Thoughts on Revelation
APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE
Thoughts on Revelation
APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE
Remarks on the nature of apocalyptic literature
1. It is important to remember that the Book of Revelation is prophetic even while it is apocalyptic (1:3 and 22:7-10) which means that one does not exclude the other. But the apocalyptic style of literature is distinctive. You know it when you read it. It has a lot in common with other forms of prophetic literature and parables and it depends on the reader knowing something about Biblical history and what is going on in their world. In this way it is like other Biblical writings. Just the same, while it does connect with other styles of writing, it is distinctive. You can go through the Bible and, most of the time, pick out the sections that are apocalyptic in nature.
2. Whatever else is true, apocalyptic literature is not plain prose. Read Daniel chapter 3 and then read chapter 7. You do not have to be an Einstein to note the difference. In one case the writer tells us what literally happened and he tells it without the use of bizarre images. In the other the writer tells us of events or persons of the past, present and future and uses speech he does not want us to take literally. (Note the lion with eagle’s wings and the leopard with four heads as illustrating the point.)
3. In apocalyptic literature, God is always revealed as Sovereign and in control even in the face of entrenched evil and abusive governments. See Revelation 1:4; 4:11; 6:10 and see Daniel chapter 4.
4. In apocalyptic literature a writer may use extraordinary people from the past to describe the present or the future. (Examples would include Israel’s wilderness experience and Elijah and Elisha as “the two witnesses.”)
5. In apocalyptic literature a writer uses categories of uncreation and renewal (new creation) to make his points. Genesis 1 speaks of sun, moon and stars having their place in heaven and behaving in an orderly fashion, but in apocalyptic literature heavens are rolled up, stars fall and immovable mountains tumble into the seas.
6. In apocalyptic literature writers reveal states of affairs or the inner character of something or they explain the working of ordinary events in terms of their spiritual meaning. And they normally do this by using imagery. (For example: the Roman Empire is pictured as the great Prostitute and the “earth beast” is a lamb with a dragon’s voice.)
7. In apocalyptic literature a writer may use past events as models to describe coming judgment or blessing. (One illustration of this from among many would be the plagues of Egypt as they are used in Revelation.)
8. In apocalyptic literature human sin is linked with the original rebellion against God. As in Genesis we find God “uncreating” (see Noah’s flood and the waters coming back up over the earth to create a deep as in Genesis 1:1), so in apocalyptic judgments local rebellions result in uncreation. Isaiah 34 and the judgment on Edom illustrate the point, so also Revelation 6 and the judgment there.
9. In apocalyptic literature sin is shown to have cosmic effects and not just personal. We tend to think that sin only affects us personally but in this kind of literature we are taught that it tears down the heavens and pollutes the entire world (compare Genesis 3:17-19 and Colossians 1:19- 20). As described in images, oceans are turned to dead man’s blood, skies are rolled up and the planet is torn apart.
10. In apocalyptic literature numbers and colors are also used to convey truths. Some of the more obvious numbers are 7, 12 and 1,000. Illustrations are everywhere.
11. In apocalyptic literature everything has an angel. Winds, rivers, books and congregations have angels. In such cases the angels stand for “the inner nature or function” of the thing itself. The angel is “the spirit of” the thing. For example, when Christ speaks to the “angel of the church” He is speaking to the church as it really is rather than how it looks externally.
12. The notion that apocalyptic language was chosen so that the enemies could not understand it does not make a lot of sense. Often the writer explains what he has said under an image. Often the writer explains the vision he has just given. Sometimes the writer himself does not understand the vision or the image. Besides, it would not be difficult for an enemy to torture a believer and make him or her reveal the meaning.
Whatever else is true, apocalyptic language sticks in the memory. Think of the images in the parables as examples.
Whatever else is true, an image can make an abstract truth concrete. For example, to say a kingdom is savage and ruthless is one thing and to describe it in an image as a devouring beast makes the description come alive.
Whatever else is true, the images correspond to the underlying truth. For example a “lamb” suggests one thing and a lamb that speaks like a dragon suggests something else (see Revelation 13:11).
13. The Book of Revelation is not only written in apocalyptic style, it is an apocalypse. That is, it is an “unveiling, a disclosing or a revealing.” And we are supposed to take to heart what is written in it if we are to be blessed by God (1:3 and 22:7). The readers are called to “keep the words of the prophecy of this book.” So the book is not a conundrum or a puzzle to be solved. It is truth that readers are to give their hearts to.
The Authors of the Book of Revelation
1. The apostle John (Revelation 1:4 and 11). John is the merely human by which the Book of Revelation came to us. He received it when he was on the island of Patmos on the Lord’s Day (1:9). John describes himself in several ways in the introduction. (a) He is the bondservant of Jesus Christ in 1:1. (b) He is a witness to what he saw and heard of God’s Word in 1:2. (c) He is a brother in Christ in 1:9. (d) He is a fellow-sufferer in 1:9. (e) He is a brother in the kingdom of Christ in 1:9. (f) He is a brother in the patience that is in Christ in 1:9. (g) He is the one who was on Patmos for the Word of God in 1:9.
2. God, the Father (Revelation 1:1. As in every other book in the Bible, the central character in the Book of Revelation is God and in Revelation 1:1 we should take it as God the Father since we are told that He gave the revelation to Jesus Christ. At various points in the book God is revealed as the Sovereign over all (1:8).
3. The Holy Spirit (Revelation 1:4, 10; 4:2 and 21:10). The entire Bible reminds us that when men wrote Scripture they wrote as the Spirit moved them. We hear this in places like 1 Peter 1:11-12; 2 Peter 1:21 and 1 Corinthians 2:13. In Revelation we are told and then reminded repeatedly that John received his message and visions while “in the Spirit.”
4. Jesus Christ (Revelation 1:1; 5:5 and 22:16). The Father gives it to the Son who shows it to His servants who receive it “in the Spirit.” In Revelation the triune God is always the Revealer, but it is done through angels (1:2 and 22:6-9 would make this point). Whatever else this does, it stresses the exalted nature of the triune God that can use exalted spirit beings to do its bidding.
Christ is described in numerous ways in the introduction (1:1-20):
He is the faithful witness in 1:5
He is the firstborn from the dead in 1:5
He is the ruler of the kings of the earth in 1:5
He is the one who loves us in 1:5
He loosed us from our sins in 1:5
He is the one who made us a kingdom and priests in 1:6
He is the coming one in 1:7
He is the high-priestly judge and Son of Man in 1:13-17
He is the Alpha and the Omega in 1:18
He is the Lord over death and hades in 1:19
He is Lord over the churches in 1:20
