Synopsis: To assume Revelation’s visions are laid
out in a linear sequence with events in a strict chronological order is to miss
the larger picture of the book.
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By NeONBRAND on Unsplash |
Some
interpretations assume the visions of the book of Revelation are
presented in chronological sequence as they unfold; however, this view becomes untenable
when events and patterns are repeated over several visions. For example, the sixth seal culminates in the final day of wrath when “every mountain is
removed” - Massive upheaval occurs throughout the universe. Yet, the final day also arrives when the seventh trumpet
sounds and the kingdoms of the world become the kingdom of Christ.
Likewise,
the seventh bowl of wrath results in the proclamation - “It is done.”
Babylon falls while “every island and mountain is removed,” another
picture of terrestrial chaos (Revelation6:12-17, 11:15-19,
16:17-21).
This repetition of terms and imagery across multiple visions raises the
question: Is Revelation describing multiple “final” judgments, “final”
battles and so on, or the same set of events presented from different
perspectives?
This does
not mean the book is an allegory about “timeless truths.” Its visions
move forward to inevitable conclusions: Final judgment, ultimate victory, New
Creation. Likewise, the visions unveil events progressively; later ones have
literary links to previous visions but, also, provide further details.
For
example, God is the one “who Is and who Was and who is Coming.” The
clause is repeated three more times in the book; however, in the last instance,
the third clause is dropped (“He who is coming”). That is, by that visionary
event, God has arrived and is no longer “coming” (Revelation 1:4, 4:8,
11:17, 16:5).
Information
is revealed in stages. Another example is the prophecy from the book of Ezekiel
about “Gog and Magog.” It is used in three separate visions. In the
first case, language from Ezekiel Chapter 38
is brief and allusive; in the second instance, the description becomes more
extensive and recognizable (Revelation 16:12-16,
19:17-21).
The
invading force is identified as “all the kings of the earth and their armies.”
The third instance is the most explicit. “Gog and Magog” are named; they
represent the “nations of the earth” in a last-ditch attempt to annihilate God’s “saints” (Revelation 20:8-9).
Does the
book present a strictly linear chronology from one vision to the next, or does it
picture events in multiple ways? Put another way, the book of Revelation
is more concerned with “how” things develop than it is with “when.” Christ’s
absolute and final victory is a foregone conclusion, but how will it unfold in
the present age?
A repeated
theme is the ascent of a malevolent figure that wreaks havoc on the earth and
persecutes the “saints.” In each instance, it is described with similar
terms. For example, the sounding of the fifth Trumpet results in the “ascent (anabainō) out of the Abyss”
of a horde of locust-like beings that torment men. The Abyss
is ruled by a destructive creature named “Abaddon” and “Apollyon”
(Revelation 9:1-2).
In Revelation
11:7, a “beast” is seen ascending (anabainon)
out of the Abyss to make war with the Two Witnesses, “to
overcome and kill them.” “Ascending” translates the Greek verb anabainō,
a participle in the present tense that signifies continuous action (Strong’s
#G305). The language
is from the book of Daniel when the prophet saw four “beasts”
ascending from the sea.
The same picture
from Daniel is also used when describing a single beast that John saw “ascending”
from the sea to “wage war” against the “saints.” A second beast
is next seen “ascending from the earth” (Revelation 13:1-18,
Daniel 7:17;
[“These great beasts are four kings that ascend out of the earth”]).
The beast
is described again as “ascending out of the Abyss” in
Chapter 17. Finally, at the end of the thousand years, Satan is “loosed”
from the Abyss to deceive the nations and lead them to “ascend
over the breadth of the earth” against the saints (Revelation 17:7-8,
20:7-9).
The common theme in the preceding passages is the ascent of a malevolent being (demons, beast, false prophet, Satan) from a dark and deep place (Abyss, sea, earth) who wages war against the Two Witnesses, the Rider on the White Horse, or the “saints.”
