been there many years, so that their way of doing things would if anything be old fashioned, even about 500 years before the Revelation was written. However, legal people are conservative in such matters and there were close links between Egypt and Asia.

If this view is correct, it makes it much easier to understand how seven seals could be applied. It becomes clear that the document's text was written on the inside, possibly continuing on the back (or 'verso') but with the title written on the back.

Lenski's suggestion that the scroll was in its case, and that this carried the seals does not seem to me to accord with the writing on both sides. It should also be noticed that the Greek does not speak of God's right hand, only of God's right, which could mean perhaps God's right side.

[5.2] (5:1). G.R. Beasley-Murray's discussion of various views (pp. 120-123) is useful. Webb Mealy's suggestion that it was a Certificate of Debenture setting out man's indebtedness to God suits the context of 5:9 well, but does not fit his expository principles! J M Court (p 21) in his reference to 'the sealed book of prophecy' takes far too much for granted.

[5.3] (5:6) Some authors think that the picture is of the Passover Lamb. (See 1 Corinthians 5:7).

[5.4] (5:9) We should be a little careful about the meaning of 'tribe' here and elsewhere in Revelation. John, of course, knew all about the Twelve Tribes of Israel. His travels may have brought him in touch with the 'tribes' who lived around the edges of the Roman Empire; some of them were enslaved and brought to the cities. But the population living in the cities was also divided up into 'tribes'. There were six or seven at Ephesus.

[5.5] (5:10). An article by T Seland in JSNT 57 (1995) pp 87-119 contains a discussion of the priesthood of believers (based in 1 Peter 2:5 and 9). The approach is oblique, but there is a consideration of the three possible views: - either

a) that the Church is a 'corporation' of priests - the priesthood belongs to the body not to the individual: or

b) that each individual member is a priest: or

c) that there is an exercise of priestly functions.

[5.6] (5:10) These simple words are really at the heart of all the disagreements about the Book of Revelation. Christians will not reign as kings without Christ. We read in Luke 1:32 that the Lord God will give to Jesus 'the throne of His father David'. Is that throne in heaven or on earth? And do those who are redeemed reign from heaven over the earth, or are they on earth with Christ?

God will fulfil His word in His Own way. We can afford to wait and see. 'Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind'. But none of these things are worth an angry word, a bitter feeling, or a separation from a brother in Christ.

Another part of this question, which again is not worth an angry word, is the issue of the future of the Jewish people. A godly writer like Lenski could say firmly not a hundred years ago that the Jewish people would never again have a national state in Palestine. He has been proved wrong. The meaning of Romans 11:26 is much debated. Does it mean that when the full number of the Gentiles have come in - into the experience of salvation - then in this way, all Israel will have been saved; or does it mean that once the full number of the Gentiles has come in, then the whole nation of Israel will come to a real knowledge of salvation in Christ? - 'all Israel will be saved'. The latter view seems to me to be a broader view of the glory of God's grace in Christ.

[6.1] (6:1) It is also possible to think of 8:2-5 as a 'bridge' from the seven seals to the seven trumpets. The 'formula of catastrophe' in 8:5 compares with Matthew 24: 29. It also comes with the seventh 'bowl' in 16:17. However, at the end of the seven trumpets, it comes in 11:19. That verse is something of a 'bridge' again between the trumpets and the 'signs'. Some writers place it with Chapter 12 rather than Chapter 11.

It may be that if there are seven 'signs' from 12:1 on, then the last of these is introduced in 15:1. In that case, part of Chapter 15 - perhaps verses 5 - 8 - form the 'bridge' to the seven bowls in Chapter 16.

History repeats itself. It is John's grasp of this that makes him a prophet, like Isaiah. We can learn from the past. But perhaps this shape is emerging from the book: -

Chapter 1 Introduction

Chapters 2 and 3 The City of God - its beginning

Chapters 4 - 16 The Cycle of History: Good and evil mature alongside each other.

Chapters 17-18 The City of this world - its ending

Chapters 19-20 Christ's coming to judgment

Chapters 21-22:17 The City of God - its perfection

Chapter 22:18-21 Postscript

God's purposes are not trapped in a 'cycle of history'. At His own time, God will break out of it. But if we see the central section of the book like this, we shall understand if we sometimes can see a connection (for example between the sixth trumpet and the sixth bowl); but sometimes we see no connection (for example between the fourth seal, the fourth trumpet, the fourth bowl and (perhaps) the fourth sign.

