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The Upper Register

Introduction to Revelation

Authorship: John

Section titled “Authorship: John”

  1. Arguments for Johannine authorship

    1. “John” (3x: 1:4, 9; 22:8)
      1. What other John was so well-known that he could simply refer to himself as “John” without qualification?
      2. John was reported to have lived in Ephesus near end of his life, which comports with the special concern for the 7 churches of Asia Minor.
    2. Church tradition
      1. Justin Martyr (mid 2nd cent)
      2. Melito, Bishop of Sardis (c. AD 165)
      3. Irenaeus (c. AD 180)
      4. The Muratorian Canon (c. AD 180)
      5. Tertullian, Hippolytus, Origen (3rd cent)
    3. Common words, phrases, and ideas across the Johannine corpus
      1. Jesus as “The Word of God” (John 1:1; Rev 19:13)
      2. Jesus as the Lamb (John 1:29; Rev 5:6)
      3. Jesus as Shepherd (John 10:11, 14; Rev 2:27; 7:17; 12:5; 19:15)
      4. Manna (John 6:31, 49, 58; Rev 2:17)
      5. Living water (John 4:10-11; 7:37-38; Rev 7:17)
      6. The blood of Jesus (John 6:53-56; 19:34; Rev 1:5; 5:9; 7:14; 12:11)
      7. Eschatological temple (John 2:21; 4:21; Rev 21:22)
      8. The commandments of God/Jesus (John 14:15, 21; 15:10; 1 Jn 2:3-4; 3:22, 24; 5:2-3; 2 Jn 1:6; Rev 12:17; 14:12)
      9. Darkness vs. Light (John 1:5, 9; 3:19; 8:12; 12:35, 46; 1 Jn 1:5-6; 2:8-9; Rev 1:16; 8:12; 9:2; 16:10; 18:1; 21:23-24; 22:5)
      10. Truth vs. Falsehood (John 8:44; 1 Jn 1:6, 8; 2:4, 21; 4:6; Rev 2:2; 3:9; 14:5; 21:27)
      11. False prophet(s) (1 Jn 4:1; Rev 16:2; 19:20; 20:10)
      12. The wrath of God (John 3:36; Rev 6:16-17; 11:18; 14:10, 19; 15:1, 7; 16:1, 19; 19:15)
      13. The verb “keep” (tēreō) (18x in GJohn; 7x in Letters; 11x in Rev)

  2. Responses to arguments against Johannine authorship

    1. “The author does not claim to be an apostle.”
      1. Response:
        1. He was so well-known, it wasn’t necessary.
        2. He does claim to be instrument of revelation (1:1; 22:9, 18-19).
    2. “Theological differences with other Johannine literature.”
      1. God’s love (GJohn & Letters) vs. God’s wrath (Rev).
      2. Realized eschatology (GJohn & Letters) vs. future eschatology (Rev).
      3. Response:
        1. The alleged theological differences are overstated.
        2. GJohn & Letters speak not only of God’s love (John 3:16; 1 John 4:7-11) but also of God’s wrath (John 3:36).
        3. Rev speaks not only of God’s wrath but also of God’s love (Rev 1:5; 3:9).
        4. “Different settings and purposes … adequately explain these differences in emphasis” (Carson & Moo, 703).
    3. “Differences in the Greek style.”
      1. Hebraic Greek is more pronounced than GJohn and Letters.
      2. “Revelation exhibits a quantity of striking solecisms which are based especially on inattention to agreement” (BDF, Greek Grammar §136).
      3. Response:
        1. No amanuensis/secretary was available on Patmos (G. E. Ladd)
        2. Immediacy of the visionary experience (T. Zahn)
        3. Protest against upper classes (A. Y. Collins)
        4. To signal an OT quotation (G. K. Beale)

Date: 90s

Section titled “Date: 90s”

