Revelation 11:1-14 Explanatory Notes

Continuing the journey. I did a video on this chapter 6 years ago. 
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11:1 And was given to me a measuring rod like a staff, saying, "Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those worshiping at it. 2 And the court outside the temple cast outside and do not measure it because it was given to the Gentiles. And they will trample the holy city forty-two months.

1. We now arrive at the most contested passage in the book of Revelation we have seen so far. How should we take this temple? Is it 1) the pre-70 AD temple, 2) a rebuilt end times temple, or 3) a symbolic temple, perhaps representing something like the church? Or perhaps it's some combination of these.

To properly understand this chapter, we need to unlock some secrets from later in the book. In particular, the second vision (11:19-19:10) gives us key insights into what Revelation 11 is about symbolically. It provides us with the context we need to begin to decipher this symbolism. 

From Revelation 17:9-10, we see that the book of Revelation situates its point of view during the reign of Vespasian, who ruled from AD 69-79. [1] At the same time, there are also reasons to believe it reached its current form after the temple and Jerusalem were destroyed in AD 70 -- not least the fact that Babylon is used as a code name for Rome. That cipher makes sense because, just as Babylon destroyed Jerusalem, Rome destroyed Jerusalem.

If John's initial vision came during the Jewish War (AD 66-70), then the starting point of this image might very well be the siege of Jerusalem in AD 69 and early 70. At that time, the Gentiles -- that is the Romans -- were indeed trampling the "court" outside the temple. They would trample it into destruction.

We might also note that the Jewish War lasted about four years, beginning in AD 66 and culminating in the year 70. If the original vision came just before the temple's destruction, a period of about 42 months would not be far off. Could the original image here come from the time just before the temple was destroyed?

2. Yet, as we have also suggested, Revelation does not seem to stop with a purely preterit perspective. It moves beyond AD 70 to give a symbolism that applies to the entire "church age," so to speak. Its beginnings are preterist but it ends primarily idealist, with of course fantastical images of Christ's return and the final judgment (futurist).

So, the beginnings of this image may very well have been the siege of Jerusalem, but if so, it does not end there. The action of measuring the temple makes us think of Ezekiel 45 and the ideal temple that Ezekiel foretold. The actual temple that was rebuilt in 516 BC was nothing like the fantastical image Ezekiel sets out. Some have thus wondered if it might refer to some future temple.

We can state clearly that this idea has no place in the theology of Revelation. The temple theology of Revelation is very much in line with Hebrews. Hebrews indicates that the one sacrifice of Christ has forever accomplished atonement (Heb. 10:14). Further, the veil to the Most Holy Place has been torn asunder (Mark 15:38). The boundary that separated the people of God from the innermost part of the sanctuary is gone. We can now approach the throne of grace boldly (Heb. 4:16).

The final form of Revelation holds this same theology. In the New Jerusalem, there is no need for a temple (21:22). From the standpoint of Hebrews and Revelation, no earthly temple from this point on could be legitimate. Similarly, there are some who suggest that the temple of Ezekiel 45 might be built during the Millennium of Revelation 20. But the sacrifice of Christ has forever established Ezekiel 45 as symbolic.

There is no place for a future temple in the theology of Revelation.

3. If John received his initial vision right before the destruction of Jerusalem, then the temple of 11:1 could be a reference to the literal Jerusalem temple as its "outer courts" were being trampled on by the Romans. 

Yet after the temple was destroyed, the image suggests something even more profound. The body of Christ, the church, is God's temple in the world. "You (plural) are the temple of God," Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:16. Yet, throughout history, the forces of the world have regularly trampled on God's people. This is true even when those who called themselves Christians -- but really weren't -- were in control.

This is the nature of the "great ordeal" we find ourselves in (7:14) -- and in which John himself especially found himself during the writing of Revelation. The "Gentiles" trample on the physical world of the church. But, at the same time, our spiritual identity in Christ is preserved. It is safe inside the "temple."

4. We will see from chapter 12 that the image of 42 months began with the Messiah, Jesus, being snatched up to heaven (12:5). That means that, at the very least, this period had literally been going for 40 years by the time the vision Revelation came. It thus cannot be a literal time period, and it is certainly not a 7 year Tribulation in the end times.

The period of 42 months is the time of this age, the time of "this ordeal" (7:14). The "Gentiles" have been trampling on the outskirts of the church throughout this period.

3. "And I will give to my two witnesses and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, having been clothed in sackcloth. 4. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands who have stood before the Lord of the earth.

The identity of these two witnesses is another one of those puzzles in Revelation that has inspired significant conversation over the years. By the time we have finished this passage, we will see them more as symbolic than as two literal individuals who will appear in the end times.

Our first hint is the repeated time of 1,260 days. This is apparently the same 42 months mentioned above in 11:2, the period during which the Gentiles will trample on the outer court of the temple. If there is no temple to be rebuilt in the end times (as we have argued), then this must either refer 1) to the temple that existed in Jesus' day before it was destroyed or 2) be a symbol of something else.

Were there "two witnesses" during the time of the Jewish War? It seems unlikely. Rather everything about these verses suggests that these two individuals are more symbolic. Further, we have already seen that the 42 months/1260 days began with Jesus' ascension. In the end, therefore, these two individuals apparently represent the church's witness during this age, during this time of great ordeal.

The first image of the witnesses is that they are the "two olive trees" and the "two lampstands" who "have stood" before the Lord on the earth. This is an allusion to Joshua and Zerubbabel in Zechariah 4. They were of course two key individuals in the restoration of Israel after the Babylonian captivity. Joshua was the returning priest and Zerubbabel the governor.

If we play the imagery out, if Rome represents Babylon, then the two olive trees/lampstands represent the message of restoration for God's people after Babylon. The witness is one of salvation and, we will later argue, millennium. During this age, when the Babylons of the world are always trampling on the outer court of God's people, the message of salvation and restoration must always be kept in view.

The imagery of the lampstands also reminds us that the seven churches in Revelation 2-3 each had a lampstand (cf. 1:20). In Zechariah 4, there is only one lampstand. But Revelation doubles the lampstand, perhaps a hint that the church was in John's mind. 

The perfect tense for "have stood" is interesting. It suggests that the two witnesses already stand. They are not witnesses who will only arise at the end of this age. The true church is already witnessing to salvation and restoring. It is already reigning with Christ in the millennium.

5. And if someone is wanting to harm them, fire comes out from their mouth and it consumes their enemies. And if someone wants to harm them, thus it is necessary for him to be killed. 6. These have the authority to close the sky so that rain should not fall for the days of their prophecy and they have authority over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the land with every plague as often as they want.

This imagery clearly alludes to Moses and Elijah, who of course themselves represent the Law and the Prophets respectively -- Scripture, in other words. 

Elijah at one point caused a drought to come over the land of Israel (1 Kings 17:1). Similarly, on more than one occasion he brought fire from heaven (e.g., 2 Kings 1:10-12). The fact that the fire comes out of the mouths of the witnesses rather than falling from heaven is perhaps a hint that we should take the imagery symbolically rather than literally. [2] 

Moses of course turned the water of the Nile into blood as one of the plagues on Egypt (cf. Exod. 7:20-21). The mention of striking the land with "every plague" is also reminiscent of Moses.

So the two witnesses can be seen as Joshua and Zerubbabel and they can be seen as Elijah and Moses. This multilayering of symbolism once again moves us away from seeing the two as literal individuals (e.g., Peter and Paul). Rather, they seem to represent the message of salvation and judgment that comes to the world through the church proclaiming Scripture.

7. And whenever they have completed their testimony, the beast coming up from the Abyss will make war with them. And he will conquer them, and he will kill them.  8. And their corpse [will lie] on the street of the great city -- which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.

This is the first time that we encounter the beast in Revelation, but it will not be the last. In Revelation 13 we will meet the "beast from the sea" in more detail, and in Revelation 17 we will learn that he is one of the first five emperors of Rome come back to life (cf. 13:3; 17:11). In particular, we will learn that the Emperor Nero provides us with a type of the beast. More on this to come.

The great city here is clearly Jerusalem -- the place where the Lord was crucified. And while John no doubt grieved the destruction of Jerusalem, he does not identify it positively here. He calls it Sodom (cf. Isaiah 1:9). He even calls it Egypt! Jerusalem is cast in the role of the nation that once oppressed and enslaved it.

What a terrifying image! God uses the godless beast to judge his faithless people! I pictured the movies Jurassic Park and Jurassic World, where terrifying dinosaurs are fighting each other, and the people are just trying to stay out of the way.

The image of martyrdom was fresh in John's mind as he passed on his vision. Indeed, Nero -- the model of this beast as we will see -- put both Peter and Paul to death. We do not know the names of many martyrs during the time of John's vision. We hear of a man named Antipas in Pergamum (Rev. 2:13).

But Revelation is clear that there were and would be martyrs under Babylon -- that is, Rome. And perhaps there were such martyrs during the Jewish War, believers who witnessed in Jerusalem during the war. And there have been martyrs -- witnesses through death -- throughout the church age.

9. And those from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will see their corpse for three and a half days. And their corpses they will not leave to be put in a tomb. 10. And those dwelling on the earth will rejoice about them and they will celebrate and they will send gifts to one another because these two prophets tormented those dwelling in the land.

Three and a half days is yet another presentation of the 42 months or 1,260 days. It is still, as we will see in Revelation 12, a symbolic way of referring to this age that began when Christ ascended to heaven. The world has been seeing the witness of the church now for 2000 years. They have seen the corpse of the martyrs. The fact that it is singular in verse 9 is a hint that this is a collective witness rather than a reference to two specific individuals.

However, presented as 3.5 days, the vision pictures the time of the world's dominance as brief. God's allowance for the world to persecute the church will not last long in the light of eternity. Of course, John did not know it would last this long and would no doubt have been surprised. Nevertheless, its brevity in the light of eternity is clear.

The world celebrates what they think is the defeat of God's people. They were tired of its witness. Those who are bent on doing wrong don't like to be told about it. The very presence of the righteous is galling to those who feel guilty for their wickedness. Like Herodias, the wife of Herod Antipas, the continued existence of John the Baptist only made her feel guilty. She wanted him gone.