[6.2] (6:1) The word used could mean either 'Come' or 'Go'. So we cannot be sure whether the horseman is told to go from heaven to earth or from one place on earth to another. Perhaps Zechariah 6:1-8 suggests how we should understand this. The events of the seven seals are not what is written in the scroll, of course.

Although we mention the identity of the living beings, there seems to be no connection between their character and what happens as the seals are broken.

Two other views regarding the rider on the white horse should be mentioned. Court ('Revelation' p. 31) suggests Mithraism, which was spread by both the Parthian and Roman armies.

Rosenthal ('Pre-Wrath Rapture' p. 142) says that most advocates of the 'Rapture' theory take the rider on the white horse to be the Antichrist. In fact the only places Antichrist is named are in John's Epistles, where he is already at work.

[6.3] (6:9) It has been suggested that this was the incense altar, which was the place of prayer. This seems weak to me. The thought of sacrifice is uppermost here. See also 8:3.

[6.4] (6:12) Passages like this have been called ' the formula of catastrophe'. See 11:19 and 16:17 and 18.

[6.5] (6:12) If we are looking for an explanation, it may be found in an eclipse of the sun or moon. Such events, although natural and predictable, do fill some people with alarm. The only 'natural' explanation of the stars falling would be a shower of meteorites.

John is, no doubt, simply bringing together things he has seen himself at various times. If we look for symbols, then no doubt sun, moon and stars represent powerful men whose power comes to an end, giving rise to the anxiety of verses 15-17.

[7.1] (7:1) In JSNT 19 at p. 133 there is an article by J A Draper on the Jewish background of this chapter, and especially the Feast of Tabernacles and Zechariah 14. I suspect that the Jewish background of such passages rapidly faded from the mind of Christians, especially those with a Gentile background. The article is detailed and very interesting, but I am not convinced that we are right to read it into this chapter.

[7.2] (7:1) It has been suggested on the basis of Zechariah 6:5 that the four winds are the same as the four horsemen of 6:1-8. If so, our understanding is helped because the destructive forces are held back for the time being.

[7.3] (7:2) It does not seem to be usual to notice in the reference to 'dawn' here a reference to our Lord Jesus Christ. But see Luke 1:78. In Old Testament prophecies, the ideas of Christ as the Branch and the Dawn come together. So we have Revelation 22:16.

[7.4] (7:5) It is possible on the basis of 21:13 to lay down the names of the twelve tribes so that the 'Rachel' and 'Leah' tribes come top and bottom, with the 'handmaid' tribes right and left. The order of the tribes here gives rise to much debate. An article by C R Smith in JSNT 39 at p.111 seemed too imaginative. A reply by R Bauckham in JSNT 42 at p 99 discusses other Jewish listings. He sees the 144,000 as the Messianic Army and Revelation as a 'Christian War Scroll': but this of course derives from Jewish apocalyptic; not from the reading of Revelation.

The peculiarity of the list is that Dan is not mentioned, perhaps because it was the tribe of Antichrist in tradition. Including Manasseh makes up the number. Yet Ephraim, the other half-tribe of Joseph gets no mention. Joseph does. (See perhaps Numbers 1:32.) The number is, of course, 12x12x10x10x10. Ten cubed represents perfection. 12 squared perhaps represents completeness.

[7.5] (7:5) The picture in these verses is of final blessedness as a state, by contrast perhaps with the picture of the army of the Lamb that has gone before. Webb Mealy is wrong in trying to present it as the event of the Parousia, the Second Coming of Christ. (p216 seq).

[7.6] (7:14 I cannot bring myself to accept the view that the 'Great Tribulation' is only a single three and a half year period which is still to come before the second coming of Christ. What right have I to say to a Christian from Rwanda: - 'No, what happened to you was not the Great Tribulation'? This is only one example. There are countless others both in our own time and in the 2000 year history of the Church.

[7.7] (7:17) Based on R C H Lenski

[7.8] (7:17) Based on Richard Sibbes on Isaiah 25:18.