  1. Minority view: AD 65, five years before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans

    1. Preterists (e.g., Kenneth Gentry) hold this early dating as part of their overall view that Rev is a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem
    2. Rev 17:9-11:
      1. Seven mountains were well-known symbol for Rome
      2. Twelve Roman emperors from Julius Caesar to Domitian:
        1. Julius Caesar (49–44 BC)
        2. Augustus (27 BC – AD 14)
        3. Tiberius (AD 14–37)
        4. Caligula (AD 37–41)
        5. Claudius (AD 41–54)
        6. Nero (AD 54–68)—the 6th king (“one is”)
        7. Galba (June 68 – Jan 69)—the 7th king (“only a little while”)
        8. Otho (Jan–April 69)—Gentry skips
        9. Vitellius (April–Dec 69)—Gentry skips
        10. Vespasian (69–79)—an 8th king (= “the beast”)
        11. Titus (79–81)
        12. Domitian (81–96)
      3. Should we start with Julius Caesar or Augustus?
      4. Should Galba, Otho, and Vitellius be included?
      5. Gentry argues that writing “Nero Caesar” in Hebrew letters adds up to the number of the beast (666), but Vespasian is the beast!
      6. Mark L. Hitchcock, “A Critique of the Preterist View of Revelation 17:9-11 and Nero,” Bibliotheca Sacra 164 (Oct-Dec 2007): 472-485.
      7. This is “the Achilles heel” of preterism (Hitchcock), since their entire interpretation of the book depends on a pre-AD 70 date.

  2. Majority view: somewhere in the 90s

    1. “Toward the end of the reign of Domitian” (Irenaeus, Adv. Haer. 5.30.3)
      1. Domitian reigned AD 81–96.
      2. Victorinus, Eusebius, Clement of Alexandria, Origen agree
    2. Persecution of Christians in Asia Minor for refusing to worship the Emperor (2:9, 13-14; 13:15) fits 90s but not AD 65 when Nero’s persecution of Christians occurred in Rome only, not in Asia Minor.
    3. The conditions of the 7 churches of Asia Minor fits 90s better than 60s (Carson & Moo):
      1. Spiritual stagnation.
      2. The wealth of the church of Laodicea—decades must have passed since the city was totally destroyed in earthquake in AD 60.
      3. The existence of churches of Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia - not founded by Paul according to Acts, possibly daughter churches of Ephesus or Laodicea. If so, that seems to require a bit more time.

Revelation is a Mixture of Three Genres

Section titled “Revelation is a Mixture of Three Genres”

  1. Epistle (1:4, 11; chs. 2–3; 22:21)

  2. Prophecy (1:3; 22:7, 10, 18-19)

    1. What was far off in the future from Daniel’s point of view (“in the latter days,” “after this,” Dan 2:28-29, 45) is now about to unfold (“quickly,” 1:1; “near,” 1:3) (Beale, 28-32)
    2. Revelation is saturated with allusions to the OT (500 allusions according to Beale), specifically to OT prophets:
      1. Visions of God on his throne surrounded by angels (Isa 6; Ezek 1; Dan 7)
      2. Scroll of judgment, eaten by prophet (Ezek 2-3)
      3. Colored horses of judgment (Zech 1, 6)
      4. Plague of locusts as judgment (Joel 1-2)
      5. 3.5 years of tribulation (Dan 7:25; 12:7)
      6. Beast with ten horns (Dan 7)
      7. Gog and Magog (Ezek 38-39)
      8. The fall of Babylon (Isa 13-14, 21; Jer 50-51)
      9. The day of (the wrath of) the Lord (Isa 13:6, 9; etc.)
      10. Hiding in caves from the Lord’s coming (Isa 2:19, 21)
      11. Sun turning black, moon turning to blood (Joel 2:31)
      12. New heavens and new earth (Isa 65:17)
      13. Water flowing from the temple (Ezek 47)
    3. 10:7 is a key verse: “But that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.”
    4. “John not only writes in the tradition of the OT prophets, but understands himself to be writing at the climax of the tradition, when all the eschatological oracles of the prophets are about to be finally fulfilled” (Bauckham, The Theology of the Book of Revelation, 5).

