Apocalypse Noun

Here's the (only) essay I did for one of the highlight-modules of this semester - 'Biblical Theology and the Book of Revelation'. I'd be interested to know what others who did the essay think, and what others who didn't think about how what is discussed in the essay could be put to pastoral or evangelistic use.

(NB: This essay is based on a particular reading of Revelation, not new to the church by any means, but unfamiliar to most of us in the contemporary evangelical UK scenario. In this view the book is primarily about the events of AD70 when God judged Old Israel and made way for New Israel (Church). Obviously the last three chapters at least are still 'future' to us.)

(NB: Bible references are mainly in the footnotes, sorry, but hey, I was working to a word limit)

How does John use the idea of ‘name’ in the book of Revelation and what is its significance?

The idea of ‘name’ is used frequently in John’s Apocalypse. This is indicated by the occurrence of the Greek word /oνομα/ (or variant) 34 times across 29 verses of the book.[1] This essay will seek to show that John’s usage is largely rooted in an Old Testament Covenantal use of this concept, interpreted Christologically. It will also seek to show that the term is thus used as a tool (one of many John employs throughout the Apocalypse) for establishing his central contrast[2] between Babylon and the New Jerusalem, between the Kingdom of Satan and that of Christ, between idolatrous Israel coming under judgment and the New Israel awaiting promised salvation.[3] This essay will proceed by examining and discussing the various uses of the name concept.

The first usage of ‘name’ in Revelation (2:3) introduces one of the main ways the concept is used – to describe the faithfulness of God’s people. This same usage occurs three other times in the letters to the seven churches (2:13, 3:4, 3:8) each time as a commendation of the church for allegiance to Christ in various different ways. Reflection on the possible background for this usage suggests it is best understood in a covenantal sense. Throughout scripture the name of God is connected with a revelation of his character which he alone can fully know and reveal.[4] To know God’s name is to know him and be in an intimate relationship with him due to his self-revelation.[5] John in his gospel has already ably shown the relationship between the revealed name of God and Christ’s own name,[6] and these texts in Revelation assume such a link. To be faithful to Christ’s name is to trust in his self-revelation and to maintain identification with his character. This is seen in the way it is associated with commendations for faithfulness in suffering, doctrinal purity and perhaps even public witness.[7] This fidelity amounts to covenant faithfulness, as is confirmed by those texts in the Old Testament which relate the name of God to covenant faithfulness on the part of his people.[8] In this way then ‘name’ functions to flesh out aspects of the appropriate response to the message of the book which John is calling for in his readers.[9]

A similar Old Testament framework is doubtless behind John’s usage of ‘name’ with respect to the blessings promised to the faithful throughout the book. So in 2:17 the faithful are promised a ‘new name’ written on a white stone, evoking both their future vindication by Christ and the stones of remembrance worn by Aaron in the most holy place.[10] This ‘new name’ could be understood to be either the believer’s name or the name of God/Christ as revealed to the believer and placed on him in 3:12 and 14:1.[11] However, if this ‘name’ is understood as “the divinely-ordained definition of himself as belonging to the covenant of the Lord Jesus Christ”[12] then neither option is mutually exclusive of the other.[13] In other words, God will faithfully remember those who overcome, protect them and bring them to share in Christ’s victory (as suggested by his ‘name’ in 19:16) because they are marked out as belonging to him by virtue of faith-union.[14] This ‘new name’ thus suggests the typological fulfilment of prophetic ‘new covenant’ promises in Christ and in him also the Church.[15]