[8.1] (8:1) The beginning of verse 1 may be translated 'and whenever'. The same is true in 20:7. If this is the meaning, then John is certainly speaking of history in which the same events keep coming round. It seems however, that by this period the Greek word had lost this precise meaning. The same applies in 11:7 and elsewhere. See D.E.Aune on Revelation in the Word Biblical Commentary series, Volume 2 p. 483, notes on 8:1.

[8.2] (8:1) This line of explanation is suggested by Dr John Gill in his commentary on this verse, and it seems more helpful to me than most of what is written.

[8.3] (8:10) The claim that images had fallen from the sky was made for many false gods.

[8.4] (8:11) It is said that 'Chernobyl' means 'wormwood'. If so, these verses are prophetic of the great nuclear catastrophe in Russia that has left great areas of the Ukraine and Russia unfit for living in. And the wrecked power station remains a threat. John clearly connected the goddess 'Artemis' with the bitter wormwood, 'artemisia'.

[8.5] (8:13) Eagles in scripture may in fact sometimes be vultures - rather less noble. See 19:17-21.

[9.1] (9:11) The grasshopper, which is rather like a locust, was connected with Apollo.

[9.2] (9:14) The 'Annals' of Tacitus give an account of Roman intrigues, aggression and failures in Armenia from AD 16 to AD 62. The Parthians had defeated the Romans south of Edessa in 53 BC. In 40-37 BC the Parthians had overrun Syria and Asia Minor, reaching Jerusalem. Some maps in Bibles show Mesopotamia as a Roman province. In fact it was mostly held by the Parthians. Ctesiphon on the Tigris was their main city although they came from an area of Persia much further northeast. In AD 115 the Roman Emperor Trajan took control of Mesopotamia and reached the Persian Gulf: but a year or two later Hadrian abandoned this area after Trajan's death.

In the Roman period, sea-borne trade with India was carried on from Red Sea ports. This may be one of the factors that reduced the importance of Mesopotamia at this period. Babylon had grown rich on the Indian trade when it was a great river port on the Euphrates.

The first mention of the Euphrates in the Bible is in Genesis 2:14. Sometimes it is just called 'the Great River' or even 'the River'. The name is cognate with 'Ephraim'.

The Parthians do not seem to have persecuted Christians; the Romans did. The fact that there were many Christians living happily in the Parthian Empire may have made the Romans suspect the loyalty of Christians living on their side of the border.

[9.3] (9:16) 'John heard'. Where? Did he hear wild talk in the market about the Parthians - perhaps by people who had no love for the Romans? And did he visit the temple down the road to see paintings like his description in verses 17-19? Such heathen art is often, of course, drug-inspired.

[9.4] (9:17) It is said that twenty million people died in the last world war. This is only a tenth of the size of John's army in these verses!

[9.5] (9:21) The word John uses is a word which means 'filthiness'. Whether it means various sexual sins, or whether it means just 'fornication', that is, a man having sexual relations with an unmarried woman, is a matter of argument.

[10.1] (10:2) John was not far away from Rhodes, so we remember that the Colossus of Rhodes may have been in his mind. It was one of the 'Seven Wonders of the Ancient World', which was built between 304 and 284BC. An earthquake brought it down in 225 BC and it was not erected again. In 656AD the bronze pieces were taken away in 900 camel loads! It was a lighthouse and was about 30 meters tall.

[10.2] (10:4) Some writers think that the little scroll is a message of judgment on the church. Some think that the seven thunders spoke of judgments, which would affect half the world. The seals affected a quarter, the trumpets affected a third. Now we cannot be secure in such guesses. And I would like to think that the line of overall interpretation I follow makes good sense of many details. Bauckham thinks that the 'little Scroll' is the same as the scroll with the seven seals. These have now all been broken, of course. But a different word is used.

[10.3] (10:6) This word is most often translated 'delay' now. D.E.Aune (volume 2 p. 568) seems to hesitate! But there are great differences of opinion about it. See R C H Lenski for the view that the meaning is: 'there will be no more time' - only a timeless eternity. We sing cheerfully enough: -

'When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more'

That is Lenski's view. Time is part of God's creation.

G E Ladd takes the opposite view that the idea of a 'timeless eternity' is not a Biblical idea at all. It has been imported from Greek philosophy. So eternity is only infinite stretches of time.

