Chronology of Revelation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Chronology of Revelation details a series of events which take place in the Book of Revelation, detailing (by some accounts) the final judgement of God on the world. The events portrayed in Revelation are full of symbolism, imagery, and metaphor, with a wide range of interpretations as to how the events should be perceived.
Contents |
[edit] Prologue and Church letters
The prologue of Revelation, the shortest chapter of the book, introduces the reader to John (the author) and explains that John was visited by an angel and called to be a witness to "testimony of Jesus Christ" by reporting what he would see in a series of visions.
The author then proceeds to write seven letters to each of the major churches of the world. The letters to the seven churches of Asia are not actually part of the revelation visions, but rather a warning to the faithful of the world that Christ will soon be returning to the Earth to bring forth punishment to the wicked and redemption to the faithful. The letters, in themselves, are also filled with a large array of imagery and metaphors covering aspects of faith and human behavior. Among common interpretations of this passage are that each church represents a type of congregation, and also a "church age" where the type of church depicted is the most common during a period of church history.
[edit] Vision of Heaven
The first vision that the author experiences is that of entering Heaven and seeing God's throne. In Revelation, God's throne is described as "sparkling like jasper and carnelian with a halo as brilliant as emerald". Around God's throne are 24 other thrones, on which sit elders in white robes. From the throne echoed thunder and lightning and, in front of the throne, the author sees seven torches sitting on a sea of crystal.
The author then sees four creatures which have six wings and are covered in eyes. The creatures appear to be giving eternal thanks to God and, whenever one of them bows down to worship God, the 24 elders around God's throne bow down to worship God.
[edit] The Lamb and the Seven Seals
In God's hand is a scroll with seven seals. The author weeps when nobody can be found to break the seals, but is reassured when a lamb appears who is able and worthy to do this. The lamb appears as slaughtered yet standing, and has seven horns and seven eyes. The lamb is a portrayal of Jesus, and the number seven stands for perfection.
As the lamb opens the scroll, from the first four seals come riders on horseback: a white horse, whose rider carries a bow; a red horse, whose rider carries a sword; a black horse, whose rider carries a pair of scales; a pale horse, whose rider is Death. (see also Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse)
With the fifth seal the souls of the martyrs appear before God and ask when he will judge the people of Earth. They are each given a white robe, and told to wait until more martyrs have been killed.
With the sixth seal there comes a terrible earthquake, the sky becomes black, and the people of Earth are afraid of the anger of God and the lamb. Four angels stand at the four corners of the Earth, and hold back the winds, while another angel commands them to wait until 144000 descendents of Jacob have a seal put on their foreheads. A large crowd, too massive to count, is then seen before God and the lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches. In turn, they worship God, and the author is told by an elder that God will protect and provide for them.
When the seventh seal is opened, heaven is quiet for about half an hour. God issues seven angels each with a trumpet, then another angel carrying a golden censer comes before the throne. After offering prayers and incense to God, the angel fills the censer with fire from the alter, then hurls it at the earth, resulting in earthquakes, thunder and lightning.
[edit] The Seven Trumpets
When the first trumpet is sounded hail, fire and blood fall upon the Earth, and a third of its surface, along with a third of its trees and all of its grass, is consumed in flame. Upon the sounding of the second, a great, flaming mountain falls into the sea. A third of the oceans turn to blood, a third of the sea creatures are killed and a third of the ships are destroyed. With the third, the star Wormwood falls upon a third of the rivers and springs, poisoning them and the many men who drink from them.
With the fourth trumpet, a third of the Sun, Moon and stars darken, leaving a third of the day in darkness. The fifth trumpet calls down a star from the heavens, which opens the Abyss, darkening the sky with its fumes and unleashing a swarm of scorpion-like locusts. The locusts are commanded not to pursue plantlike of any kind, "but only those men which have not the seal of God on their foreheads," and to torment them for five months as though they had been struck by scorpions, but without death. They had the form of warhorses, with golden crowns, men's faces, women's hair, lions' teeth, iron breastplates, wings and scorpions' tails. They are led by a king, Abaddon.
The sixth angel releases the four angels who had been bound to the Euphrates ready to lead an army of 200 million horsemen to slay one third of mankind.