  3. Apocalyptic, from apokalypsis = “revelation” (1:1).

    1. Intensification of prophecy (Beale).
    2. “A genre in which a revelation is given by God, to a human seer, through an otherworldly mediator, disclosing future events and/or transcendent reality, which is intended to affect the understanding and behavior of the audience” (Charles H. Talbert, The Apocalypse, 4).
    3. OT roots of apocalyptic: the visions in Ezekiel, Daniel, and Zechariah.
    4. Jewish apocalyptic literature (Enoch, 2 Esdras, Apoc. of Abraham, etc.).

Schools of Interpretation

Section titled “Schools of Interpretation”

  1. Preterism

    1. Rev is a prophecy of the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70
    2. Everything in the book has already happened in the past (“preterism”)
    3. Babylon = national (unbelieving) Israel, which persecutes the saints

  2. Historicism

    1. Rev narrates church history in chronological order
    2. Fall of Roman Empire, rise of papacy, the Reformation

  3. Dispensational futurism

    1. Rev 4 on is totally future, events leading up to return of Christ
    2. Prophecy is pre-written history.
    3. Dispensational theology
      1. Pre-tribulation rapture (“church” does not occur after 4:1)
      2. Seven years of tribulation
      3. The reign of the Antichrist
      4. Battle of Armageddon
      5. Second Coming of Christ
      6. 1000 reign of Christ over restored Israel (premillennialism)
      7. Nations gather for another battle
      8. Day of judgment
      9. Eternal state

  4. Redemptive-Historical Idealism (Beale)

    1. Continual battle between good and evil, between God and the Devil, between Christ and the Antichrist, between God’s faithful people and the unbelieving world that opposes God’s people.

    2. The antagonists - two sets of three key characters:

      God Satan
      The Lamb The Beast
      The Bride-City The Harlot-City

    3. Recapitulation: The second coming of Christ and final judgment occurs multiple times at the visionary level (6:12-17; 11:14-18; 14:14-20; 16:17-21; 19:11-21; 20:9-15).

    4. Historical fulfillment both progressive and final:

      Progressive Final
      The Dragon wages war on the saints throughout history (Rev. 12:17; Gen. 3:15). One last battle at the end of history.
      Many beasts (Rev. 17:9–11; cf. 1 John 2:18). One final Beast (2 Thess. 2:3–8).
      Many judgments throughout history. One final judgment at the return of Christ.

Purpose

Section titled “Purpose”

  1. “Revelation functions as an antidote to Christian assimilation into a culture with an alien ethos … Revelation is an anti-assimilationist tract designed to inculcate first-commandment faithfulness among its auditors” (Talbert, 111, 114).

  2. But this will involve suffering, perhaps even martyrdom.

  3. Encouragement to endure suffering in view of the future reward

    1. “Blessed is/are …” (1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6-7; 22:14)
    2. God will reward his faithful servants (11:18; 22:12).

  4. Exhortation to be paradoxical conquerors

    1. 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21 — promises to the conquerors
    2. 5:5 — Christ conquered by suffering
    3. 12:11 — they conquered the Dragon by the blood of the Lamb
    4. 15:2 — those who conquered the beast
    5. 17:14 — the Lamb will conquer them
    6. 21:7 — concluding promise to the conqueror

  5. “The focus of the revelation John received from God is how the church is to conduct itself in the midst of an ungodly world. The heavenly revelation gives an entirely different perspective from that offered by the world. Believers are faced with the choice of lining their lives and conduct up with one perspective or the other … Believers are facing the threat of compromise in one form or another … The visions of chs. 4–21 convey truth and direction from God as to the nature of the battle raging in the heavenlies and how believers are to respond to this battle” (Beale, 6).

  6. It’s not a coded message pertaining to events way off in the distant future, but a call to engage the spiritual battle!

  7. “Rather than simply consoling his fellow Christians in a situation of grave crisis, he wrote the book to point out a crisis that many of them did not perceive” (A. Y. Collins, Crisis and Catharsis, 77).