So the world celebrates the disappearance of those who remind it of its true nature.

But we also remember from Revelation 7:9 that there will be people from every nation, tribe, people, and language in the kingdom of God. The witness of the church, it would seem, did indeed lead a multitude in the world to turn to Christ.

11. And after three and a half days, a spirit of life from God entered in them and they stood on their feet and a great fear fell on those who beheld them. 12. And they heard [3] a great voice from the sky saying to them, "Come up here." And they ascended into the sky on the cloud and their enemies beheld them.

The apparent defeat of God's witnesses is not a final defeat. Those who are persecuted now will reign with Christ then. They are already in heaven worshiping in God's presence. They will be part of the resurrection and will reign with Christ on earth as well in the age to come.

If there were an allusion to Peter and Paul's death under Nero hiding in this chapter, Revelation's imagery has a first resurrection of those martyred for Christ. In Revelation 20, those martyred during this age reign with Christ for a millennium. We will take that picture symbolically when we get there, but it is worth noting that the resurrection of the martyred is a consistent theme in Revelation.

The fact that they ascend on a cloud to heaven with their enemies watching could be an allusion to Daniel 7:13. Normally, the Son of Humanity imagery is applied to Christ (e.g., Rev. 1:7), but the image of God's people going on the clouds to God is also reminiscent of what happens in Daniel 7. The Greek word for "coming" can also be translated as "going."

13. And in that hour, there was a great earthquake and a tenth of the city fell and seven thousand names of people were killed in the earthquake. And those remaining became fearful and gave glory to the God of the heaven.

This is perhaps the strongest argument that this part of John's vision dates to the time just before Jerusalem was destroyed. The image pictures Jerusalem still intact enough for the destruction of a sizable portion of the city to take place. Of course, in the period between AD 70 and the final relocation of Jews from Jerusalem after the Bar Kochba revolt of 135, Jews no doubt thought Jerusalem would continue to be inhabited by Jews.

In this image, however, Jerusalem is soundly judged. 7000 people die. Those who remain seem to repent, giving glory finally to the God of heaven. We are reminded of Paul's hope in Romans 11:26 that Israel would eventually turn to its Messiah, Jesus.

14. The second woe has gone away. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.  

As we saw with the seven seals, the first four trumpets go together, and then the last three also form a group. In the case of the trumpets, the last three trumpets are three woes. With verse 14, the intermission after the sixth trumpet comes to a close, and we are ready for the final trumpet, which is the final woe.

[1] The majority date the book of Revelation to the reign of Domitian in the 90s. The strongest arguments for this dating come from tradition. I have no problem with that dating for the final form of the book. However, Revelation 17:10 situates the "point of view" of the vision during the reign of Vespasian. Most consider this a literary device.

[2] Revelation may also have Jeremiah 5:14 in mind. See Keener, Revelation, 290.

[3] Some manuscripts, "I heard."

Explanatory Notes: Revelation 10:1-11

The journey continues...
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10:1 And I saw another strong angel descending from the sky, having been wrapped in cloud. And the rainbow on his head and his face [were] as the sun, and his feet [were] as pillars of fire. 2. And [he was] having in his hand a little scroll that had been opened, and he placed his right foot on the sea and the left on the land.

As with the seven seals, we get an interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpets. In Revelation 7, we had a vision of all believers who had endured through the "great ordeal," this current age in which we await Christ's return. [1] So each intermission in Revelation has something to say to the church in this period of tribulation we are in between Christ being "snatched into heaven" (12:5) and the final judgment.

In three chapters, we will see a beast from the sea and a beast from the land. This apparently huge angel has one foot on sea and one on the land. The rainbow, cloud, and sun-face recall Ezekiel 1:26-28, where these are associated with a "theophany," an apparence of God to Ezekiel. 

But this angel is not said to be Christ, nor is Christ ever called an angel in the book of Revelation. [2] It's another reminder that while Revelation draws many ingredients from the Old Testament, it cooks its own recipes.

The scroll is also drawn from Ezekiel, in this case Ezekiel 2:9-10. Unlike the scroll in Revelation 5, this one is already opened. It is not likely the same scroll as Revelation 5, because this one is a little scroll. Some, like Robert Mounce, argue that its contents are given in the chapter that follows. [3]

3. And he cried with a great voice like a lion roars, and when he cried, the seven thunders spoke with their own voices. 4. And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write, and I heard a voice from the sky saying, "Seal up what the seven thunders spoke and do not write them."

It is a true puzzle why, in a book where Christ tells John to write down the vision, he is expressly told not to write down what these seven thunders say. It is a reminder that we do not have the authority to know everything. Some of the great interest in the book of Revelation is a thirst for secret knowledge, to know what others do not know. At the very least, this moment is a reminder that we do not get to know everything.

Some think the idea of seven thunders is modeled on Psalm 29, where the voice of Yahweh is mentioned seven times, at least once in thunder. However, this seems a stretch. It is often noted that the article specifies these as the seven thunders, suggesting that this is imagery that John's community already was acquainted with. 

In this regard, it is tempting to see a connection between John as a "son of thunder" (cf. Mark 3:17) and these thunders. Were these seven revelations associated with John that were too volatile to put in writing? But that is a purely speculative thought.

5. And the angel that I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his right hand to the sky. 6. And he swore by the One living forever and ever, who created the heaven and the things in it and the earth and the things in it and the sea and the things in it. [He swore] that delay [4] will be no longer.

Daniel 12 seems to stand in the background of this image. A man clothed in linen, standing on the bank of a river, lifts his right and left hands toward heaven and swears by the One who lives forever.

What he swears, however, is that there will be a period to wait consisting of "a time, times, and a half a time." This is of course language we will soon encounter in Revelation 12:14. So, while Daniel looks from the standpoint of the beginning of that period, Revelation 10:6 looks to the time at the end of that time.

Most scholars of course think Daniel had in mind the period of the Maccabean revolt from 167-164 BC. But Revelation, as usual, cooks its own recipe with the Old Testament ingredients. We will soon argue that this three-and-a-half year period represents this current age, the time between the snatching of Christ to heaven (Rev. 12:4) and his return in final judgment.

The delay of Christ's return has troubled believers since the time of the very first disciples. By any reckoning, 2000 years is quite a surprise. The easiest accommodation is to see the end of delay here as a comment on the end times rather than John's own day. That is, to locate the end of delay to the time when the period of the great ordeal is ending. Whether John himself would have anticipated such a long wait is another question.

The King James Version interpreted verse 6 philosophically, "time shall be no more." But this is not the way the book of Revelation generally uses the word chronos. [5] There will be activity in eternity, so even if it is not the same as our current earthly time, by definition the kingdom will at least have its own time.

The martyrs in Revelation 6:9-11 were wondering how long it would be until God would finally bring justice to the empire that put them to death. Habakkuk also asked the Lord "How long?" God answered that prophet that judgment would not be delayed (Hab. 2:3). That passage almost certainly stands in the background of this statement here as well.

7. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, whenever he is about to sound the trumpet and the mystery of God was finished, as he announced the good news to his own servants, the prophets.

Perhaps here we get a hint of what the seven thunders said. The "mystery of God" is accomplished in the judgment. So in that sense, perhaps the whole book of Revelation is letting us in on the secret revelation that was not written down in that moment.

We are reminded that we are in an intermission between the sixth and seventh trumpet. I have left the aorist tense of "was finished" in place to point out the emphasis. It is what we might call a "proleptic" or "futuristic aorist," where a future event is announced with such certainty that it is rendered as an event that is already accomplished.

The accomplishment of justice is part of the good news, the gospel. John looks back to the Old Testament prophets and the coming restoration that they announced. We think especially of Isaiah 52:7, where the prophet announces the good news of Israel's salvation. The judgment of the wicked world is more than judgment. It is also the full arrival of the kingdom of God.

It is of course also possible that John has New Testament prophets in view as well. When Ephesians 2:20 talks about prophets as the foundation of the church, it almost certainly had New Testament prophets in view. There is a tendency to underestimate the role that such prophets played in the early church. However, in this instance, it is perhaps more likely that the prophets of the Old Testament were in view.

8. And the voice that I heard from the sky again speaking with me and saying, "Go. Take the scroll that has been opened in the hand of the angel standing on the sea and on the land." 9. And I went away to the angel saying to him to give to me the little scroll. And he says to me, "Take and eat it. And it will be bitter in your stomach, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey." 

The obvious background for this imagery is Ezekiel 2-3, in which the prophet is told to eat a scroll that tastes sweet as honey. However, in Revelation's "cooking," the scroll then becomes bitter in his stomach. It is perhaps a reminder that the judgment of the world is bitter sweet. On the one hand, it is sweet for justice to be done. And yet, the devastation of the wicked should give us no pleasure.

The ordeal that the faithful must endure is also bitter. If Revelation 11 gives us the content of the scroll, then we can see that what the "two witnesses" must endure has its own share of bitterness.

John asks for the angel to give him the scroll, but the angel tells John to take it. Perhaps there is some emphasis here on the fact that we are active in our acceptance of our mission and the persecution that may accompany it. We do not merely endure it. We embrace and move forward in it.

10. And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet honey and when I ate it, it was bitter in my stomach. 11. And they say to me, "It is necessary for you again to prophesy about many peoples and nations and tongues and kings." 

The fact that eating the scroll leads to the charge to continue to prophecy about many peoples and nations, tongues and kings suggests that the words that follow in Revelation 11 are in fact the content of the scroll. The taste of the scroll is exactly as the angel had predicted. 

The scope of the judgment goes beyond Rome. Just as the kingdom will see people from every "nation, tribe, people, and language" (Rev. 7:9), so many peoples and nations and languages will be judged for their wickedness. This verse adds "kings" to the list, clearly indicating that the judgment goes beyond Rome. [6]

[1] So also Mounce, Revelation, 199.

[2] Robert Mulholland disagrees, seeing the angel almost certainly as Christ. Revelation, 200.

[3] Mounce, Revelation, 210.

[4] Literally, "time will be no longer." But the sense is not the end of time in some philosophical sense. The point is that time has run out. There will be no more delay.

[5] Cf. 2:21, 6:11, and 20:3.