[edit] The Woman and the Dragon
Coming soon This is the part when the woman (Mary) is having a baby (Jesus). Then out of the sky come a dragon (Satan) and tries to kill Mary while she is having the baby. She hides in the desert and the baby is born who will help in the battle to fight against Satan.
[edit] The Beast from the Sea
Earlier in Rev 12:17, we saw that the dragon was "enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring—those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea." In Rev 13:1 we see how war is waged against the saints through the beast that comes out of the sea, as the devil looks on. This beast was earlier revealed in Rev 11:7 as the beast out of the Abyss who makes war against the two witnesses and kills them when they have finished their testimony. We now find out more about this beast. He is introduced here as the devil's henchman; he even resembles the devil with ten horns and seven heads; the devil delegates his power to the beast, his throne and authority. He is the incarnation of the devil on earth through whom the devil makes war on the saints and overcomes them; the weapons used are imprisonment and death. All who pledge allegiance to the beast are giving their allegiance to the devil.
Among historicists the beast from the sea that had received plenitude of power from the dragon, or Satan, is actually the Roman Empire, or rather, the Emperor, its supreme representative.
The token of the beast with which its servants are marked is the image of the emperor on the coins of the realm. This seems to be the obvious meaning of the passage, that all business transactions, all buying and selling were impossible to them that had not the mark of the beast (Rev 13:17). Against this interpretation it is objected that the Jews at the time of Jesus had no scruple in handling money on which the image of Caesar was stamped (Matt 22:15–22). But it should be borne in mind that the horror of the Jews for the imperial images was principally due to the policy of Caligula. He confiscated several of their synagogues, changing them into pagan temples by placing his statue in them. He even sought to erect an image of himself in the Temple in Jerusalem (Josephus, A.J., 18.8.2).
Although the historicist view of the beast can be interpreted as the Roman empire of John's time and subsequent ungodly empires since then, some scholars believe that it also indicates a future state, culminating supremely in the empire of the antichrist. The message indicated is that the beast (of the sea) was given power to conquer the saints, who are the only people who will not worship the beast; this calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints. In view of the fact that the beast of the sea kills the two witnesses at the end of their testimony, that is he silences the witness of the church (11:7) and in view of the fact that in 17:11 the "beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king", the beast is primarily the antichrist at the end of the age. However, the beast also belongs to the seven kings, which indicates that he belongs to a succession of tyrannical regimes which persecute the saints. As 1 John 2:18 says, "as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour." Five of the seven kings have fallen, one is, the other is yet to come, but when he does come he must remain for a little while. While the man of lawlessness has not been revealed yet, the secret power of lawlessness is already at work in the world (2 Thess 2:3-6).
[edit] Seven Heads of the Beast
The seven-headed beast from the sea which derives its power from the dragon is an apparent allusion to the imagery of Lotan or Leviathan, the seven-headed sea-serpent in myth and the Old Testament.
The seven heads of the beast are said to represent seven Roman emperors. Five of them are said to be fallen. They are Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. The year of Nero's death is 68. The text goes on to say "One is", namely, Vespasian (70–79). He is the sixth emperor. The seventh "is not yet come. But when he comes his reign will be short." Titus is meant, who reigned but two years (79–81). The eighth emperor is Domitian (81–96); he is identified with the beast. He is described as the one that "was and is not and shall come up out of the bottomless pit" (xvii, 8). In verse 11 it is added: "And the beast which was and is not: the same also is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into destruction."
All this sounds like oracular language. But the clue to its solution is furnished by a popular belief largely spread at the time. The death of Nero had been witnessed by few. Chiefly in the East, a notion had taken hold of the mind of the people that Nero was still alive. Gentiles, Jews, and Christians were under the illusion that he was hiding himself, and as was commonly thought, he had gone over to the Parthians, the most troublesome foes of the empire. From there they expected him to return at the head of a mighty army to avenge himself on his enemies. The existence of a belief in a Nero redivivus is attested by Tacitus and Dio Chrysostom.