The
downfall and “binding” of Satan is presented twice, each time with the
same terms and similar imagery. In Chapter 12,
Satan is the great dragon, the old serpent, the Devil and Satan, the one “who
deceives the whole habitable earth.” He is poised to devour a figure called
“son” (Greek huios), but he finds himself thwarted when this “son”
is caught up to God’s throne.
As a
result of the death of Jesus, “Michael and his angels” defeat “the
dragon” who is “cast” (Greek ballō) out of
heaven and onto the earth. From this point, salvation, God’s kingdom, and
Christ’s rule are declared, “Because the accuser of our brethren is cast
down!” Therefore, saints “overcome him by the blood of the Lamb,
the word of their testimony, and because they loved not their life unto death.”
ALL THIS IS BASED ON CHRIST’S PAST DEATH (Revelation 12:1-11).
Note that
Satan is described as the one “who deceives the whole habitable earth” before
he is cast to the earth. After his downfall, he turns his fury against the
woman who gave birth to the “son,” and against the “remnant of her
seed, they who have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 12:12-17).
In Chapter
20, an “angel” lays hold of the “dragon, the old serpent, the Devil
and Satan to cast (ballō) him into the Abyss,”
in this case, for a “thousand years.” The Devil is not able “to
deceive the nations” anymore until this period is completed, after which he
will be “loosed for a little time” (Revelation 20:1-6).
During the
thousand years, “Judgment is given for” the saints who overcame, an
allusion to Daniel 7:21-22 (“judgment was given to the saints and the time came
that they possessed the kingdom”). Those who suffered for “the testimony
of Jesus” reign with him for the thousand years, as “priests of God and
of Christ.”
The prologue
of the book declared previously that Jesus, “by his blood,” redeemed men
to be “priests to his God.” Likewise, all heaven proclaimed the Lamb
worthy because “he redeemed unto God by his blood men from every nation and
made them a kingdom, priests to our God, and they reign on the earth” (Revelation 1:6,
5:9-10).
At the end
of the thousand years, Satan is “loosed from the Abyss” so
he can “go out to deceive the nations from the four corners”
of the globe and gather them to “ascend over the
breadth of the earth to encompass the saints.” All this is to no avail; “fire
descends out of heaven to devour them” as they assemble for the final
assault (Revelation 20:7-9).
The verbal
parallels between the “casting down” of the Dragon following the victory
of the “son” and the imprisonment of Satan in the “Abyss” are too close to be coincidental; on some level, the same set of events or
realities must be in view. Note the
following descriptions of the Devil:
(Revelation 12:9) – “And the great
dragon was cast out,—the ancient serpent, he that is
called Adversary and the Satan, that deceiveth the whole
habitable world,—he was cast to the earth.”
(Revelation 20:1-3) – “And he
laid hold of the dragon, the ancient serpent, who
is Adversary and the Accuser, and bound him for a thousand
years,—and cast him into the abyss, and fastened and sealed [it]
over him,—that he might not deceive the nations any more, until
the thousand years should be ended.”
Earlier, when
John saw a vision of the heavenly throne, he described that, “out of the
throne proceeded flashes of lightning, voices, and thunders.”
This colorful picture is repeated three more times in Revelation. Each
time, additional elements are added at the conclusion of each judgment series (e.g.,
earthquakes and hail). There is both repetition and progress as each new sevenfold
series unfolds (Revelation 4:5, 8:5, 11:19, 16:18-21).
There are
too many verbal and conceptual parallels between the different visions of the
book to be coincidental or simply for literary effect. John expects the astute
listener to detect these many clues for insight on each vision and how they all
fit together. For example, each of the three series of seven judgments, the Seals,
Trumpets and Vials end in a final judgment scene. Does this mean there will be
three “final” judgments, or is the book of Revelation looking at the
same events from different aspects? Will
there be three final battles or one, three final judgments or one, etc. (Revelation
6:12-21, 11:15-19, 16:17-21)?
To read the visions of Revelation as if they
are laid out in a neat chronological order is to miss the larger picture and
the true significance of the book.
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