[6] Although Mounce takes this to anticipate the kings of Revelation 17:10-12. Revelation, 211.

Explanatory Notes: Revelation 9:13-21

Revelation 1
Revelation 2
Revelation 3
Revelation 4
Revelation 5
Revelation 6
Revelation 7
Revelation 8
Revelation 9:1-12
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13. And the sixth angel sounded and I heard one voice from the horns [1] of the altar of gold that is before God, 14. saying to the sixth angel, the one having the trumpet, "Loose the four angels who have been bound at the great river Euphrates.

We have seen this altar before in 8:3-4. It is the Altar of Incense that represents the prayers of God's people, praying for justice. It is yet another hint that we are not seeing a sequence of events but a repetition of the same basic themes in different ways. The key concept with this image is that God cares about the oppression of his people and will bring justice to its perpetrators.

The sixth trumpet unlocks four angels who have been imprisoned at the Euphrates. The fact that they are bound suggests that they are fallen, evil angels (cf. 1 Enoch 10:4-6; 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6).

The Euphrates was generally seen as the final boundary between the Roman and Parthian empires. If the image of locusts with hair like women might have been an allusion to Parthian warriors, the possibility heightens here. Craig Keener suggests that the Parthians are certainly in view. [2]

Although the imagery may be built off the rumor that Nero would return from the east with the Parthian armies, we can take the image in a more timeless sense. The forces of evil work against each other. They defeat themselves from the inside, and therein is a type of judgment. It carries its judgment inside itself as it eats itself away from the inside.

15. And the four angels were loosed, who have been prepared for the hour and day and month and year in order to kill a third of humanity. 16. And the number of the armies of the horsemen [was] two hundred million. I heard the number of them. 

Judgment comes on God's time table. There is a time when we want justice, but God will bring justice when he deems it to be the right time. The number two hundred million would have been terrifying. Keener notes that it was more than the population of the whole Mediterranean world. [3] That terror is likely the point rather than the precise number.

Many commentators note that the significance of a third is that it is not total annihilation. [4] The remainder have a chance to repent. As we will see, they do not.

17. And so I saw the horses in the vision and the ones sitting on them having breastplates of fire and hyacinth and brimstone. And the heads of the horses as heads of lions and from their mouths go out fire and smoke and brimstone.

This is the only place in Revelation where John reminds us that the imagery we are hearing is from a vision. It would not violate the conventions of apocalypses if, in the book as a whole, we have a mixture of material from John's vision later shaped by his community. The mention here, though, ties this specific imagery to John himself.

We will see fire and brimstone later in Revelation with regard to the lake of fire. The combination evokes associations with Gehenna and the final judgment of the wicked. The picture of a monster breathing fire reminds us of Job 41:19-20. The image of lion-headed horses is also not unlike that of the locusts in Revelation 9:8.

18. From these three plagues was killed a third of humanity from the fire and the smoke and the brimstone that was going out from their mouths. 19. For the power of the horses is in their mouth and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents, having heads, and with them they do harm.

The three plagues would seem to be fire, smoke, and brimstone or sulfur. We remember that Sodom was destroyed by brimstone. [5] The figure of the tails being like serpents is even more intense than the locusts, which had tails like scorpions. The mouths kill. The tails do harm.

20. And the rest of humanity who were not killed by these plagues did not repent from the works of their hands such that they would not worship demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which neither are able to see nor to hear nor to walk. 21. And they did not repent from their murders nor from their sorceries nor from their sexual immorality nor from their stealings.

Despite the fact that a third of humanity have died, the remainder do not repent. Perhaps this was also true in the image of those in 6:15-17 where the kings of the earth flee and call on the rocks to fall on them but are not said to repent. But here it is said explicitly.

Revelation gives us a list of the sins that especially typify the world under judgment. The world worships demons and idols that are unable to see, hear, or walk. Some in that world may have had a more sophisticated sense of idols as objects possessed by gods, but the ordinary person probably couldn't tell the difference.

Murder, sexual immorality, stealing--these are all actions bringing God's judgment on the world. Sorcery was related to idolatry for it tried to manipulate the dark spiritual forces of the world.

But still there is no repentance. What a picture of the human heart! The hard heart may know it is wrong. It may know that there is no hope if it keeps going in the direction it is headed. It may know that the logical course of action is to turn around, ask forgiveness, and change its ways.

But it so often doesn't. It would rather be destroyed than concede. To its last breath it fights the truth and the right. Pharaoh is a picture of such hardness. If we fail to understand how a soul could choose never-ending torment over submission to God, this is the place to begin understanding.

[1] Later manuscripts seem to have inserted the word four in front of horns: "the four horns," although it is also possible that the word was dropped by mistake.

[2] Keener, Revelation 270.

[3] Keener, Revelation, 273.

[4] Leon Morris would be typical: "It is a very stern warning, but not the blotting out of sinful mankind" (Revelation, 132).

[5] So, Robert H. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, rev. (NICNT; Eerdmans, 1998), 197.

Explanatory Notes: Revelation 9:1-12

9:1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from the sky having fallen to the land, and the key of the pit of the abyss was given to him. 2. And he opened the pit of the abyss and smoke went up from the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. And the sun and the air from the smoke of the pit was darkened.

Ancient Jews did not view the stars as balls of burning gas. These were heavenly beings, "watchers" even. Musings abound about the star over Bethlehem. Was it a comet, for example? But it is more likely that they thought it was an angel. 

And so, when the fifth angel sounds the trumpet, the star that has fallen to the land turns out to be a heavenly being. We get slightly mixed signals about whether this is a good or bad angel. On the one hand, he has been given a key, which suggests he might be good. Yet, he has fallen and thus could be a bad angel. Perhaps the majority see this as a good angel, although it fits better with verse 11 to see him as a fallen angel. [1]

When we get to the second vision in chapter 12, we will hear that Satan and his angels fall to earth. The passage is not talking about a fall of Satan before the time of Adam. It refers to the defeat of Satan in heaven after Christ's resurrection.

The fall here and the fall in Revelation 12 could thus refer to the same basic truth. Now that the Lamb has been slain, the seals of final judgment have been opened. And Satan's doom is sure, along with all those heavenly beings who have sided with him. 

It is perhaps another indicator that much of Revelation is a repetition of the same basic concepts in different ways.

3. And out of the smoke came out locusts on the land and authority was given to them as the scorpions of the earth have authority. 4. And it was said to them that they not harm the grass of the land, neither any green thing nor any tree except the people who do not have the seal of God on the foreheads.

The image of the locusts has given rise to speculation about helicopters, drones, and the like in the end times. However, the significance of the locusts likely has much more to do with the past than being an image of technology in the distant future. Once again, locusts were one of the plagues of Egypt. 

The point of the image is to parallel God's judgment on Rome (as we will see) with the judgment with which God visited on Egypt. 

A large number of interpreters on all sides would agree that the locusts symbolize something other than literal locusts. The question is how detailed the symbolism is and what they actually represent. Many dispensational futurists see them as a specific thing of the future, like a drone. The idealist says that it is the universal consequences of wickedness that is the point. Perhaps we might say that the point is not the individual items or moments within the apocalyptic sequence here but the overall "Gestalt" or impression of judgment that we should take away.

The locusts are not to harm the grass of the land. This is puzzling because all the grass was already destroyed in 8:7 with the opening of the first trumpet. This is a strong indicator that the sequence of events are not an actual progression in time. Rather, we are seeing the same images of judgment over and over.

In other words, the symbols should not be interpreted on a one to one or detailed level. It is rather the overall Gestalt of judgment we should pay attention to.

The seal of God on the foreheads of the righteous was already introduced in 7:2-3. Interestingly, few interpreters take this as a literal mark, although futurists regularly take the mark of the beast as a literal mark of some sort. However, to be consistent, we probably should not take these as literal or visible seals or marks.

5. And was given to them that they might not kill them but that they will be tormented five months. And their tormenting [was] as the tormenting of a scorpion whenever it should sting a person. 6. And in those days, people will seek death and they will not find it. And they will desire to die and death flees from them.

Five months may seem a curious amount of time if you aren't a farmer living in a place where they are a threat. But in Israel, five months was the time of the dry season, the time when locusts were a threat. Indeed, the life cycle of a locust is about five months. In the end, we do not know for certain the precise meaning of the five months. Many commentators simply see it as a "round number" without a specific meaning.

The idea of life's circumstances or suffering making death preferable to life appears a couple of places in the Old Testament. Certainly Job at one point preferred death to his suffering (Job 3:21), but thankfully God did not oblige him nor did he take his own life. In Jeremiah 8:3, the survivors of those who corrupted Israel would rather die than endure their current suffering. The theme can also be found in related apocalyptic literature. [2]

This is of course the stark prospect of eternal punishment. Death is infinitely preferable, literally. 

7. And the likenesses of the locusts were like to horses having been prepared for war and upon their heads as crowns like to gold and their faces as faces of humans. 8. And they were having hairs as the hairs of women and their teeth were as those of lions. 9. And they were having breastplates as breastplates of iron and the sound of their wings as the sound of chariots of many horses running into battle. 10. And they have tails like scorpions and stings. And in their tails [is] their power to harm mortals for five months.

What a vivid image! There are of course futurists who see this as John's attempt to describe things that were foreign to his world (again, like helicopters), and thus they would see a detailed metaphor here for literal entities of the end times.

Preterists might hear in this imagery metaphors for entities of John's day. For example, the Roman historian Suetonius described Parthian warriors as having long hair, as Revelation describes the locusts here. [3] The image of armies from the east is frequent enough in Revelation to wonder if the rumor that Nero would return with the Parthians to bring vengeance on Rome stands to some degree in the background of such imagery (cf. 9:14 subsequently).

The book of Joel provides key background for the locust imagery, although there it is at least possible that literal locusts were in view. The idealist would say that the locusts do not represent armies in any specific time or place but the certainty of judgment for those who oppress God's people.

Craig Keener notes that scorpion stings bring great pain but not usually death. [4] This perhaps adds to the imagery in verse 6 about desiring death but not getting it.

11. They have over them a king, the angel of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in the Greek, he has the name Apollyon.