Similar ideas are in view in 22:4, 14:1 and 3:12 all of which describe God’s people as in some way bearing his name or having his name put on them.[16] This must be understood in the light of the Old Testament references to Israel as those called by God’s name, which is often related to blessing and salvation, including protection from and victory over their enemies. [17] This is confirmed by the similarity between the naming of these passages and the forehead sealing in 7:3 and 9:4 which is undoubtedly ‘a sign of ownership and protection’ and covenant membership.[18] Of all of these passages, 3:12 emerges as highly significant for our consideration of John’s usage of the ‘name’ concept not least because it contains three interwoven[19] ‘name’ promises for the faithful which in turn gather together several differing strands of Old Testament uses of the concept. Christ promises to “write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem…and my own new name” in the context of the believer who overcomes being established as a pillar in the temple. Thus 3:12 juxtaposes all the major Old Testament images related to ‘name’, i.e. God’s revealed Covenant Name, and his people, the city of Jerusalem and the temple - all of which were said to bear his name.[20] The inclusion of Jesus’ own new name may indicate that the basis on which these Old Testament allusions are being used and applied to the Church is Christological.

The same covenantal background is operating in those texts referring to the believer’s own name in relation to covenant blessings. 3:5 undoubtedly has as its background the proposed covenant expulsion in Exodus 32:32-33, Deuteronomy 9:14 and Psalm 69:28, as well as the books in Malachi 3:16 (referring to an Israelite remnant remaining faithful to God’s name) and Daniel 12.[21]

Together these undoubtedly indicate the guarantee of enjoying the blessings of Revelation 21-22, in particular God’s presence (given the link with God’s own name in all the allusions).[22] In addition however we must ask why these Old Testament allusions would be used by John unless he wished to portray the church as enjoying the fulfillment of a variety of Old Testament types, shadows and promises, in and through Christ. The self-understanding he wishes to impart or confirm to the seven churches is that in Christ they are the new Israel, the new temple and the new Jerusalem.This is confirmed by James Jordan’s outline of the “sequence” of “God’s Covenant-making” and the renewal of the Covenant throughout redemption history. Both the ‘Declaration of God’s new Name” and a new name for his people and/or “new world” are included in the sequence.[23] It would seem that such Covenant confirmation at least partly governs John’s usage of ‘name’.[24]

Therefore, thus far we conclude that John, by using the ‘name’ concept in these specific ways, is expounding his conviction that the Church is the Covenant people of God, constituted in Christ and awaiting full enjoyment of all the covenant blessings.[25] The importance of this covenantal concept within John’s usage of ‘name’ becomes clearer when we consider usages of the concept in connection with the forces of Satan and his counterfeit kingdom, to which we now turn.

Much like the letters to the seven churches, the section running from 13:1 to 15:4[26] contains several inter-related uses of the ‘name’ concept, 9 in total found in 8 verses. Of particular interest here is the way that the name concept as applied to the beast from the sea and his followers provides a contrast with the naming of Christ and his followers both in this section and elsewhere in the book. In 13:1 the beast wears blasphemous names on his forehead and proceeds (13:6) to blaspheme the name of God (in contrast to those who wear God’s name and fear it, 11:18 and 14:1). Poythress, who sees the beasts and the dragon together as a “counterfeit trinity”, suggests that the beast out of the sea is presented as a counterfeit Christ, not least because his blasphemous names contrast with Christ’s “worthy names” in chapter 19.[27] The names on his forehead thus signify “imitation of Christ’s true kingship.”[28] Similarly the beast mimicks Christ’s “covenantal headship” by sealing his followers with his name/number, an act which perhaps suggests that not only are they owned by the beast but also “that his followers will be like him”.[29] This mirrors what we have already seen regarding the usage of ‘name’ in the letters to the churches. Beale’s suggests that several texts (e.g. Exodus 13:9, Deuteronomy 6:8) about the place of the torah in Israel’s covenant relationship with the LORD stand behind the imagery of a mark on the forehead and the hand in 13:16-17.[30] This is obviously all the more poignant if ‘those who dwell on earth’ signify apostate Israel and the beast from the land represents apostate Jewish leaders.[31]

17:5 draws out a further contrast when Jerusalem the harlot (who sits on the beast from 13:1)[32] is named in contrast and then contrasted with the description of the bride in 19:7-8 and 21:2.[33] It is also possible that, together with the passages which describe ‘royal’ Babylon’s demise (18:2, 7,10 21), a contrast with Christ’s victorious name in 19:16 is intended.[34] Similarly in 13:1-15:4 ‘name’ is used to highlight the inevitable failure of the beast and his followers, not least because imitation itself implies defeat - Satan can merely counterfeit God the Creator and his Kingdom.[35] This is further supported by the possibility that the 8 ‘name’ statements in this section are arranged in a loose chiastic structure as below.