[10.4] (10:7) John says here as elsewhere 'the days whenever the seventh angel is about to sound'. If someone could prove that John does mean 'whenever' not just 'when' it would alter our understanding of the book!

[11.1] (11:2) Some people think the idea is of protection (Zechariah 2:5). J M Court thinks Chapter 11 represents the contents of the 'little scroll' and that verses 1-2 refer to the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans.

[11.2] (11:6) Dew is very important in Palestine especially at times of the year when there is no rain. See Hosea 13:13 for example. It is mentioned in the story of Elijah but not here in Revelation.

[11.3] (11:3) A few translators and commentators do well to avoid bringing in the idea of 'power'. See for example H W Cassirer: -

'Still, I shall assign a task to my two witnesses and they will prophesy'....

The R.E.B. is less good than N.E.B, which reads: -

'And I have two witnesses whom I will appoint to prophesy‘...

R C H Lenski translates simply 'And I will give to My two witnesses'.... and does not comment on the point.

[11.4] (11: 6) I suspect that there are also two lamp stands in verse 4 because the lamp stands of the other five churches have been removed, leaving only Smyrna and Philadelphia. Zechariah (4:2) saw only one lamp stand with seven branches (like the 'menorah' in the Holy Place of the Temple). Since each branch had seven wicks, there were 49 wicks - suggestive of the Year of Jubilee.

The two witnesses also suggest Peter and Paul, martyred in the 'great city' of Rome about 30 years before Revelation was written. See J M Court, p 40.

[11.5] (11:7) See note [8.1]. Here again John uses the word that strictly means 'whenever'.

[11.6] (11:13) It is strange that some Roman historians record this earthquake, and yet do not mention the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79, when two whole towns were destroyed. The loss of life must have been far greater, although some people were able to escape. Perhaps people who were not citizens did not matter!

[11.7] (11:14) If I have understood what is meant by 'deconstruction' in literary criticism, then these are examples of it.

[12.1] (12:1) So Paul Barnett in JSNT 35 (1989) at pages 111-120. This is an excellent article, all too brief.

[12.2] (12:1) For example, Richard Bauckham (p 89) who says: - '.. the Woman is not only Eve but also Zion....'

[12.3] (12:9) J V Hills in JSNT 46 at pp 25-40 (1992) proposes that Luke 10:18 should be translated: 'They - (the demons) - saw Satan fall...' This makes good sense of the verse in its context, if the argument regarding the translation can be sustained.

[12.4] (12:10) Hemer (p 87) suggests that the use of the word 'salvation' may be in pointed contrast with the imperial salvation and its official liturgy'.

[12.5] (12:11) The places where the same Greek word for 'overcome' or conquer is found include Romans 8:37; John 16:33; 1 John 4:4 and 5:4. Also in Revelation 5:5; 6:2 and 17:14.

[13.1] (13:3) Another view is that the 'death blow' was the murder of Julius Caesar: but this was many years before, and I rather doubt whether it would play a part in the thinking of a Jew from the East - although Julius Caesar was a good friend to the Jews.

[13.2] (13:8) I recognise the force of the argument that 'the Lamb slain' should be taken with 'from the foundation of the world'. The comparison with 17:8 is not conclusive in favour of taking 'written in the book of life 'with’ from the foundation of the world'.

I must admit that I am nervous of the theological consequences of taking the verse to mean 'the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world'. It is an invitation to the concept of eternal redemption, which in turn tends to deny the reality of Christ's sufferings on Calvary. And I see this as an essential component of Hyper-Calvinism (as distinct from High Calvinism).

[13.4] (13:14) Bauckham describes the second beast as 'the propaganda machine of the imperial cult'. Coins were used to convey the message. So was the pomp of the Roman governor's court. And the Augustan Latin poets too would be used. Paul Barnet describes this beast as 'the high priest of the Roman cult in Asia'. Bauckham again says that it is not simply because Rome persecutes Christians that Christians must oppose Rome...rather it is because Christians must dissociate themselves from the evil of the Roman system that they are likely to suffer...

The correspondence of Pliny is available inter alia in 'A New Eusebius' (edited by J Stevenson, S.P.C.K London 1957); see pages 13-16. The rescript of Hadrian about 10 years later (pp 16-17) appears to be rather more favourable to the Christians.