This king would seem to be a demonic angel rather than a good angel such as Uriel (cf. 1 Enoch 20:2). He is possibly the same angel that fell in verse 1.

Revelation's attention to the names in different languages perhaps provides us with a useful window into the book's way of thinking about names (also in 16:16). At the end of Revelation 13, we will hear the number 666 as the number of a name, and it would fit if this number proves to be "gematria," the use of a correlation between letters and numbers to unlock key symbolism.

You'll note the similarity between the name of the Greek god Apollo and the word apollyon. The Greek tragedian Aeschylus in fact noted the relationship between Apollo and the verb to destroy. [5] Some scholars suggest that Revelation is deliberately mocking the god Apollo. 

In the same vein, the Emperor Domitian sometimes thought of himself as Apollo incarnate. [6] It is at least possible that the book of Revelation is mocking the emperor Domitian, perhaps another bit of evidence that the book reached its final form during his reign. 

12. The first woe has gone away. Behold, still two woes are coming after these things.

We have already seen that Revelation tends to group the first four of a series of sevens together, with the final three also going together. With the seven trumpets, the last three go together as three "woes."

Additionally, with the seven seals, the last three focused more on the spiritual realm than the earth. So also here, the first four trumpets released judgment on the earth, and the last three relate to the world of the spirit. But instead of looking to heavens, the last three trumpets look to the underworld and the world of the demonic. [7]

[1] For some of the different interpretations, see Leon Morris, Revelation (IVP Academic, 2009), 126.

[2] The Sibylline Oracles in particular: 2.307–8, 8.353, 13.118.

[3] Suetonius, Vespasian 10, pointed out by Craig Keener, The NIV Application Commentary: Revelation (Zondervan, 2000), 268 n.10. 

[4] Keener, Revelation, 268.

[5] Agamemnon 1082

[6] So, among others, G. B. Caird, A Commentary on the Revelation of St. John the Divine (Harper & Row, 1966), 120.

[7] J. P. M. Sweet, Revelation (Westminster, 1979), 162.

Sermon Starters: Best and Worst of Times

Location: Silver Lake Wesleyan Camp

Text: Revelation 11:1-13 
Introduction

• The end times teaching of my childhood and 1990s: A Thief in the Night, Left Behind. These do not reflect what most Bible scholars actually think the Bible teaches exactly.
• I approach Revelation 11 with fear and trembling. But if I have it wrong, the message can be supported from elsewhere in Scripture. We preach from the whole Bible despite uncertainty of interpretation.

I. We are the temple.

• Is it the temple of John's day? Is it some end times rebuilt temple? Or does it symbolize something else?
• Most date Revelation to a time after John's temple. The idea of a future rebuilt temple is biblically dubious and theologically problematic (cf. Hebrews and Revelation 21:22).
• Clue in Revelation 12:6 -- The woman is the true Israel, the church. She has fled to the wilderness (cf. Mark 13:14) after her son (Jesus) was snatched away to God's throne. The 3.5 years in Revelation thus refers to the "church age."
• The temple is measured, protected. But the court outside is trampled by the Gentiles for 42 months, the church age.
• What does this mean? It means that we are the temple. Cf. 1 Cor. 3:16.
• A key to Revelation is that this current age is both the tribulation and the millennium, both at the same time, the best of times and the worst of times.
• We are marked, measured by God. But our courts are trampled by the world.
• When times are good, it's easy to forget that we are not of the world, that we are citizens of a heavenly country (Phil. 3:20). 
• Remember who you are. Illustration of time I was around people whose values overlapped significantly with me but still were of a different belief. I constantly reminded myself. "I don't really belong."
• That's how we ultimately are in the world. The world will trample, but we are marked by God.

II. We are the witnesses.

• Who are the witnesses? Two people from John's day? Two people from the end times? Or do they symbolize something else?
• 11:6 seems a fairly clear allusion to Elijah and Moses. Meanwhile, the mention of the two olive trees makes us think of Joshua and Zerubbabel (Zech. 4). Once again, we have tribulation and millennium.
• Moses and Elijah are the Law and Prophets, witnesses to the world. Joshua and Zerubbabel represent the rebuilt "temple" and the new covenant. For "3.5 days" they witness.
• Once again, this is the church in this current age. In other words, they are us.
• We are the witnesses. 1 Peter 3:15. Although this is often cited as a basis for argumentative apologetics, the context of 1 Peter is much more one of "exile" and persecution. We give witness when we are on trial (tribulation).
• The two witnesses face a double whammy. The beast (Rome) kills them in "the great city" (Jerusalem). Jerusalem is "Sodom and Gomorrah." What a twisted situation. Jerusalem should have been faithful but wasn't. Rome trampled on them.
• Reminds me of Jurassic World. They're being chased by one dinosaur. Then comes a T-Rex.
• It seems inevitable that the institutional church will fail us like Jerusalem failed God.

III. We are the vindicated

• The passage ends with the resurrection of the two witnesses after 3.5 days, after the tribulation, after the church age. So we will be vindicated. So there will be judgment.
• Vindication comes through the cross, not around it.
• Reminds me of Methods of Bible Study students who went through the whole course learning a painstaking method and then wrote a final paper that they could have written before the course. They went through the motions but more or less skipped the middle bit.
• Revenge is not the goal, although there are consequences in judgment on the world and "Jerusalem."
• It is a corporate vindication. There will be justice in the end. "Rome" will be judged.

Conclusion

• We are a "peculiar people" (T-shirts from my childhood youth group, 1 Pet. 2:9, KJV).
• Revelation 11 is about now. We are in a time when Christ has begun to reign. Yet we are in a time when we may face tribulation.
• Remember who you are.  We are a faithful witness. In this life we may be trampled on, but God wins in the end. 

Revelation 8 Explanatory Notes

Albrecht Dürer woodcut,
angel sounding trumpet

I started this pot back in October 2020 when I was doing my "Through the Bible in Ten Years" in the book of Revelation. I'm now trying to finish my Explanatory Notes in the form of a 30 day devotional.
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8:1 And when he opened the seventh seal, a silence came about in the   sky of about a half hour.
In Revelation 6, the Lamb opened six of the seals, beginning the days of judgment that coincide with the end of the great tribulation. Then in Revelation 7, there was an intermission in the opening of the seals. We saw what was happening in heaven as the final judgment was beginning on earth. Revelation 8 then returns to the final seal, the seventh seal, which represents the completion of the judgment.

Again, this is not a literal picture of what will happen. Revelation is an apocalypse. It uses fantastical imagery that gives us the feeling of tribulation and judgment, not a literal movie. For example, the number seven is symbolic. It signifies completion. The half an hour of silence, like the intermission, builds up to the end. We are getting ready for the end. It’s like a runner taking a deep breath before the gun goes off.

2. And I saw the seven angels who have stood before God, and they gave to them seven trumpets.
In Revelation 1, the seven angels are the angels of the seven churches (1:20). There, these angels probably do not just represent the seven churches of Asia Minor. They probably are meant to represent the entire worldwide church. Revelation 8 does not explicitly connect its seven angels with the angels of Revelation 1, but the fact that seven angels are mentioned in both places could imply that they are the same. If so, it would suggest the earth is about to experience judgment not least for the way it has treated the churches of God.

However, other interpreters see them as the seven highest archangels. In Tobit 12:15 (which many Jews at the time considered Scripture), the archangel Raphael speaks of seven holy angels who present the prayers of the saints to God. Similarly, 1 Enoch 20:1-8 mentions seven archangels: Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Saraqael, Gabriel, and Remiel. Jude 14-15 quotes from the same section of 1 Enoch, suggesting that at least some early Christians may have considered it Scripture.

It does not have to be one or the other. However, the similarity in the function of the archangels to what happens in this chapter may suggest that we should view the angels of Revelation 8 as different angels from those in Revelation 1.

Just as there were seven seals, there are seven trumpets, blown by these seven angels. When the seventh seal is opened, the seven trumpets commence. And the vindication of God’s church begins.

3. And another angel went and stood upon the altar of incense, having a golden censor. And was given to him much incense so that he will give [it] with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar that is before the throne. 4. And the smoke of the incense went up with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God.
The presence of the altar of incense in heaven implies something that has not been made explicit thus far in the vision. The throne room of heaven is none other than the heavenly Holy of Holies. The vision of Revelation 4-5 is in the heavenly sanctuary.

The sermon we call Hebrews in the New Testament builds on this same common understanding within Judaism. The earthly sanctuary was actually patterned on the true, heavenly one (Heb. 8:1, 5). Interpreters of Hebrews debate how exact a replica it is. I personally believe it is not an exact representation. For example, I do not believe there is an outer room in the heavenly sanctuary and that the heavenly sanctuary is more or less equivalent to the highest heaven. [1]

In both Hebrews and implicitly here in Revelation 8, the altar of incense is inside the Most Holy Place. This is interestingly different from the description in Exodus 30:6 and suggests that both were tapping into a common tradition in the late first century. It is fairly clear here that the altar of incense was associated with the prayers of God’s people.

Although it is perhaps a strange image to us, these verses draw on the common ancient sense that God delights in the smell of sacrifices. In this case, wafts of the smoke from the incense from the altar go up to God. Presumably, they fill his nostrils to his delight. Of course, this is merely a picture. God does not have a literal nose.

What he is smelling is the prayers of the saints, the holy ones set aside to him. Believers, in other words. The content of their prayers is presumably a cry for justice in the face of their persecution. “How long, O Lord?” was the cry of the souls under the altar in Revelation 6:10. The angel burns incense on the altar to initiate judgment finally to the earth for their mistreatment.

5. And the angel has taken the censor and filled it from the fire of the altar of incense, and he cast it to the earth. And thunders and sounds and lightnings and earthquake took place.
What is the result of the burned incense? It has first gone before God. Now, it comes to the earth.

We can see easily enough what is happening here. The prayers of the saints have risen to God for justice. As a result, the fire of justice is cast down to the earth. After all, the seventh seal has been opened. Everything to this point is preparation. Now the final act begins.

Thunder, lightning, and earthquake remind us of God’s descending on Mt. Sinai (Exod. 19:16-18). The audience of Revelation would recognize them as the imagery of theophany. It is not just the fire that is coming down to the earth. God himself is descending.