A. Rev 13:1 The beast and his blasphemous names.

B. Rev 13:6 The beast blasphemes God’s name.

C. Rev 13:8 Those not written in the book of life worship the beast

D. Rev 13:16-17 The beast marks his followers

D’. Rev 14:1 The 144k are marked with the Lamb and his Father’s name

C’. Rev 14:11 Those who worship the beast (and receive his name) will be judged.

A’. Rev 15:2 Vision of those who conquered the beast and its name.

B’. Rev 15:4 All nations will fear God’s name

If correct, this structure emphasises the vindication of God’s name and kingdom and the defeat of the beast. It could be that the inverted order of A’ and B’ is there to highlight the importance of the vindication of God’s name as blasphemed in B by making it not just the end of the cycle but also the eighth ‘name’ statement and therefore naturally associated with resurrection, victory and vindication.[36] Certainly this structure implies that the central contrast being made is between the worshippers of the beast and the worshippers of God, between unfaithful Israel and those faithful in the new covenant, whose divergent futures are described by John in terms drawn from Israel’s own covenantal history regarding the writing or blotting of names within God’s book.[37]

Thus it seems that ‘name’ is being used throughout this section to help establish a contrast, a contrast that is framed in covenantal language and imagery. This is because ‘name’ is functioning as a facet of the central contrast John wishes to establish throughout the book - the contrast between Babylon and Jerusalem. Apostate Israel had abandoned the covenant for an idolatrous relationship with Rome, and were standing in opposition to God’s new Covenant people who will inevitably triumph since they are marked with the name of him who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.[38]

However, this is not the only way in which John uses ‘name’. In particular, 3 texts (6:8, 8:11 and 9:11) emerge as not obviously related to covenantal concepts. These usages seem to form something of a set, being located within cycles of seven. In particular two (8:11 and 9:11) of them could be identified with Satan in either an indirect or a direct way.[39] The uses of ‘name’ here are not inconsistent with John’s relation of name to character[40] elsewhere in the Apocalypse as described above. It should be added that Satan is strongly associated with the beast’s kingdom and that both he and Death share that kingdom’s fate.[41] Thus whilst not identical, these other occurrences are far from unrelated to John’s main usage of ‘name’.

In conclusion, for John ‘name’ is predominantly a covenantal biblico-theological concept which he employs in the Apocalypse as one tool among many to establish the central contrast in the book between Babylon and the Church, both in terms of their covenant status and divergent futures. As such, meditating on this theme will further facilitate the promised blessing[42] of the reader.