It is clear from Pliny's letter that the Christians in Bithynia had not been persecuted. We should remember that the churches did enjoy interludes of peace between persecutions. There were local outbreaks of persecution. And there was always the danger of persecution breaking out. But it did not go on all the time everywhere. And by the time of the great persecutions around 300 AD. the churches were less pure and some bishops had power and political ambitions. This stirred up persecution.

[13.5] (13:18) This was short for something like: 'Autokrator Kaisar Dometianos Sebaste Gentium'.

[13.6] (13.18) Other explanations, especially the one which finds 'Nero' in a rather similar way, seem far-fetched. I came across this solution in 'In Strangest Europe' by P Ratazzi.

[14.1] (14:2) The fact that John mentions harps or guitars or 'zither players zithering on their zithers' (Lenski) suggests that such instruments were used in worship in churches like Ephesus in the first century.

[14.2] (14:6) See Hemer, p 87.

[14.3] (14:8) The repetition of 'fallen' is intensive in meaning, and is of course a Hebrew way of expression.

[14.4] (14:8) Or even what is now Cairo in Egypt, where there was another 'Babylon'.

[14.5] (14:8) This interpretation is followed by R.E.B and is rather attractive.

[14.6] (14:12) Of all the verses in Revelation which talk about our obedience (6:9; 12:ll; 12:17; 20:4 are the others) this is the only one which does not speak of the word of God. Here, there is only faithfulness with no spoken witness.

[15.1] (15:2) This is Beasley Murray's title for this chapter and it seems absolutely right.

[15.2] (15:4) I am never happy about the emphasis on 'hagios' as meaning basically 'separate'. As the word applies to the Christian, this sense is too narrow: but it is, I think, the consensus.

[15.3] (15:6) There is a various reading for 'linen' at this point. Some manuscripts read 'stone', which commands respect just because of its difficulty. It could just be that there is some thought of the priestly character of these angels. The purpose of the priest and temple is to achieve two way traffic between heaven and earth. But now these priestly angels come out of heaven, but no one can go in.

[15.4] (15:8) The smoke in the verses in Exodus and 1 Kings masks the divine approval at the dedication of the Tabernacle and the Temple. Isaiah 6:4 is not a new beginning in quite that sense, of course. But we may feel that this verse is not merely negative in meaning. It may convey the meaning that God has a new beginning, which He is making.

[16.1] (16:1) See, for example, Beasley Murray pp. 238-239.

[16.2] (16:2) Lenski notes this and sees it as diagnostic of the structure of the chapter.

[16.3] (16:12) It is by no means certain that there is any truth in this story. But of course there might have been irrigation works near completion when Cyrus arrived - works such as the Jews had been forced to work on (Psalm 137). If so, they might fairly quickly have been adapted to Cyrus's purpose. And if there is any truth in this story, we need not think that more than one or two of the channels or canals through Babylon were diverted. But of course the truth or otherwise of this story in no way affects what John is saying.

[16.4] (16:13) Lenski's 'loathsome breaths' is about right: as is his comment:- 'the modern nightingales who announce the new springtime of mankind - humanity etc'.

[16.5] (16:15) Dr Gill on this passage quotes an interesting Jewish tradition. It need not be true of course! But it is said that if the Governor of the Temple on his rounds at night found a Levite asleep when he was on watch, then the Levites clothes were burnt. He had the humiliation of going from the Temple to his home naked in the morning. It sounds like a Jewish yarn, but it illustrates the point. Hemer quite rightly points out that there is an allusion to the history of Sardis in these words. Twice the men on watch had failed and the city fell. Sardis may be in mind in 16:19 as Hemer thinks. The note (p.260) on 16:12 is not quite clear. But 'the way for the kings' is in a setting where Sardis is in mind.

[16.6] (16:16) So Beasley Murray.

[16.7] (16:18) It is now possible to use instruments to measure and compare earthquakes using the Richter Scale; but this does not tell us anything about earthquakes in the past. However, it is claimed that tree ring dating - dendrochronology - enables us to date exactly certain huge volcanic explosions. These were so big that they cast a blanket of dust over great areas of the world. This can be detected in the damage to or poor growth of the Irish bog oaks and American bristle cones, as well as in ancient Chinese records and in Greenland Ice Cores. These events are as follows; the most recent is given first:-

About 540 AD - European records including perhaps the Anglo Saxon Chronicle - mention this.