6. And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared them in order to sound. 7. And the first angel sounded the trumpet, and hail and fire having been mixed with blood was cast to the earth. And a third of the land was consumed and a third of the trees was consumed and all the green grass was consumed.
Revelation 8 starts with four trumpets. There will be three more trumpets when we get to chapter 9. The trumpets thus follow a similar pattern as the seals. Remember, the first four seals involved the four horsemen, and then there were three more.

Similarly with the trumpets, we have the first four trumpets. Then there is a pause of the first four trumpets at the end of the chapter. Then the final three trumpets come in a group.

And of course, things get worse and worse as it goes along. The events that accompany the trumpets echo the plagues God sent on Egypt. For example, the hail and fire of the first trumpet is like the seventh plague that falls on Egypt (Exod. 9:24). God is delivering his people from the new Egypt, which is Rome.

In verse 6, the seven angels with the seven trumpets get ready to sound. In verse 7, the first angel sounds, and hail and fire fall. These are mixed with blood, again echoing the seventh plague on Egypt.

It is cast upon the land. A third of the land is burned up and a third of the trees is burned up and all the green grass is burned up. This is probably not a literal picture, but we’re getting a clear feel for the great devastation that is coming. The final judgment has begun.

8. And the second angel sounded the trumpet, and [something] like a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea and the third of the sea became blood, 9. and the third of the creatures in the sea died, the ones having life, and the third of the ships was destroyed.
The second angel sounds, and something like a great mountain burning with fire is cast into the sea. Again, given the general nature of apocalyptic, we probably shouldn’t assume that something like a meteor will fall into the sea during the final judgment. While such things are of course possible, that’s probably not how the imagery works. It’s the Gestalt, not the literal image.

The sea turns to blood. Once again, this is a fairly clear allusion to the first plague on Egypt in Exodus 7:20-21. As God judged Egypt, so God will judge Rome.

We are seeing that all the parts of the creation are experiencing a kind of sympathetic judgment. It’s not that the trees have sinned. It’s not that the water has sinned, although water usually does have the connotation of negative chaos in ancient culture.

However, in this case, there is a sympathy between the waters and the plight of humanity. Creation currently groans for redemption with us (Rom. 8:19-22). Soon, there will be a new creation. The old creation will be removed, and that is part of what this sequence symbolizes here.

10. And the third angel sounded the trumpet, and a great star fell from the sky, burning like a lamp. And it fell upon the third of the rivers and upon the springs of waters. 11. And the name of the star is called, "The Absinthe." And the third of the waters turned into absinthe. And multitudes of humans died from the water that was made bitter.
Next, the third angel sounds his trumpet. Now a star falls from the sky, a great star burning like a lamp. It falls on a third of the rivers and upon the springs of the waters. These are now the inland waters rather than the sea.

The name of the star is called “Absinthos.” That is to say, “Wormwood.” Wormwood is a bitter plant, absinthe in Greek, and it turns a third of the waters into absinthe, into wormwood. Many people die as a result from the waters. The bitter water is poisonous.

This time, the imagery is not a plague but may allude to two other Old Testament texts. One is the bitter waters of Marah in Exodus 15. They need to be sweetened before Israel can drink them. Here, of course, God makes the waters bitter.

Alternatively, the wording is very similar to the Greek of Jeremiah 23:15, where God threatens to feed Israel “wormwood” and “poisoned water” as judgment. While Rome is the primary target of the judgment, we might remember that it is quite possible that Jerusalem has also just been destroyed as part of God’s judgment.

The star in Revelation 9 is a heavenly being, possibly Satan. Here, however, there is no clear indication that Wormwood is a demon or a fallen angelic being. The Old Testament passages mentioned above seem more likely background for the image.

12. And the fourth angel sounded the trumpet, and the third of the sun and the third of the moon and the third of the stars was struck. And the third of them so that the third of them might be darkened and the day might not appear--the third of it and the night similarly. 
The fourth angel sounds. Now, a third of the sun, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars are darkened. Day does not appear for a third of its normal time.

Craig Koester notes that some of these objects have already been subject to God’s judgment.[2] The sun was already darkened in Revelation 6:12. The moon has already turned to blood (6:12). He reminds us that the visions of Revelation are not linear. We are getting the same images from different perspectives. And none of them are meant to be taken literally.

The visions are much more like a kaleidoscope, where we get a picture from one side and a picture from another. But none of it is meant to be taken as exactly the way that the judgment will happen. Nevertheless, with the fourth trumpet, all the cosmos has been affected. We’ve seen the seas affected. We’ve had the lands affected.

And now the sky itself has become part of the judgment. The stars, the moon, the lights—we see all the realms of creation are now part of the judgment. This is the destruction of the world as John pictured it.[3]

13. And I saw and I heard one eagle flying in the middle sky, saying with a mighty voice, "Woe, woe, woe in relation to those dwelling on the earth from the rest of the sounds of the trumpets of the three angels about to sound the trumpet."
8:13 is the pause mentioned earlier that comes between the first four trumpets and the last three. The first four trumpets repeat the judgment of the whole cosmos. Now, as the judgment intensifies, three woes will accompany the final three trumpets.

The eagle speaks from the “middle sky” or the “middle heaven.” We remember that Paul once mentioned being taken up into the “third heaven” or the “third sky” (2 Cor. 12:2). We know from the Jewish literature of the time that some Jews thought that there were three layers to the heavens above as you ascended to God in the highest heaven (e.g., The Testament of Levi). God was in the third sky. The first sky was the sky immediately above us, leaving the middle sky for angelic beings.

This will not be the last time that a heavenly being speaks from the middle sky. In the second vision, three angels speak to the earth from the middle sky (Rev. 14).

The eagle can speak. Its words are a preface to the last three trumpets. In effect, it is saying, “You haven’t seen anything yet.” We should note that the word for “eagle” can also be translated as “vulture.” Robert Mulholland argues that vultures might be a better translation because they are associated, after all, with carrion and death. They hover over things that are dying or about to die.

Either way, the imagery is ominous. [1] See Kenneth Schenck, Explanatory Notes on the Sermon of Hebrews (Cascade, 2023).

[2] Craig Koester, Revelation and the End of All Things (Eerdmans, 2001), 97.

[3] John didn’t think of there being galaxies in the universe. Alpha Centauri is not being judged in the book of Revelation. Such an idea would have been completely foreign to John. Distant black holes are not being judged. The whole universe is not being judged. Our earth is the scope of this judgment.

Revelation 5 Explanatory Notes

Ghent Altar piece
Jan van Eyck

The Lamb of God
5:1 And I saw in the right hand of the One seated on the throne a scroll having been written on the inside and outside, having been sealed with seven seals.
Revelation 4 is the worship of God (the Father). Chapter 5 proceeds then to the worship and adoration of the Lamb of God as well, Jesus. The primary focus is on Jesus as the Lamb slain for the world.

The drama starts with a scroll in God's hand. Sometimes the word biblion here is translated with the word, "book," but this is misleading. The book form was not widely used at this time. It is a scroll that God holds in his right hand, the favored hand.

The scroll is sealed. In fact it has seven seals. Wax seals not only kept a scroll from unraveling. They could be used to authenticate the sender of a message if an impression was made in the wax by a signet ring giving the seal of the sender.

The majority of scrolls were only written on the inside. An "opisthograph" was less common, with writing on both sides. Perhaps it suggests that the judgments that are to come are complete, thorough, and costly.

2. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a great voice, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?"
We learn that this special scroll cannot be opened by just anyone. It has to be opened by the right person, someone who is worthy. We do not yet know exactly who that person is as the drama unfolds. Nor do we know yet what the qualifications are for a person who is worthy.

3. And no one was able in the sky nor on the land nor under the land to open the scroll nor to look at it.
At first, no one is found in three of the four domains of the universe of John's day. First, the sky or heaven is mentioned. No angel is worthy to open the scroll. On the land or earth, no one is found. No human, no animal, no tree is worthy. Under the earth is the realm of the dead. No one there is worthy either. The only other possibility would be the sea, but either it is included with the land or it is assumed that no one would be worthy in that chaotic domain.

4. And I cried much because no one was found worthy to open the scroll nor to look at it.
It makes John very sad that no one is found worthy to open the scroll or to look at its contents. Perhaps John knows that this scroll entails justice on evil. When this scroll is opened, evil will come to an end. Justice will be served. All will be made right with God.

5. And one of the elders says to me, "Do not cry. The lion from the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered to open the scroll and its seven seals.
Now for the turning point of the plot. Someone is worthy after all. Someone has overcome. It is the root of David--the Messiah, the anointed one, the Christ. The "root of David" is the branch of David (Jer. 33:15), a shoot from the stem of Jesse (Isa. 11:1). The lion of the tribe of Judah (cf. Gen. 49:9-10) is another metaphor for the king of God's people.

Jesus is worthy because he as conquered. We do not yet know what he has conquered, but we know he has been victorious. Accordingly, he is qualified to take the throne of David.

6. And I saw in the middle of the throne and the four beasts and in the middle of the elders a Lamb having stood as having been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God having been sent into all the land.
The paradox of the revelation is that this king who has conquered has conquered by his death. He is not only a lion and a root. He is a Lamb, a slaughtered lamb. His sacrifice makes him worthy, as we will soon see.

The Lamb is the center of attention. He stands between God (the Father) on the throne and the elders representing victorious humanity and the beasts representing the creation. He has seven horns and seven eyes--the perfect number of completion. They represent the seven spirits of God which are the angels sent out into all the earth and especially to guard all the churches.

7. And he went and has taken from the right hand of the One sitting on the throne.
The Lamb is worthy. No one else can take the scroll, only him. For those who are looking for a sermon illustration, you might consider the comic book hero Thor. Only Thor is worthy to lift his hammer. Others, no matter how strong, cannot lift it.

So only Jesus is worthy to take the scroll from God the Father's hands.

8. And when he took the scroll, the four beasts and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
Unlike later in Revelation when the angel will tell John to get up, no one is told to get up when they bow before Jesus. Jesus is worthy of their worship. The creation recognizes it. Victorious humanity recognizes it.

