Jeanie C. Crain http://crain.english.missouriwestern.edu
|
Jeanie C. Crain http://crain.english.missouriwestern.edu
|
|
| Approaching each chapter, I will follow a general pattern of providing a general structure, following the Oxford Companion; building upon this foundation, I will then look more closely at the individual verses within the chapter. In this case, OCB shows us chapters 1-3 must be seen as a unit: put another way, Revelation opens with a general introduction and seven letters. The letter has by the end of the first century C.E. been established as literary form, Paul's letters by now being collected for distribution. What must be very clear to the reader of Revelation is that this book must be read in knowledge of both the Old Testament and its own century. This point is made very early in the first chapter. The first point made is that this revelation comes to John from God through Jesus Christ and is communicated by an angel; the message is about "things which must shortly come to pass." In short, the message is itself divine: signified by an angel. John, of course, is the human agent who bears "record of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all the things he saw."
"Which must shortly come to pass" raises the issue of time: God's time and human time.
Revelation 1–3. Seven letters warning against deception and lawlessness (cf. Matthew 24.4; Matthew 24.5; Matthew 24.9–12) Other structures suggest the following division: Edwin D. Freed, The New Testament: A Critical Introduction I. Prologue II. Letters to the seven churches (2-3) Charles Williams, the following: PROLOGUE (1:1-8) The Introduction of the Book (1:1-3)VISIONARY REPORT (1:9 - 22:5) John’s Inaugural Vision & Commission (1:9 - 3:22)An Audition and Vision of the Risen Christ (1:9-20) I. INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK (1:1-20)
************************************************************************ Structurally, the book of Revelation is really quite amazing. Generally, I prefer beginning with the NRSV Oxford Annotated introduction: "The plan of the whole is, then, the following: Prologue, 1. 1-8; seven parallel sections divided at 3.22; 8.1; 11.19; 14.20; 16.21, and 19.21; Epilogue 22.6-21." Prologue 1.1-8 The source of the message and the message itself are made quite explicitly in the prologue. The revelation originates with God through Jesus Christ and is communicated to John by an angel. The Oxford Companion to the Bible traces the complex roles played by angels, and the following is appropriate to the role played in Revelation as messenger: As time passed, however,
an increasing emphasis on God’s transcendence correlated with an increasing
need for divine mediators. These beings who brought God’s messages to humans
are typically portrayed as anthropomorphic in form, and such a being may often
be called a “man” (Genesis
18.2; Joshua 5.13; Ezekiel
9.2; Ezekiel 9.11;
Daniel 9.21;
Daniel 12.6–7; Zechariah
1.8; Luke
24.4). The members of God’s council are
the envoys who relay God’s messages and perform tasks appropriate to their
status as messengers (1 Kings
22.19–22; Job
1.6–12). In some narratives of encounters with supernatural beings, there is
reluctance to identify them by name (Genesis
32.29; Judges 13.17–18). Actually, the entire
discussion is good reading. The
point of this introduction is that what John is about to write has a divine
origin. John is merely the vehicle of transmission. The writer, whether John of
the Gospel, another elder and writer from Ephesus, or a pseudonymous writer,
testifies to 1)the word of God, 2)the testimony of Jesus Christ, and 3)to what
he saw. In short, John's message is
to God's servants, those submissive to God, and the message is the one delivered
through Jesus Christ. Clearly, Revelation
is a Christian message. The prologue ends
with a blessing. The NRSV points
out that Revelation contains seven beatitudes:
According to OCB, " In most biblical texts,
the associated verbs (to bless), adjectives (blessed), and nouns (blessing,
blessedness) express a reciprocity pertaining between God and his chosen people.
God blesses them as a mark of his grace and favor; their blessing of God is a
recognition of his presence among them. His blessing conveys to his people a
share in his own vitality and ageless purpose. Their blessing of him, often in
song, dance, and instrumental music, celebrates their gratitude for his goodness
and help. Each movement in this mutual activity elicits the other, so that the
words point to the conjunction of two activities, especially in worship." *********************** 14.13: And I heard a
voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the
Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their
labours; and their works do follow them. 16. 15: Behold, I
come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he
walk naked, and they see his shame. 19. 9: And he saith
unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of
the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. 20. 6: Blessed and
holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death
hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign
with him a thousand years. 22. 7: Behold, I
come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this
book. 22. 14: Blessed are
they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and
may enter in through the gates into the city. *********************** Introductory
Salutation 1.4-8 John addresses the
seven churches of Asia (seven suggesting completeness and totality) with grace
and peace. What follows is
Christian theology: one God is, was, is to come (eternal, omnipresent, Yahweh).
Jesus Christ is the faithful witness (par excellence), the firstborn of
the dead (most exalted, resurrected) and ruler of the
kings of earth ( Ps. 89.27, Lord over Caesar); Christ through His love
and sacrifice has freed individuals from sin and made the redeemed
(collectively) a kingdom, priests, serving
God and Father. This Jesus is coming again--in clouds, from above--and
will be seen by every eye including those who pierced Him; all the tribes of the
earth will wail, and so it will be. Amen; finally, reader's are reminded God is
the beginning and the end, who is, was, and is to come. Beginning of
First Parallel Section (ending at 3.22) Preparatory
Vision The reader now
learns John has been exiled to the island of Patmos because of the word of God
and the testimony of Jesus; that is, he shares with other Christians the
kingdom, persecution, and need to endure. On
this Lord's day, John is in the spirit, a state of prophetic illumination.
What exactly he sees, the reader can only imagine, for John is reduced to
a series of similes: in the middle of seven candlesticks, one like the
Son of Man, clothed in a white robe with a golden sash across his chest, head
and hair white as white wool, as snow; his eyes like a
flame of fire, his feet like burnished bronze, refined as in a
furnace, his voice like the sound of many waters, seven stars in his
right hand, the word or two-edged sword coming from his mouth, and his face like
the sun. John falls at his feet
as though dead, following the pattern of others who have experienced the
terrifying Majesty of God. Remember, Isaiah is reduced to utter "Woe is me!
I am lost." Jeremiah sighs,
"Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak."
Ezekiel falls on his face and is told to stand up.
Paul, in the New Testament, is blinded.
In Hebrew tradition, the question is natural: "Can mortal see Yahweh
and live?" Moses is told, 20 But,”
he said, “you cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live.”
21 And
the Lord continued, “See, there
is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock; Exodus 33. 22 and
while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover
you with my hand until I have passed by; 23 then I will take away my
hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen.” F. F. Bruce
in The International Bible Commentary says, "It is the man [person] who has fallen prostrate
before God and been raised to his feet who can henceforth look the whole world
in the face as the fearless spokesman of God."
As in Daniel and in the transfiguration, John is comforted with God's
right hand and told not to be afraid. So, what did John see? He saw through the
temporal and into the eternal, a vision he could render only through figures of
speech and symbols, the only instrument at hand for mere mortals.
Remember Job: "I have uttered what I did not understand, things too
wonderful for me" (42. 3). Message to Seven
Churches The general
structure of these letters is an address, a descriptive phrase referring to the
Risen Lord, a condemnation or commendation of the church addressed, an
admonition, a promise and exhortation. For the reader wishing to know more
about these churches, read the following link.
|
|
Send mail to crain@mwsc.edu with
questions or comments about this web site.
|