Many contemporaries of the author of this book believed Nero to be alive and expected his return. The author either shared their belief or utilized it for his own purpose. Nero had made a name for himself by his cruelty and licentiousness. The Christians in particular had reason to dread him. Under him the first persecution took place. The second occurred under Domitian. But unlike the previous one, it was not confined to Italy, but spread throughout the provinces. Many Christians were put to death, many were banished (Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., III, 17–19). In this way the book of Revelation seems to regard Domitian as a second Nero, "Nero redivivus". Hence it describes him as "the one that was, that is not, and that is to return". Hence also he counts him as the eighth and at the same time makes him one of the preceding seven, the fifth, Nero.
Note that pagan authors called Domitian a second Nero (calvus Nero, Satire IV, 38). The popular belief concerning Nero's death and return seems to be referred to also in the passage (xiii, 3): "And I saw one of its heads as it were slain to death: and its death's wound was healed."
The seven heads might also refer to the Seven Hills of Rome.
[edit] Ten Horns of the Beast
The ten horns are commonly explained as the vassal rulers under the supremacy of Rome. They are described as kings (basileis), here to be taken in a wider sense, that they are not real kings, but received power to rule with the beast. Their power, moreover, is but for one hour, signifying its short duration and instability (xvii, 17).
[edit] Number of the Beast
- Main article: Number of the Beast (numerology)
The beast is identified by the number 666 in the text (Rev 13:18). This is very likely an instance of gematria, an early form of Jewish mysticism. Its object is to conceal a name by substituting for it a cipher of equal numerical value to the letters composing it. When the name "Nero Caesar" is spelled with Hebrew letters as נרון קסר (NRON QSR—Hebrew vowels are not letters), each letter has a corresponding numerical value, N=50, R=200, O=6 N=50, Q=100, S=60, R=200, resulting in the sum of 666.
Some Greek manuscripts of Revelation have a different number. Here the number is not 666, but 616. If Nero is alternatively spelled as NRO instead of NRON, one gets 616; NRO minus N(=50).
Other people, primarily those who hold to dispensationalism, discount the gematrian theory and argue that "666" symbolically represents an anti-trinity of evil (the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet), as "6" is one short from the perfect "7". It is also believed the number six represents mankind as created on the sixth day of creation and is a step below God, represented by seven. The three sixes represent mankind trying to be like God by becoming omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent.
[edit] The Beast from the Earth
This is the second of the devil's henchmen. The beast from the earth is otherwise known as the false prophet, and he completes this unholy trinity of Dragon, beast and false prophet. If the Devil gives to the first beast all his authority and the second beast gives glory to the first beast, then we have the counterfeit to the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. If the first beast represents political power, this one represents religious power. Later he is called the false prophet: he looks like a lamb but speaks like the devil; he is a counterfeit Christ. He receives his authority from the political power, and his function is to coerce the inhabitants of the earth to worship the first beast. He performs counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders as will the antichrist. As well as false religion, it can be any false man-made philosophy that supports the state such as Nazism or communism. He also exercises economic control within the state, so that no one could buy or sell unless they had the mark of the beast on their right hand or forehead. The saints do not receive this mark, and as a result, they suffer for this. The beast's number is 666; 6 is man's number because man was created on the sixth day. Therefore 666 is a trinity of sixes, that is, man's religion or philosophy.
According to some historicists, the second beast represents the personal Roman Imperial Cult, whose office was to assist the beast from the sea, probably signifying the work of seduction carried on by apostate Christians. They endeavored to make their fellow Christians adopt the pagan practices and submit themselves to the cultus of the Caesar. Other interpreters believe that the second beast is the Church corrupted by its relationship with the Roman Empire after Christianity was legalized in the early 4th century AD. The woman with child is a personification of Israel. Her firstborn is Jesus; her other children represent the community of the faithful—Christians. For some Orthodox and Roman Catholic Christians, the "woman clothed with the sun" here is the Virgin Mary.
However, most modern-day scholars believe that this too is an indication of a future state. We can see some of the ways in which the dragon and the beast wage war against the Church through the beast out of the earth:
i. He looks like Christ (a lamb) but speaks like a dragon; i.e., he speaks lies and false doctrine; he is a false prophet.
ii. He performs counterfeit signs and wonders which deceive the world and could deceive even the elect.
iii. He kills all who refuse to worship the image of the beast; this is persecution.
iv. He forces everyone to receive a mark on his right hand or forehead without which no one can buy or sell; this is economic control.
[edit] External links
- Revelation Chart Suggested chronological depiction from a dispensationalist viewpoint.