The harps of the elders reflect the beauty, peace, and harmony that the Lamb brings to all things. The incense shows that what is about to happen is an answer to the prayers of all the saints, all the "holy ones" who trust in God and Christ. They have been waiting and longing for this moment.

9. And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were slain and you purchased for God with your blood from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
We now find out why the Lamb is worthy to open the seals on the scroll. The basis is the sacrificial death of Jesus. He is a sacrificial lamb. His sacrifice has made possible the redemption of the world. The price to purchase them was his blood.

From what is said we cannot go much further to explain exactly how this works. Christians in later centuries have tried to expand on the logic of redemption. Is the blood paid to the Devil? Certainly nothing like that is said here. Is this some mathematical substitution of punishment? Such an idea goes well beyond anything said here.

What we can say is that a sacrificial metaphor is used. Jesus' death was like a sacrifice. It was like a payment in blood. There is a sense of satisfying the order of things. God's wrath is not mentioned in this verse. Justice is not mentioned. There is simply a sense that humanity owes something, and the only way to pay that debt is with Jesus' blood.

The redemption is universal in scope. It's value extends to every tribe, language, people, and nation. We should not think of nations at this time like modern nation-states. They are more like realms run by a particular people. So the Romans were Italians who subjugated other people-groups. The people groups (laos) are within the "nations" (ethnē).

10. ... and you made them for our God a kingdom and priests and they will rule on the land.
Those from all these different places have become part of a kingdom, the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is a kingdom of priests and kings. As priests, they administer the worship of God. They bring sacrifices of praise. They mediate the worship of God to those who have not yet believed.

They are kings too, for they will prevail over all the forces that resist God on the earth. Everyone in God's kingdom, both small and great is a king. It does not matter whether you were born a Jew or a Greek. It does not matter if you are a man or a woman. It does not matter if you were born rich or poor. It doesn't matter if you're black or white. Everyone in this kingdom is a king, and everyone in this kingdom is a priest. And we will all rule the earth.

11. And I saw and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the beasts and the elders and the number of them was ten thousands of ten thousands and thousands of thousands. 12. saying with a great voice, "Worthy is the Lamb who has been slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!"
Now we see how the story will end. We have seventeen more chapters to see it finally, but this is how the story ends, with the celebration of heaven and earth about the final redemption of the cosmos. This is the consummation of the creation, everything in the world as it is supposed to be, as it was created to become.

In the chapters that come, we will argue that the key to Revelation is to discern three moments in the story of history that is becoming. First is the moment of the Lamb that is slain. This is the moment when salvation is accomplished. The rest of the story is simply playing out its consequences.

Another moment is the final judgment/salvation/consummation of history. All will be set right in the cosmos. Those who reject God will no longer be present. Those who are victorious will be saved and will reign. A new creation will commence.

Then there is the in between time, the time in which we currently live. From one standpoint, this is a time of tribulation. From another standpoint, this is the millennial reign of Christ. These three moments are the key that unlocks the imagery of the book.

So in the consummation of all things all creation will praise the Lamb. First, in heaven there are the angels. Ten thousands of ten thousands and thousands of thousands. This is the highest number John could imagine. Then there are the elders and beasts, perhaps signifying the victorious of humanity and the creation.

And what they sing is the worthiness and praise of the Lamb, just as they have sung the praise of God the Father in chapter 4. The chapter divisions were of course not part of the original book. These two chapters go together as a sub-unit of Revelation. They sing those words so familiar from Handel's Messiah: "Worthy is the Lamb who has been slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing."

The Lamb that was slain is the King of kings with all power and strength. Whatever wealth the world might have had is nothing next to he who will now own it all. To the Lamb belongs all wisdom--he is the wisdom and word of God. To the Lamb belongs all honor, glory, and blessing. As we have previously mentioned, these are the currency of an honor-shame culture, the very stuff of praise.

13. And every creation that is in the sky and on the land and under the land and in the sea and all the things in them I heard saying to the One sitting on the throne and to the Lamb, "Blessing and honor and glory and power forever and ever."
Now the praise of heaven extends to the earth. All four domains of the creation praise both God the Father and the Lamb--the sky, the earth, the sea, and the domain of the dead below the earth. [1] This is how it will all end, with the cosmos in harmony in unanimous worship of God the Father and Christ.

Their praise is of the glory of them, their supreme worthiness as the objects of worship. Their praise is of their supreme power over all things. Nothing can oppose them. And this worthiness will extend to eternity future. Of this kingdom there will be no end.

14. And the four beasts were saying, "Amen," and the twenty-four elders fell and worshiped.
The beasts and elders concur. "Amen." They are in agreement with the now unison praise of all that is. They fall down and worship both God the Father and the Lamb. They will not be told to get up. The worship of God and Jesus is the way it must be and will be.

[1] Of course this is an example of God meeting the biblical authors within their view of the world. We would not now think of the dead--or hell for that matter--as being at the center of the earth or below a flat earth. This is a picture we have to translate into our sense of the universe, which time may also modify. Having grown up on Star Trek, I always thought of heaven and hell being in another dimension.

Revelation 4 Explanatory Notes

Vision I
(4:1-11:18)
Great Throne Room

Douce Apocalypse Manuscript
Bodleian Library, Oxford

4.1 After these things, I looked and behold, a door having been opened in the sky and the first voice that I heard, like a trumpet speaking with me, [was] saying, "Come up here, and I will show you things that are necessary to come to pass after these things."
In apocalyptic literature, a heavenly being comes to an important figure on earth (usually a biblical figure from the past) and reveals to them what is going on in heaven and what is about to take place on earth. The message is inevitably that God wins. In the book of Revelation, Jesus is the heavenly figure and John is the recipient of the revelation.

It is in chapter 4 that the door to heaven is opened. Opening is a major theme of the book of Revelation. The church at Philadelphia has a door opened that no one can shut. When the seals on the scroll are opened, judgment is revealed.

But the most significant opening is the opening of heaven, because that is where the revelation is seen. We can actually outline the book of Revelation in terms of three great openings of heaven and what we might call three great visions in the book. These visions are not sequential but rather give us different perspectives on the same basic reality.

The first of these visions runs from 4:1-11:18 and gives the opening of the seven seals and the sounding of the seven trumpets. The second opening takes place in 11:19 with the opening of the heavenly temple. This vision gives us the symbolism of the dragon, the prostitute and the beasts. It stretches from 11:19 to 19:10. Then the final opening brings us to the end of the revelation, from 19:11-22:7.

The expression, "after these things" is also significant. It also indicates a transition on some level in the revelation. Here it marks a transition from the more overtly "letter" part of the text to the more apocalyptic part.

To indicate the otherworldliness of the speaker, the voice is described as like that of a trumpet. In other places, we will hear that heavenly sounds are like many waters. These are attempts to find reference points on the earth to describe something that is on a completely different scale and magnitude. At the same time, the point of such imagery is the overall experience. As we will argue, Revelation does not give us a play-by-play of future events. It gives us a fantastical feel of the same basic truths over and over again.

2. Immediately I came to be in spirit and, behold, a throne was in the sky and upon the throne, One sitting. 3. And the one sitting was like in appearance to jasper stone and carnelian and a rainbow around the throne like in appearance to emerald. 
John indicated that he was in the spirit in chapter 1, when the revelation began (1:10). There seems to be a sense that to visit heaven requires him to be in spirit rather than in body--at least at this point of his existence while he still has an earthly body. The Jewish worldview at this time saw the earth as flat and the heavens as a layer cake of skies.

In fact, the Greek word ouranos means "heaven" or "sky" interchangeably--they were one and the same in their minds. They thought of heaven as sky, straight up. Thus when Jesus ascends to heaven, he is ascending straight up to the highest sky (cf. Acts 1:11). [1] For this reason, I have often translated the word ouranos as "sky" instead of "heaven" in other translations, so that we get a more accurate feel for what John was thinking.

The throne room of God in heaven is ground zero for the universe. This is the heart of hearts for all that is. Of course even this image is a picture. If God created the universe out of nothing, then God's essence is not in this universe. We may have slightly better categories to think about such things today than John did, but not too much better. The universe has become fantastically more vast to us than it was for John, but it still comes nowhere close to knowing God as God is beyond this universe.

So John must draw upon the most amazing things he knows in order to picture what the throne room of God might look like. He thinks of precious gems--jasper (reddish-brown stone), carnelian (an orange or orange-red stone). He thinks of rainbows and emeralds (green stone). These are only attempts. God himself is beyond our imaginations. Indeed, "he" is not even a "he," for that would require God to have genitalia. These are all metaphors.

Moses may have thought of God having body parts (cf. Exod. 33:20-23), but God has no body. God reveals God-self to us in the vastly inadequate categories of our understanding so that we can catch just a tiny glimpse of who God is. This is how revelation works. We know God by imperfect analogy and by what God is not (negative theology). We should not think of the imagery of Revelation as anything close to literal.

4. And around the throne [were] twenty-four thrones and upon the thrones [were] twenty-four elders sitting, dressed in white garments and upon their heads [were] golden crowns. 
The twenty-four elders appear in three scenes of Revelation--here in chapters 4-5, in chapter 11, and in chapter 19. Twenty-four is a multiple of twelve, so it is a special number, possibly representing the wisdom of the people of God. The leadership of synagogues centered on a group of elders, and we see this structure manifested in the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council in Jerusalem.

Early churches likely followed the same leadership structure, with house churches lead by such elders. Perhaps, as Christianity grew, the leadership of churches in whole cities may have been run by a similar council of elders. The city of Jerusalem was probably the first place where city-wide leadership of this sort was established, with James as the focal leader.

Assuming this background, the twenty-four elders may represent the leadership of the church of the ages. We should not think of them as specific people. Together, they represent the church and the wisdom of the people of God. They are dressed in white, showing that they have proved themselves worthy. They have golden crowns of victory on their heads. They have finished the race victoriously.

5. And from the throne went out lightnings and voices and thunders and seven lamps of fire burning, which are the seven spirits of God. 6. And before the throne [was] like a glassy sea like to crystal.
We have already learned that the seven lamps represent the seven churches, which in turn represent the church everywhere. The seven spirits of God are likely the seven angels who watch over those churches, representing all the angels who watch over the universal church. Lightnings, thunders, sounds once again give us a glimpse of the awesomeness of God and God's presence. These are the kinds of metaphors that help the reader grasp the "numinous" character of God--his otherworldly awesomeness.