[1] Or 35 times if a textual variant of 21:12 is accepted.
[2] David Field, “The harlot Babylon and the bride Jerusalem”, (Lecture notes, Oak Hill Theological College, 2006).
[3] Thus a specific preterist reading of Revelation is assumed throughout this essay. See generally Ralph E. Bass, Back to the Future - A Study in the Book of Revelation, (Greenville, USA: Living Hope Press, 2004), and David Chilton, The Days of Vengeance – An Exposition of the Book of Revelation, (Ft. Worth, Texas: Dominion Press, 1987).
[4] Carl B. Hook, “New Song”, Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology: 567.
[5] See e.g., Exodus 3:13-15, 6:3, 34:5-7. “Name”, DBΙ: 582-586 Cf. comments on 2:17 in G.K. Beale, The Book of Revelation – A Commentary on the Greek Text, (NIGTC; Carlisle: Paternoster, 1999) 254 - 255.
[6] For e.g. in the many ‘I Am’ statements (e.g. John 14:6) and in John 17:11-12. Raymond B. Dillard, “God, Name of”, Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology: 295-297. 297.
[7] Beale, Revelation, 229, 246 & 256.
[8] See e.g., Exodus 20:7, Leviticus 24:16, Psalm 5:11, 7:17, 9:10, 20:7, 22:22, 61:5, 102:15, and Micah 4:5.
[9] Note the similarity between 3:8 and 1:3, especially given the relationship between ‘word’ and Christ’s name in 19:13. Also, Vern Poythress argues that the commendation in 3:4 functions as an incentive to others to be faithful and gain the reward of 3:5, thus it can be claimed that this is one way in which the commendations function throughout the letters. Vern S. Poythress, The Returning King – A Guide to the Book of Revelation, (Phillipsburg, New Jersey: P & R Publishing, 2000) 91.
[10] Exodus 28: 9-12 & 29. Beale, Revelation, 252-3, also Bass, Back to the Future, 119, and also Chilton, Vengeance, 55.
[11] Bass, Back to the Future, 120, Beale, Revelation, 254.
[12] Chilton, Days of Vengeance, 55, my italics.
[13] Hence Beale, in arguing that 2:17 should be linked with 19:12ff. argues that “those who know Christ’s name share in his character and end-time power.” He also argues that the 21:2 description of the church as the New Jerusalem, together with 3:12 shows “that the name written on “overcomers” (3:12) becomes synonymous with their very identity.” Beale, Revelation, 254, 257-258.
[14] Bass sees the ‘new name’ idea as primarily concerning ownership. Beale relates it to ‘identification’ and the promise of ‘final reward’ to those who trust in Christ. Bass, Back to the Future, 120 and Beale, Revelation, 254-255. Cf. “Name”, DBI, 585-586.
[15] See, Isaiah 62:2 and 65:15. Beale, Revelation, 255-256.
[16] See e.g., Beale, Revelation, 253-254.
[17] See e.g., Numbers 6:22-27, Deuteronomy 28:7-10, Isaiah 43:6-7 & Daniel 9:19.
[18] Poythress, Returning King, 92. Cf. “Name”, DBI, 585-586.
[19] Beale suggests they are in fact one promise and should be understood this way. Beale, Revelation, 293.
[20] Exodus 3:13-14, Deuteronomy 28:10, 1 Kings 8:28-29, 11:36, Daniel 9:19. Cf. “Name”, DBI, 585.
[21] Beale, Revelation, 279-281.
[22] Beale, Revelation, 293-294 and Bass, Back to the Future, 140 and Dan Lioy, The Book of Revelation in Christological Focus, (Studies in Biblical Literature 58; New York: Peter Lang, 2003) 129.
[23] James B. Jordan, Through New Eyes – Developing a Biblical View of the World, (Brentwood, Tenn,: Wolgemuth and Hyatt, 1988) 129-131.
[24] Some have suggested that the entire Apocalypse should be read as a Covenant document either for renewal or lawsuit or both. Martyn Calvin Cowan, “New World, New Temple, New Worship – The Significance of a Preterist Reading of the book of Revelation for the theology and practice of Christian Worship”, (Unpublished diss., Oak Hill Theoligical College, 2004). Chilton, Vengeance, 18-24 and also David Field, “Covenant Structure and the Book of Revelation”, (Lecture Notes, Oak Hill Theological College, 2006) 5-9.
[25] Beale comments on the relation between Christ and the fulfilment of covenant promises. Beale, Revelation, 256.
[26] Wilcock suggests viewing these passages as a discrete section, containing a further cycle of seven visions. Michael Wilcock, The Message of Revelation – I Saw Heaven Opened, (BST; Leicester: IVP, 1991) 115.
[27] Poythress, Returning King, 17-19 & 139-140.
[28] Beale, Revelation, 684.
[29] Poythress, Returning King, 19-20 and Beale, Revelation, 716.
[30] Beale, Revelation, 717 and also Bass, Back to the Future, 316.
[31] Hence David Chilton suggests the passages about Rome speak of her “only in relation to the Covenant and the history of redemption.” Chilton, Vengeance, 135 & 139.
[32] Revelation 17:5.
[33] Poythress, Returning King, 21-22
[34] Lioy, Christological Focus, 151
[35] Poythress, Returning King, 23-24
[36] Cf. David Field, “Number”, (Lecture Notes, Oak Hill Theological College, 2006) 4 and also Poythress, Returning King, 147.
[37] Revelation 13:8 and 14:11 & Exodus 32:32-33.
[38] David Field, “Harlot”, 3.
[39] Bass, Back to the Future, 240-241 and Beale, Revelation, 502-503.
[40] Cf. “Name”, DBI, 582-3
[41] Revelation 13:4, 20:10 & 14-15
[42] Revelation 1:3

