Thursday, September 28, 2006

Psalm 2 and the Book of Revelation 2

I've been trying to read Revelation with Psalm 2 glasses on

3. Themes and Allusions

These vary in how specifically they echo Psalm 2 (i.e. I’m pretty convinced they do so intentionally, but judge for yourself).

The world united in revolt (Psalm 2:1-3): See 11:10, 13:3 and 7-14, 16:14, 17:13-14, 19:19. Two things strike me as interesting here in the way John draws on Psalm 2; first is the role which the beast and the dragon play in unifying the world and second is the way that the revolt against Christ is manifested in persecution/war against his people/saints/prophets.

God’s terrifying wrath (Psalm 2:5): See 6:15-17, 11:13. We should note that in Psalm 2 God’s wrath is manifested in his declaration that he’s established his King on Zion (Psalm 2:6), see 11:15-18 (a passage saturated in Psalm 2 allusions) and 14:1.

The swiftness of Judgment (Psalm 2:12): Psalm 2 warns that the Son’s ‘wrath is quickly kindled’ and Revelation 18 echoes this idea of swift and unexpected judgment, see 18:7, 8, 9, 10, 17, 19. The target is Babylon, which is associated with (but not the same as) the kings of the earth in 17:2 and 18:9.

The ‘Gospel Call’ (Psalm 2:10-12): This is echoed in the eternal gospel of 14:7 and the global reign of the Lord God Almighty in 15:3-4.

The Beattitude (Psalm 2:12): The ‘blessed are’ formula crops up all over Revelation (yes there are seven, none of them directly quote from Psalm 2, several of them come after ‘Psalm-2-esque’ proclamations of judgment and or warning), see 1:3, 14:13, 16:15, 19:9, 20:6, 22:7, 22:14. The ‘refuge’ is perhaps alluded to in 7:15.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Shalom Pete.

You are correct to interpret Revelation as it relates to Psalm 2 but you need to broaden your understanding somewhat.

In the Revelation Y'shua says that one of the overcomers from the Church of Thyatira (Catholic Church) will rule the world with a Rod of Iron, just as Y'shua will.

We then find out in chapter 12 who this person is and that is the Male Child.

Thus, though the primary application of Psalm 2 is to Y'shua himself, in these end days it will be applied secondarily to another individual who is, then, Y'shua's son -this is what the Apocalypse or the Unveiling is all about.

I like to call it Theoferrum.

Godsteel...

http://www.google.com/search?q=theoferrum&hl=en&filter=0