The glassy sea appears at least twice in Revelation. We see it first here, where its glassy quality suggests it is no threat. The sea was a perilous place in ancient times, often associated with chaos. Ancient creation stories often saw creation as the emergence of order out of a watery chaos, and it is at least possible that this was the original sense of Genesis 1:1-2. The earthly sea in Revelation can also have this connotation, as we see in the beast from the sea in Revelation 13.

But the sea in heaven is glassy like crystal. It is peaceful. It is no threat to the children of God. It will become mixed with fire in 15:2, perhaps in preparation for the judgment. Revelation is not exactly clear on the relationship between this sea and the lake of fire, but the common image of fire may suggest they are the same. We will consider later whether Revelation 21:1 pictures the removal of this sea.

And in the middle of the throne and around the throne [were] four living creatures covered with eyes in front and behind. 7 And the first living creature [was] like to a lion and the second living creature [was] like to a bull and the third living creature [was] having the face as of a human and the fourth living creature [was] like to an eagle flying. 
The imagery here is drawn from Ezekiel 1. Revelation draws a good deal from the "apocalyptic" elements of the Old Testament, the parts with more fantastical imagery about heaven and the future. However, Revelation does not always use the imagery in the same way. You might say that many of the ingredients of Revelation's imagery come from the Old Testament, but it is cooking its own recipe.

In the past, some have tried to correlate the four creatures with something like the four Gospel authors. We do not really have enough evidence to indicate specific referents. It is probably best simply to them of them as John's version of the beasts of Ezekiel. But whereas in Ezekiel each beast has multiple features, these features relate to individual beasts in Revelation. In Ezekiel, each creature has four faces--one of a lion, a bull, an eagle, and a human being. In Revelation, each beast correlates to one of these faces.

In Ezekiel, there is a wheel within a wheel that is full of eyes. Here each beast is. We can only conclude that these creatures see. They see a lot! Perhaps they see everything that happens in the world, so we can be certain that God's does too.

The point is perhaps again to show us that the heavenly is beyond our comprehension. It is a fantastical place that our imagination can only dream of approaching. At the same time, perhaps they also reflect the life of the world that God has created, meaning that the whole created order is involved in the worship of God around his throne.

8 And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, around and within, filled with eyes and they are not having rest, night and day, saying,
"Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
the one who was and the one who is and the one who is coming."
The vision of Ezekiel 1 itself likely builds on the vision of Isaiah in Isaiah 6. There, seraphim fly around the throne of God crying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty" (Isa 6:3). John follows the imagery of Isaiah in seeing six wings on each beast (In Ezekiel 1:11, they have four). They praise God the Father ceaselessly. God should be praised at all times. God does not sleep, and neither should his praise ever stop. This is true from the past to the present to the future. God is the one who was and is and is coming. Revelation 1 has already described God in this way (1:8).

Time is an intriguing thing in relation to God. Certainly the Bible indicates that God goes through time with us (immanent). Yet throughout the centuries Christians have also thought of God as transcendent in a way that is beyond or outside of time as we know it. God was before time and is already at the end of time. God knows the future not least because he has already seen it.

God is also the one who is coming. In the person of Jesus, God is coming in judgment. God is also the one coming with salvation to those who are faithful to him.

9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanksgiving to the One sitting on the throne, to the one living forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall before the one sitting on the throne and they worship the one living forever and ever...
Here the whole creation praises God. All creation worships God--the angels and the living creation and humanity. Hebrews puts it this way: "You have come to Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to ten-thousands of angels in festive assembly, and to the assembly of the firstborn in the heavens and to God, the judge of all and to the spirits of the perfected righteous" (Heb. 12:22-23). The living creatures represent all the live God has created. The twenty-four elders represent all of victorious humanity.

...and they throw their crowns before the throne saying,
11. "Worthy are you, our Lord and our God,
to receive the glory and the honor and the power,
Because you created all things
And because of your will they were and they were created."
No human crown comes anywhere close to the worthiness of God. Victorious humanity casts these before God the Father. All their worthiness is nothing next to his. Of course this is likely symbolic. It is unlikely that they will constantly throw them, go pick them up, return to their seats only to throw them again and again for all eternity!

God the Father is the focus of worship in Revelation 4. Then this assembly will bow down before Jesus the Lamb in chapter 5. It would take the Church several hundred years to work out the details of the Trinity, how Christians could worship one God and yet there be three distinct persons who are worshiped. The primacy in Revelation is given in chapter 4 to God the Father. [2]

To God belongs all glory and honor. These are not always familiar concepts to us in the western world because our culture tells us to be true to ourselves and not to pay attention to what other people think about us. By contrast, the ancient world was a world of honor/shame, where primacy was put on reflecting well on your group and thus of others thinking highly of us. Honor and glory were highly valued.

God sets the standard for honor and glory. God is the one with all the power. All other glory and honor is to be measured against his standard. All other glory and honor is derivative, reflective.

Revelation draws a sharp line between God as creator and the creation. Not only did God create all things, but they were created for him. It was his decision and no one else's. The continued existence of the creation is his decision and no one else's. Although the wording of the King James Version goes beyond what John was saying, it is certainly true: "for thy pleasure they are and were created."

God did not need to create the universe. God is self-sufficient, in need of nothing outside himself. God created the world because he wanted to, for his "pleasure." He delights in us. He delights in his creation.

[1] A writing called the Testament of Levi pictured going up through three layers of sky before reaching the highest sky where God lives (cf. 2 Cor. 12:2). Another apocalypse called the Ascension of Isaiah has seven layers of sky with God in the highest sky.

[2] The Athanasian Creed of the early 400s would express that the three persons of the Trinity are "equal in glory and co-equal in majesty." The orthodox position is thus that there is no hierarchy within the Trinity.

Revelation 3 Explanatory Notes

The synagogue at Sardis

3:1 And to the angel of the assembly at Sardis write: The one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars says these things: 
The next church in the clockwise rotation is Sardis. Sardis is a city on the plains of Asia Minor, a little more than fifty miles east of Smyrna. A Jewish synagogue at Sardis has been extensively uncovered and indicates a thriving Jewish community in the city at the time of Revelation.

I know your works, that you have a name that you live and you are dead. 2. Become awake and strengthen the remaining things that were about to die. For I have not found your works completed before my God.
Jesus and John are mostly negative toward the church at Sardis, with almost nothing positive to say. The first remarks are an indictment of their deadness and a call to awake. By contrast, they seem to think that they are alive. Jesus and John say that their works are not complete. They have not gone all the way with their faith. Their faith has not worked its way into all of their life as a church.

There are parts of their faith that are about to die but apparently still have hope. This is what happens when faith does not make itself manifest in our lives. It either grows until it takes over the whole of our lives and is completed, or it wanes until it disappears and we are dead again. It is not static or stagnant. It is always moving, either growing or waning.

3. Therefore, remember how you have received and heard and keep and repent. Therefore, if you do not wake up I will come like a thief and you will never know at what sort of our hour I will come upon you. 
We will find no indication of a doctrine of eternal security in Revelation. Those whose works do not prevail, those who do not emerge from tribulation victorious, will not be part of the kingdom of God. At the same time, there is opportunity to repent. Jesus does not immediately remove the star of a church. The very existence of these admonitions shows that God wants the churches to prevail, and he gives ample warning before cutting them off.

Yet we may not know when God has had enough. Theologically, we can presume that God cuts off no one who has not already left him. God is not a "gotcha" God. God only further "hardens" the hearts of those who have already chosen hardness.

But for those whose hearts have any softness remaining, the reminder of the swiftness of judgment may be just what is needed to snap the person back to repentance. Memory here is important, memory of God's past mercy and faithfulness. Memory of previous forgiveness and grace. A person who is asleep can be awakened before their sleep turns to death.

4. But you have a few names in Sardis that did not defile their garments and they are walking with me in white [garments], because they are worthy. 
Although it did not begin on a positive note, Jesus and John end the letter to Sardis with hope. There are some believers in Sardis who have not "defiled their garments." There are some who have remained true to their initial walk with Jesus. Their actions have proven that they are worthy of salvation. Such individuals truly walk with Jesus.

Some may have difficulty with this sense that "works" matter for salvation. The Protestant Reformation has ingrained in us that justification is by faith alone. Interestingly, the "alone" part does not actually appear in Paul's writings, and James explicitly rejects justification by faith alone (Jas. 2:24).

What Paul teaches is that works of the Jewish Law--especially specifically Jewish "boundary practices" like circumcision and purity laws--cannot earn a person's acceptance with God. However, the "fruit" of the Spirit remained essential for Paul. It may at one point have been difficult for him to imagine that a person who began in Christ would not finish the race with him, but he clearly allowed for that possibility (e.g., 1 Cor. 9:27; Phil. 3:11).

Yet even then, it was not the works that earned or even maintained one's trajectory toward salvation. "Works" of God are empowered by the Spirit and activated by a heart surrendered to God. Works demonstrate faith, as James says (2:18). They do not justify in the sense necessary to enter into the people of God. They justify in the sense of confirming one is in the people of God.

5. The one who conquers thus will be dressed in white [garments], and never will I wipe away his name from the Book of Life and I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. 6. Let the one who has ears hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.
To conquer, one must prevail. The one who conquers is the one who endures. This is the person who remains faithful. Such a person is guaranteed salvation. This is clearly not "eternal security" in the sense that one can behave in any way and be saved in the end. The assumption is that the person who is saved has conquered.

Jesus is the authorizer of salvation. It is his blood that makes ultimate salvation possible. He is the instrument, the name under which our prayers are authorized to come to God. He is the one who confesses our name before God the Father and the angels. We are his people.

Philadelphia

Little uncovered in Philadelphia

7. And to the angel of the assembly at Philadelphia write:
These things the holy [one] says, the true [one], the one who has the keys of David, the one who opens and no one closes, who closes and no one opens.
Philadelphia continues the clockwise trajectory farther and farther inland. Today, very little of the ancient city is unearthed, just a small city block. The sparse ruins are a mixture of a much later cathedral overshadowing some Roman foundations.