Jeremiah's trumpets

I've been spending some time in Jeremiah 1-6 today. And there are lots of times when I've thought 'I've heard something like that before recently' and it turns out it's something from the book of Revelation.

For example, every now and then in his prophesying against Judah (Jerusalem in particular) in her whoredom, Jeremiah mentions war-heralding trumpets a lot. Mmm, I thought, I wonder how many times trumpets are mentioned in Jeremiah (hint, not six, not eight, but somewhere in between). The verses are listed below, and I’ve also highlighted in bold various other similarities with the Revelation chs 8-9, & 11 trumpets.

Jer 4:5 Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say, "Blow the trumpet through the land; cry aloud and say, 'Assemble, and let us go into the fortified cities!'

Jer 4:19 My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh the walls of my heart! My heart is beating wildly; I cannot keep silent, for I hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.

Jer 4:21 How long must I see the standard and hear the sound of the trumpet?

Jer 6:1 Flee for safety, O people of Benjamin, from the midst of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and raise a signal on Beth-haccherem, for disaster looms out of the north, and great destruction.

Jer 6:17 I set watchmen over you, saying, 'Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet!' But they said, 'We will not pay attention.'

Jer 42:14 and saying, 'No, we will go to the land of Egypt, where we shall not see war or hear the sound of the trumpet or be hungry for bread, and we will dwell there,'

Jer 51:27 "Set up a standard on the earth; blow the trumpet among the nations; prepare the nations for war against her; summon against her the kingdoms, Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz; appoint a marshal against her; bring up horses like bristling locusts.

Joshua 6 is another place where we get seven trumpets. There they sounded for the fall of the pagan city Jericho as the LORD led Israel in a landmark victory in the war to claim the land. So, could the terrifying irony in Jeremiah be that now the sevenfold trumpets are brought to bear on Jerusalem, sounding a warning and a promise of her fall at the hands of the nations and Judah’s exile from the land?

If so, what does this mean when we come to Revelation 8 and 9? Are we supposed to link to Jeremiah or to Joshua 6 primarily? Or both? Is it about general end-times judgment? Is it about AD70 judgment on Jerusalem? Is it about neither? Is it about both at the same time? In Revelation it seems on the surface at least like the trumpets have more cosmic (stars fall from the sky, fish in the sea die) and global (in 11: 18 the seventh trumpets sounds for God’s victory over the nations) consequences than the Jeremiah ones which are to do with Judah/Jerusalem. But then again this is obviously affected by whether or not ‘earth’ in ch 9 should in fact be read as 'land'. Similarly, it can’t be any accident that in between the sixth and seventh trumpets we get a Jerusalem-as-Sodom based narrative about the two witnesses in Rev 11. Thoughts anyone?

Psalm 2 and the Book of Revelation 3

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

4) Passages which follow the pattern of Psalm 2

Psalm 2 gives us the following pattern War/Persecution > Vindication/Enthronement / > Warnings/Blessings.