About 208 BC - This may have been the volcano Laki in Iceland. The effect can be traced in tree-rings in North America and Ireland; cold and famine seem to have reduced the population of China by half at this time.

In 1159 BC. there was one of the greatest of the disasters, probably the third great eruption of Hekla in Iceland. For twenty years, tree rings were badly affected in Iceland. Volcanic dust has been found in northern Scotland. The dust cloud seems to have affected China badly, and could account for the end of the Mycenean civilization and the fall of Troy in the Aegean. Perhaps the Earlier Bronze Age ended at this point. (Israel under Joshua entered Canaan about 1156 BC - see below).

In 1628 BC, Thera or Santorini in the Aegean blew up. The output of this explosion is put at 30-50 cubic kilometres. This shows up in North America and Ireland. It may have been the end of the 'Minoan' civilization in the Aegean. And it must have had an impact on Egypt and the Middle East and Africa. I have suggested that this event can be used to date the story of Joseph and the famine in Egypt in the Book of Genesis.

3195 BC. This could be the year of Noah's flood! The 'fountains of the great deep were broken up'. In other words the floor of the Indian Ocean was disturbed by earth movements, perhaps caused by the explosion. Tidal waves from the Indian Ocean swept up the Persian Gulf and through Mesopotamia. Rain was not the main cause. The same great movement would have swept up the Red Sea, on into the Gulf of Akabah and through the Rift Valley to Galilee; and up the Gulf of Suez to the Bitter Lakes or 'Sea of Reeds.'

4375 BC.

5289 BC. Perhaps Mt Mozama, or Crater Lake, Oregon. The Irish bog oak sequence begins at this point. Does this give a date for Genesis 2?

These findings remain controversial. (See Mike Baillie in Current Archaeology 117 page 310 and his book ‘A slice through time‘.) But of course these very large volcanic explosions - many times greater than the explosion of Krakatoa in 1883, which affected growth rings in North America the following year! - would be accompanied by violent earth tremors.

The interval since the last of these events in about 540 AD is an unusually long one and the governments of the world ought to be preparing - like Joseph! - for the next one.

[16.8] (16:19) The Cup of Wrath. Some Old Testament references are Isaiah 51:17; Jeremiah 25:15-17 and 27-29; Jeremiah 51:7. But as Christians we cannot think of the 'Cup' without thinking of the Cup from which our Lord drank at the Last Supper - the Cup which brings together the thoughts of His blood, of the New Covenant and the Kingdom (1 Corinthians 10:16). The Cup turns from a Cup of Wrath to a Cup of Blessing.

[16.9] (16:20,21) The overall structure of Genesis 1 is clear enough:-

Verses 1 and 2 Introduction Day

“ 3-5 A1 Light; separation ;day and night 1

“ 6-8 B1 Water; separation; above, below.(horizontal) 2

“ 9-13 B2 Water ;separation; land, sea (vertical) 3

“ 14-19 A2 Light; separation; sun, moon and stars 4

“ 20-23 C1 Life in air and sea 5

“ 24-31 C2 Life on land 6

Chapter 2:1 Summary

2:2,3 God's rest makes the Sabbath. God's rest is creative! 7

Here in Genesis we have the familiar 4+2+1 pattern, which we find in Revelation. But the Seven bowls are different. They are 3+3+1.

A quick look suggests however, that the seven bowls are the seven days of creation in reverse order.

First bowl ugly, filthy, sores on man. Sixth day man made in God's image!

Second bowl death in the sea Fifth day life in the sea

Third bowl rivers became blood

Fourth bowl scorching sun Fourth day the sun separated for the day

Fifth bowl the beast's throne Third day -

Sixth bowl Euphrates dried up Second day water separated

Seventh bowl the air: cataclysm First day separation of dark and light-

bringing order.

This is by no means a perfect scheme. What is needed is a comparison of the Greek LXX of Genesis 1. with the text of Revelation 16 to see whether there are any verbal connections to confirm my suspicions.