Mention of the keys of David and the opening and closing of a door allude to Isaiah 22:22, where the keys are David are given to a man designated by God. This man then has the authority to decide for whom he opens and shuts the door forward. For Revelation, the person in question is Jesus. Jesus is the Son of David, the one with the keys of David. Jesus decides who will be able to go through the door of salvation and for whom that door will be closed.

Jesus does not do this arbitrarily. Jesus and John are not talking about "unconditional election" or "irresistible grace." As we will see with the church at Laodicea, Jesus wants the door to be open. Whether the door is opened or shut has to do with our response to his offer. But no one can open the door in their own power or on their own terms. The door opens on Jesus' terms.

Our lives are full of all sorts of open and closed doors, beyond the question of salvation. Part of our submission to God is being able to accept which doors are opened and which ones are closed. We should not be fatalistic about it. Sometimes a door is open to us but we need to turn the door handle. At other times we push and push and the door is simply locked. The wisdom is knowing the difference.

8. I know your works. Behold, I have given a door having been opened before you which no one is able to close it because you have little power and you have kept my word and you have not denied my name. 
Jesus and John are positive toward the church of Philadelphia. Like Smyrna, they have no critique for this city but only positive things to say. If the door is in danger of closing for others, the door is open for the Philadelphians. They have been faithful despite persecution, despite general powerlessness. When it would have been easier to deny Jesus' name in the short term, they have endured.

9. Behold I am delivering [you] from the synagogue of Satan who call themselves Jews but they are not but are lying. Behold I will make them so that they will come and bow before your feet and will know that I have loved you.
This is the second time Jesus and John have mentioned a "synagogue of Satan," the first being the church of Smyrna. We can imagine a similar situation where the dominant Jewish group in town is in control of the main synagogue in the city. From a worldly perspective, the smaller Jewish group of Christians--quite possibly with some Gentiles in their midst also--seems to be powerless. The dominant group thinks they are the ones in continuity with the Israel of the past.

But Jesus and John indicate the situation is exactly the opposite. The true Jews are the bullied minority that have perhaps been ousted from the main synagogue. The main synagogue is actually the synagogue of Satan rather than the synagogue of true Israel.

In the end, the dominant will kneel before the oppressed. They will know that Jesus and God the Father have loved the church at Philadelphia rather than them. The difference is true submission to God's will, particularly as it has been manifested in Jesus, the Son of David. Jesus is the Messiah, the anointed one of Israel, the king.

10. Because you kept the word of my endurance, even I will keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole inhabited world to test those who dwell on the earth. 11. I am coming quickly. 
Throughout the book of Revelation, as with much of the New Testament, we get the clear sense that Jesus is going to return soon. It is important to keep this framework in mind as we move through the book. John expected that Jesus was about to return and thus that to speak about his own day was to speak about the end times. We once again remember the early Christian prayer, marana tha, "Our Lord, come!"

In John's mind, what we now call the "preterist" position (Revelation was about the first century) and the "futurist" position (Revelation is about the end times) were one and the same. The intervening time has stretched out the message so that it applies to types of figures in all of history (the "idealist" position). As we said in the Introduction, it is best to read Revelation primarily in light of the first century and then to see its references as archetypal types of figures that continually appear in history.

The Philadelphians will be rescued from the tribulation that is about to come. We should not think of this tribulation as a seven year period. John thinks of the time between now and Christ's return as a time of tribulation. From time to time, the church has faced such tribulation. Sometimes God rescues the church from it. At other times he does not.

The reward to the Philadelphians for their faithfulness is escape from the hour of testing. It is always difficult to process those passages in the New Testament that blur the final judgment with the current situation of the addressees (e.g., Mark 13). The Philadelphians to which Jesus and John speak have come and gone. They may very well have escaped a significant persecution in their day.

A final judgment is also coming. It will come on the whole world. We can safely say from Revelation that while the church is rarely exempt entirely from suffering and tribulation, God will rescue the church before the final judgment of the earth.

Hold what you have so that no one should take your crown. 12. The one who conquers I will give him a pillar in the temple of God and he will never go outside again and I will write upon him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that is descending from the sky from my God and my new name. 13. the one who has ears, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.
The final words to the church at Philadelphia are encouraging. This is the second mention of a crown as a reward of honor for those who prevail to the end (first in 2:10). However, the crown is not guaranteed. Technically, no one can take it away from them, but other people can pressure in a way that leads to the abandonment of faith.

Jesus and John use the image of believers as pillars in a new temple. The notion of the church as a counter-temple appears here and there in the New Testament. Peter and John and James the Lord's brother are reputed to be pillars in a counter-temple in Galatians 2:9. Paul calls the Corinthian church the temple of God in 1 Corinthians 3:16.

In the early days of Christianity, this language was probably not meant to suggest that God was replacing the temple but that the existing temple was in such need of purification that a substitute was needed for the time being. But after the temple was destroyed, it became clearer to the early Christians that Christ had satisfied all need for a temple (cf. Hebrews 10:14). Accordingly, there is no need for a temple in the new Jerusalem (Rev. 21:22).

The new Jerusalem is mentioned here but will not be mentioned again in Revelation until chapter 21, where it does indeed descend from heaven to earth after the final judgment is completed. Naming had special significance in the biblical texts. It implies identity, and to know someone's name is to know them and thus, in some cases, to have a power over them.

We do not, of course, have any power over God by knowing God's name. We do however have a power that those who do not confess his name do not have. We know the city that will prevail for eternity, and it will not be the city of Rome. The verses do not make clear what the new name of Jesus is. Certainly he is now enthroned as Lord and King.

Laodicea

Ruins of Laodicea, with the white
limestone of Hierapolis in distance 

14. And to the angel of the assembly at Laodicea write: The Amen says these things, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. 
The final church in the series of seven is the church at Laodicea, forever remembered as the lukewarm church. Laodicea completes the clockwise sequence of churches and is the church that is the farthest south and inland. Jesus is the "Amen," the closing statement to the last church. He is also the "firstborn of all creation" (Col. 1:15), another theme that Revelation shares with the Gospel of John (1:1).

It is interesting that two other churches nearby are not mentioned--the church of Colossae and the church of Hierapolis. Colossae was likely destroyed by an earthquake around 61 and was never rebuilt. However, Hierapolis was a city with a significant Christian presence in the second century. Either the church of Laodicea must have been more prominent at this time or Jesus/John wanted to single it out because of its need for admonition.

15. I know your works that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. 16. Thus because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17. Because you say, "I am rich and I have prospered, and I have need of nothing." 
Nearby Hierapolis was known for its hot springs. Indeed, it still is. Although Colossae had been destroyed by an earthquake several decades before Revelation, there was still the fresh cold water that flowed down from Mt. Cadmus in that direction. By comparison, the water that reached Laodicea by aqueduct was tepid.

In the story of Goldilocks, the middle soup, chair, and bed is just right. In the case of Laodicea, it was just wrong. There is a time when hot springs are just what the doctor ordered. There are other times when a cold drink of water hits the spot. Laodicea was neither. It was something worth spitting out.

What is worse is that they thought they were hot stuff. And they may have had material wealth. They may have prospered from an earthly perspective. The church in America today is a relatively prosperous church from a financial perspective. In God's eyes, however, such things are completely irrelevant to godliness. Indeed, they are more likely a distraction to godliness than a benefit. There are plenty of churches and plenty in the church today who think they are doing great, living pleasant lives of ease.

But you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. 18. I advise you to buy gold from me having been refined from fire so that you might be rich and white garments so that you might wear and the shame of your nakedness might not appear and to rub on eye salve on your eyes so that you might see.
In the case of the Laodiceans, it was not true. Their ease had blinded them. They thought they were rich but they were poor in anything that mattered to God. They likely had great clothing but they were naked in God's eyes. They thought they could see everything so clearly, but they were blind to the things of God.

God's gold is not like earthly gold. Those who hoard. Those who say, "It is mine." Those who think they actually merit what they have and that those without deserve what they do not have--they are poor in God's eyes. They are spiritually naked. They think those with different values are blind when in fact it is they who do not see.

They need the salve of the Spirit to give their eyes sight. "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a wealthy person to enter the kingdom of God," Jesus said (Mark 10:25). It is easier for the church to be the church when it is poor and persecuted than when it is prosperous and has power.

19. As many of those as I myself love, I correct and discipline. Therefore, be earnest and repent. 
Verse 19 is perhaps an allusion to Proverbs 3:12, which is also quoted in Hebrews 12:6. It does no good to discipline those who are past redemption, whose hearts are hardened. They do not listen to correction. They are not interested in it, and it often makes them act worse in rebellion. These are they that the Lord simply lets go to their own self-destruction (cf. Rom. 1:28).

But the Laodiceans are still redeemable. They are not so far gone that they cannot be reclaimed. This letter is discipline. John's hope is that they will repent and turn back from their current course.

20. Behold I have stood at the door and I am knocking. If someone should hear my voice and should open the door, I will come in to him and I will dine with him and he himself with me. 
This is a well known memory verse for many of us as a child. In context it indicates that, while the Laodiceans currently have their door closed to Jesus, he is eager for them to reopen it. Contrast their situation with that of the Philadelphians, whose door is open and cannot be closed. In fact, it is opened by Jesus himself.

In the case of the Laodiceans, they are the ones who have apparently shut the door. Jesus was once apparently in the house with them, but not any more. Jesus has not given up on them. He wants to dine with them again. At the end of Revelation, there will be a marriage supper for the church with Christ. That will be true dining, like the Last Supper Jesus had with his disciplines on earth.

21. The one who conquers--I will give to him to sit with me on my throne as I also have conquered and have sat with my Father on his throne. 22. Let the one who has ears hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.
The final letter ends as the other ones did, with an invitation to those who have ears to hear. Again, the need to prevail to the end is mentioned. Those who turn from God before the end will not be part of the kingdom. Those who conquer will rule with Christ as co-heirs (Rom. 8:17). Jesus himself promised his disciples that they would sit on thrones judging the children of Israel (Luke 22:30).