E.g. A united world makes war against God and Christ (1-3) > God responds in wrath by establishing (thereby vindicating him although he is rejected) his King/Christ/Son (4-6) who will judge/rule the nations (7-9) > warnings and blessings given accordingly (10-12).

There are many passages of Revelation which follow this same pattern or part of it.

11:7-13: The beast wars against God’s witnesses and kills them (and the world is apparently united in rejoicing about this), God raises them from the dead to his throne room (thereby vindicating them).

12:1-6: The Dragon wars/persecutes/tries to kill the offspring of the woman who is the King from Psalm 2, who is subsequently snatched up to the heavenly throne (thus himself enthroned).

13:1-14:13: Various wars/persecutions on God’s people are engineered by the beasts (13). Next we see the Lamb/Son and all the other sons of God standing on Mount Zion (14:1-5 cf. Psalm 2:6-7). Warnings and promises of blessing follow (14:6-13).

16:14-21: Kings unite to war against God, God proclaims from the temple (Zion again!) that ‘it is done’ and God’s enemies are judged with the fury of God’s wrath (cf. Psalm 2:5, 12).

See also 17:13ff (to probably the end of 19 or maybe 20:6 or maybe the end of the book with the description of the New Jerusalem and the blessings and warnings of 21) which seems to follow the same pattern.

John evidently saw the 'persecution > enthronement' pattern of Psalm 2 in the life/death/resurrection of Jesus himself (as did the rest of the apostles, see Acts 4:23-31) and as somehow normative for subsequent kingdom/church-history, with himself (and Christians in general perhaps, given 12:11) in the shoes of the Psalmist - proclaiming warnings and blessings. Psalm 2 tells the story of the Messiah, the Messiah's people and the Messiah's Kingdom.

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.

Psalm 2 and the Book of Revelation

One of the courses I’m doing this semester is on Biblical Theology and the Book of Revelation. Part of the out-of-class work involves reading Revelation at least once a week.

This week David Field suggested we read Revelation with Psalm 2 in our minds. For my benefit/thinking processes I’m going to blog some of the references and allusions I’ve spotted, and, who knows, maybe others will find it helpful too.

1. Direct Quotations and Near-Quotations

2:26-27, 12:5, 11:18, 19:15. Three of the four (all except 11:18) reference the reign of the Son in ruling the nations 'with a rod of iron'. I reckon 2:26-27 especially is worth a good look where this is extended to the one who overcomes.

Plus all the times ‘Kings of the earth’ appears (see below).

2. Characters

The main characters of Psalm 2 are big players in Revelaton as well

The Kings of the Earth (Psalm 2:2): These Kings are mentioned all over the book, although interestingly enough, the phrase ‘kings of the earth’ is used seven times, see 1:5, 6:15, 17:2, 17:18, 18:9, 19:19 and 21:24-26. (NB. While we're on the subject, its worth thinking about why most contemporary preaching I've heard on Psalm 2 moves very quickly from the Kings of the earth to the whole world being in revolt against God and Christ. This of course is true and is taught in the Psalm (Psalm 2:1), however, the Psalm (and apparently Revelation) have a special emphasis upon the political rulers of the nations. Why is that?)

God and his Christ/Son (Psalm 2:2, 6 and 11-12): Psalm 2 portrays the rule of the Christ (‘anointed’) as being God’s own rule. Similarly Revelation characteristically talks of the joint rule of the Christ (or the Lamb, who is seen to be the Davidic King of Psalm 2 in Rev 5) and God in for e.g. 3:21, 6:15-17, 11:15, 22:3. An interesting line of investigation would be to think why John usually uses ‘Lamb’ to describe the Christ in these passages?

The Psalmist/Prophet (Psalm 2:1-7, especially 10-12): John is commissioned, as the Psalmist before him, to prophesy against national Kings (10:11).

Not sure what all of this means yet, except that it means the events of Revelation are a fulfilment of Psalm 2.